Herald and tribune. [volume] (Jonesborough, Tenn.) 1869-current, 1883-12-06
THE FALSE PROPHET.
His People and the War
with Egypt.

The New Ruler of the SOudan.
His People and the War
with Egypt.
Baltimore SUM-.
The expedition under the
command of Hicks Pasha, whose
utter humiliation is reported, was
sent out in February last by the
Egyptian government to suppress
the Instruction in the Soudan,
which was led by Ell Mahdi, the
False Prophet. The Arabs had
fOeked to the standard of the
Prophet from all quarters, and
there was grave danger that the
Soudan would be wrested from
Egypt by the followers of Ell NAH
di. Gen. Hicks pushed up the
White Nile to Khartoum; and on
April 20 he had an engagement
with the Prophet, defeating him,
and killing 500 of his men. He
followed up his victory by pushing
forward after the retreatIng rebels
and during the summer succeeded
in clearing the entire Province OF
SEMINAR Of the insurgents. and
forcing Eel Mahdi to retreat into
Kordofan, where he rallied around
him, as reported, nearly 100000
fanatics who believed fully in his
claims to be the successor of
Mohammed, and expected to see
bis enemies swept away by the Di-
vine Arm, as he assured them
they would be. Hicks Pasha, in
the meantime, having forced Sem
,naar to return to It's allegiance to
Egypt, went back to Khartoum to
await reinforcements before push>
ing OH to attack the Prophet in
his stronghold in Kordofan.
Five years ago the Arab chief
nov known as lei Mahdi, who was
a petty prince of II of the tribes
below Kordofan, Withdrew him
self from his followers and became
a hermit, thus seeking to involve
his very existence in mystery.
This proceeding at once increased
his fame. From Zaouia to Zaouia of
the Senoussia, and consequently
from Mecca to Mocroco, the atten-
ton of the faithful was assiduous>
Iy called to the following proph>
ecy:
On the LIST of the month Of
Maharrem, In the year 1900 (No-
.vember IL, 1882 will appear FL
Mahdf or Messiah. He will be
exactly forty years of age, and of
noble bearing. One arm will be
longer than the other. His faith
er's name will be Mohammed and
Ills mothers name Fatima, and he
viii be hidden for a time prior to
his manifestation
III Mahdfs father was Hthe
founder of a sect of semi-rcligious
fIaternities which seem destined
to cover the whole of North
Africa with a web of Moslem Free
masonry. His name was Moham-
med, and persons who have seen
the younger say that his right
hand reached as far as his knee,
thus fulfilling all the rcquirments
of the prophecy. ElN Mahdi came
forth from his retirement and stas
toned himself on the Island of
Abba. During the next ten
months repeated attempts were
made to arrest the False Prophet,
but, owing to bad management
and the employment ofinsuficient
forces, always with the same re-
sult-complete failure. During
this time the Eg4ptians 1hareAost
at one place OF another 1000 men
and an equal number of rifles
Finding that the insurrection was
spreading rapidly it was at length
Judged necessary to make Z. -seri,
GUS effort. Accordingly, in the
beginning of June, 1882, Yusef
Pasha left Fashoda at this head of
4,l00 men, with four mountain
guns and Il rocket, for Ghebel
Gadir, where Mohammed Acmet
was then residing: On the way
he met the rebels, and, thanks to
his neglect of the most elemen-
tary rules of warfare, he was com
pletely defeated, with the loss of
$500 men and all his guns. OF
the 500 men who escaped at the
time the greater part were subse-
quently captured and sold into
slavery. City after city capitula-
ted to the False Prophet, the
greatest of his successes being the
capture of Ell Obeid.
When Ell Mahdi, the False
Prophet, appeared in the Soudan,
announcing his divine mission af-
ter the fashion of Mohammed.
travellers in that country we're a
unit IN expressing their belief that
the Egyptian campaign of Sir
Garnet Wolseley would be child's
play compared with the religious
uprising in the valley of the White
Nile. The reasons for this belief
were very simple; and they have
been justified by the overwhelm-
ing defeat of Hicks Pasha. The
disaffection and restlessness
among the Arab tribes date back
many years, and may be said to
have begun when Khartoum was
founded by Mohammed Ali as a
post; and, being at the