Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1884-01-16
STORY OF THE MAHDI.

-OmduCe- lie IL uN tIlu anu cduCallOh
an Egyptian His father was al Off
GER of the force sent into the Soudan by
old Mehemet Ali, Pasha of Egypt, TO
punish the Malek-el- Memo for baviug
burnt the Governor Ahmed Suleiman
was brought up at the school Of khe-
dive Abbas, of which Rtfai Bey be-
came the principal, when expelled from
Cairo. where be had been director gen.
eral of the College of Foreign Ian
guages founded by Mehemet Ali, and
banished into the Soudan. Young
Ahmed Suleiman quickly proved him
self the ablest of Rifai's pupils. On
leaving school he entered the govern
ment service and soon rose to the post
Of Accountant General of the Soudan.
At the very outset Ahmed Suleiman
thus found himself on the high road 10
a brilliant future. His master, Riliai,
possessed immense influence in the
Soudan and the administration of that
province is now almost entirely in the
hands of his former pupils. He great
ly affected French authors of advanced
title of which, "Foatouhat Mekkie," J"
he borrowed from the Arabic work of a
certain Mouhiddid Elriel Arab. Its
motto was He who rules as q
tyrant is undermining his own power. 2"
Musiapha Bey Sarrag, one of his school
fellows and also employed in an import
ant post, reported on his return from
the Soudan that the chief accountant
was a man of rare capacity and well
versed in Mohammedan law and
history. Finally thrown on his own
resources, ndpossessed of considerable
capital Ahmed Suleiman started in
partnership with certain European
commercial houses as merchant in
slaves, elephant tusks. gum arabic and
ostrich feathers. He was reputed hon.
est and straightforward in bis dealings,
and rapidly acquired the confidence Of
Mussulmans, Christians and Jews. So
great was the influence which he ac-
quired that he was constantly asked to
act as judge in disputes, the parties
concerned preferring to accept his de-
cisions to appealing to the courts OF
justice.
SULEIMAN AS \ REBEL.
On the conclusion of the treaty be-
tween England and the Ex-K hedive Is
mail for the suppression of the slave
trade, Raouf Pasba, Governor of the
Soudan, begun campaign against the
slave dealers, his principal attack being
directed at Ahmed Suleiman, whose
position and capacity had marked him
out as natural leader of these traffck-
ers in human flesh. Bashi- -Bazouks
were sent to effect his arrest with orders
to bind him hand and foot These ir-
regulars, as a matter Of course, tried to
turn their mission to good account.
They frankly proposed to Ahmed
Suleiman that be should buy them off
with backsheesh, which they offered to
take in negressss, il not convenient to
pay in money Ahmed Suleiman re-
fused the conditions, and free fight
ensued, in which five of his own follow
ers were killed, but the Bashi- -Bazouks
retired with loss of eleven slain, in
cluding an officer. Startled at the un-
expected issue of this attempt to seize
the rebel, the government sent against
him n battalion of regulars. Ahmed
Suleiman was not daunted. He col.
lected all the men he could and fought
the troops from behind a rampant OF
camels with signal success. The up.
shot of this victory was the recognition
| of A hmed Suleiman as the chief of the
slave traders, who entered into formal
compact to obey him while he resisted
the Cairo Government Such was the
state of affairs when Gordon Pasha ap.
peared on the scene. As a Christian
he could only have succeeded by force,
and even the non Mussulmans were
dead against him, owing to his uncom-
promising hostility to the slave trade.
During the whole Of this period the
Sou lanese obtained supplies of arms
and ammunition from Europeans.
sUELIMAN GETS TO THE MAHDI
Up to this time Ahmed Suleiman
had advanced no sort of pretensions to
a religious title. 1t was his foes who
first compelled him, 80 to speak, to
avail himself Of the idea Riaz Pasha,
who became President of the Council
of Ministers after the deposition of
Khedive Ismail seems to have been
responsible for the blunder Thinking
to rob the chiefrebel of all Moslem SYM
pathy he branded him with the epithet
False Mahdi." The effect of this
step was the reverse Of the sanguine
anticipations of Riaz Pasha Ahmed
Suleiman's followers, who had already
mooted the subject, Immediately pro-
fessed to find fulfilled in his person the
signs of the true Mahdi 1t is more
over estimated that no less than four
thousand persons who had been expell-
ed by Raiz from Egypt straightway
came under his flag On the outbreak
of Arab and the colonels in 1881 Riaz
endeavored to send the famous First
Regiment with the mutinous colonels
to the Soudan. Later on the Khedive
authorized Araoi, then War Minister,
to carry out this intention, and telc-
grams were produced stating urgent
need of reiniorcements in those parts.
Arab acquiesced in the proposal and
| the regiment was ready TO march when
he got an inkling that some trickery
was meditated and instantly counter
manded its departure This measure,
which was only meant to defeat move
on the part Of Cairo antagonists, may
have served Arab well at an import
ant juncture, as it probably paved the
way for friendly reception Of the
ovcrtures made by him to Ahmed
Suleiman when the Squadrons anchor
ed off Alexandria On that occasion
Arab wrote letter to the insurgent
leader to the following effect: IF you
are warning against the tyranny of this
arbitrary government, come to us with
your men, your arms and your ammu.
! nitinn opI id ne hlp,a1 Snl.i m a N