Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1885-05-23
THE NEW PROPHET.
ABOUT Ell MAHDI or THE DESERT.
ine Arab Leaders Career md Appear
amer Described by Tangiers News



anee Described by Tangiers News.
paper.
MOI ahmed Ahmed, the religious head
OF the Soudanese lnsulrection, is man
OF, about 40 years of age. He is a native
OF Dongola, one of the oldest towns of
Abyssinia. This town. situated on the
Nile, had its day of splendor and power
in the middle ages, but now it has only
three or four hundred inhabitants. Mo-
hammed Ahmed was born of poor par
ents. His father was named Abdellahi
and his mother Amina. One of the
few Europeans who know him personally
M. Peney, of Khartoum-gives Us the
following account of this man:
When 7 years of age Mohammed
Ahmed commenced to attend the Mus.
sulman school, and when II years old
he had completed the study of the
Koran. For the means of pursuing his
religious education he was indebted to
his brothers, who were established as
carpenters and boat builders. They en-
abled him to pursue his studies in the
neighborhood of Khartoum under the
instruction of such able masters as Ell
Gomahem and Abdel Tyim, son of the
famous sheik Ell Tayeb When his ed
ucation was completed he removed to
the island Sof Dabo, on the White Nile.
He had lived there fifteen years ven.
Grated by the Baggarah, when he an
nounced himself as the Mahdi, or Divine
Messenger, destined to regenerate Islam.
This enterprise has up to the present
fully succeeded. Has not the East
always proved prosperous sphere for
all religious sinnovators The new
Prophet enlisted in his train the major
ity of the population of the Egyptian
Soudan, and in three years of warfare
he succeeded in expelling the Turks,
who had occupied the country for sixty
years. The insurrection burst forth
with fury in 1880. The Governor of the
Soudar. sent two successive expeditions
in 1881 against the Mahdi. Both met
the same fate; the Egyptian soldiers
were annihilated by the partisans of the
Prophet. In 1882 third expedition
followed, but the insurrection had grown
in strength and Importance, and seven
hundred Egyptians were encountered by
fifty thousand Arabs, or negroes, COM
manded by Mohammed's two brothers.
They were necessarily annihilated
The whole Of SEMINAR then uprose.
The Mahdi marched on Eel Obeid, and,
after a vigorous siege and bloody fight,
captured that city. The succeeding
events are In the memory of all Hicks
expedition and his defeat at Kasgell
that of Baker Pasha at Ell Teb; the de-
parture of Gordon for Khartoum, his
blockade and vigorous resistance But
it is chiefly to the personality of the
| Mahdi that this article is dedicated, and
we conclude it by reproducing his por-
trait as drawn by NJ. Peney.
Ahmed -Mohammed is a man of middle
stature. His complexion is copper
colored, his beard very black, and OF
each cheek he bears three parallel
scars. He is extremely spare, the prob.
able result of the rigorous fasts to which
he condemns himself. Previous to his
entering upon active life he used to dwell
in a subterranean cell or cave, where, ac-
cording to his followers, he was contin-
| ually weeping over the universal cor
| ruption OF his race The Mahdi always
wears as his invariable costume shirt
! and drawers of ddmoni, coarse ma
terial of native manufacture. His feet
| are clothed with sandals, and small
| turban surmounts his head.
! Such is the man who now leads the
/ Egyptian rebellion. Like all Eastern
| apitators. he burst forth suddenly from
/ the greatest obscurity to- assume the
united roles of reformer and conqueror.
| Yesterday but poor man, to-day we see
him at the head of an innumerable
armv. What is the secret OF this rapid
! change oi fortune? It is found in the
fact that Mahdi has appealed to that
sentiment which, as history testifes, il
every age. and in every cline has been
the parent of the bitterest rancor, lee
II the most savage wars, and deluded
the earth with blood-religious fanati.
csn.
4 NAVAL JOKE When Barrios seei
III