Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1885-03-08
Ell MAHDI.
The Arab Leaders Career and Appear
aRce Described by a TaDgiers News
paper.


dfAco OeecrlDeu DY q IanBlers NoWs~
paper.
La RereU de Marco.
Mohammed Ahmed, the religious head
of the SOudanese instruction, is a 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 il has only three
or four hundred inhabitants. Mohammed
Ahmed was bOrn~of poor parents. His
father was named Abdellahi and his
mother Amina. One of the few Europe
ans who know him personauy-M. Penney
of Khartoum-gives us the following ac-
count OF this man:
When years of age Mohammed Ahmed
! commenced to attend the Mussulman
school, and when II years old he bad
completed the study of the Koran. For
the means of pursuing his religious edu-
cation he was indebted to his brothers,
VINO were established as carpenters and
boat builders. They enabled him to pur-
sue his studies in the neighbOrhood of
Knartoum under the instruction of such
| able masters as FL GOmaehem and Abdel
Ayim, son of the famous Ell Tayeb. When
his education was completed he removed
to the island of DabO, ON the White Nile.
He had lived there Is years venerated by
the Baggarah, when he announced him.
self as the Mahdi, or Divine Messenger,
d stined to regenerate Islam.
This enterprise has up to the present
fully succeeded. Has not the East al
ways proved a prOpitiOu: sphere for all
religious innOYatOrs? The new prophet
enlisted in his train the majority 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 insur-
reCtiOn burst forth with fury In 1880. The
Governor Of the SOudan sent two success
slve eXped lions in 1881 against the Mahdi.
Both met the same fate; the Egy ptlan
soldiers were annihIlated by the partisans
of the Prophet. In 1882 third expedition
followed, but the instruction had grown
in strength and Importance, and 700 Egyp-
tians were encountered by $4,000 Arabs,
or negroes, commanded by MOhammed's
TWO brothers. They were necessarily an
initiated.
The whole of SEMINAR then uprose. The
Mahdi marched on Ell Obeid and, after
vigorous siege and a bloody fight. cap
tured that city. The succeeding events
are in the memory Of all-Hicks' expedi-
tion and his defeat at Kasgell; that of
Baker Pasha at FL Teb; the departure of
Gordon for KhartOum. his blockade and
vigorous resistance. But it Is chiefly to
the personality Of the Mahdi that this ar
ticle is dedicated and we conclude it by
reproducing his portrait as drawn by NJ.
Penney:
Ahmed MOhammed is man of middle
stature. His complexion is copper COL
Ored, his beard very black, and on each
cheek he bears three parallel scars. He
Is extremely spare, the probable result OF
the rigorous fdsts TO which he condemns
himself Previous to his entering upon
active life he used to dwell in a subterra-
mean cell or cave, where, according to his
followers, he was continually weeping
over the universal corruption of his race.
The Mahdi always wears as his invaria-
bic costume a shirt and drawers of dd0lO-
nj, a coarse material of native manu- fac
tuTe. His feet are clothed with sandals
and a small turban surm0unts his head.
Such is the man who now leads the
Egyptian rebellion. Like all Eastern
agitators, he burst forth suddenly from
the greatest ObscuriLy to assume the united
roles of refOrmer and conquerOr. Yester-
day but poor man, to-day we see him at
the head Of an innumerabie army. What
is the secret of this rapid change OF for
tune? 1t Is found in the fact that she
Mahdi has appealed TO that sentiment
which, as history testies, in every age
and in every cline has been the parent Of
the bitterest rancor, led to the most saw
age wars and deiuged the earth with
blOOd-religiOus fanaticism.