Natchitoches populist. [volume] (Natchitoches, La.) 1898-1899, 1899-02-03
THE KHALIFAs
The Life and characteristics az Chs
Fugitive Dervish Chief.

Fugitive Dervish Chief.
Abdullah ct Taishi Khalifa, whose
power has been broken by the British
forces under General Sir Herbert
Kitchener, was the most powerful and
successful Of the three Khalifas of the
three leading Arab tribes, that In 1882
helped the Mahdi to overthrow the
government of Egypt in the eastern
Soudan and establish the Mahdist
despotism In its place. Each of these
khalifas commanded distinct sec
ton Of the Mahdi's army, and Abdul
labs force had most to do with the
humiliation of General Hicks and his
army. Abdullah was the favorite of
his master. The Mahdi believed that
II ne died Abdullah was the only man
Who could maintain the strange en-
pire he had raised and keep the upper
hand Of the rapacious soudanese
tribes. Before his death the Mahdi
nominated the Khalifa Abdullah as
his successor, and thus the cruel and
tyrannical Arab tribe of the Bagaras,
whose leader was Abdullah, became
the masters of the Egyptian Soudan
and ruled 1t with a rod Of iron. The
mahdi died on June %, 1885, after
three years Of power, and Abdullah
mas since been known as "the NAH
ais successor" There was intense
jealousy and disappointment on the
part OF the Danagla and Jaalin tribes,
who had been the rulers. but now be-
came the ruled. Civil war on account
OF Abdullahs accession was narrowly
aVerted, but he was too strong for his
enemies in the other tribes, and they
finally chose the part Of discretion Just
when all had been made ready for bat
tie. The new ruler then made 1t his
business to render the other tribes
harmless. He reduced the power of
the two other Khalifas, and they be-
came men OF httls influence. He sent
many Of the Jaalin and Danagla
Bmirs In chains hundreds Of miles up
the Nile, and he permitted his Bag
CARA to plumber the other tribes with
out mercy, under the pretext Of levy
Ing taxes. There has been only one
ruler OF the Soudan for the past thir-
teen years. and he has been the Khal-
la Abdullah. He maintained his pol
ley OF cruelty depressing all the people
except his own tribe, until he was
frightened very badly by the news that
England and Egypt were getting ready
TO invade the country and overthrow
his power. After that news reached
Omdurman he made a great show of
reversing his policy. He pardoned the |
imprisoned Emirs and tried In many
ways to win back the disaf,ected peo-
pie. The Khalifa's empire, within
which not a particle Of European in
huence has permeated since the Mahdi |
captured Khartoum, extends along the
Nile from Dongola on the north to the |
Of Lado on the south, a
distance Of about thirteen hundred
miles. Omdurman, the capital, just
across the Nile from the ruins of Khar-
toum, is about midway between these
points. The Khalifa lost Darfur, but
still his empire extends from the west
ern limits OF Kordofan to Abyssinia
on the east. and embraces about
100000 square miles. During the thir-
teen years he has controlled the des-
TIMES of the Egyptian Soudan it is es-
timated that nearly three-fifths Of its
inhabitants have persisted through war
and famine. Constant warfare has
greatly diminished the male popula-
ton.