The Mahdist State in the Sudan, 1881-1898: A Study of Its Origins, Development and Overthrow

315 Pages·1970·8.771 MB·English

by  P.M. Holt

THE
MAHDIST STATE
IN THE SUDAN

THE
MAHDIST STATE
IN THE SUDAN
I88M898
A STUDY OF ITS ORIGINS
DEVELOPMENT AND OVERTHROW
BY
P. M. HOLT
Professor of Arab History mi the University of London
SECOND EDITION
CLARENDON PRESS • OXFORD
1970
Oxford University Press, Ely Heme, London W. i
GLASGOW NBW YORK TORONTO MELBOURNE WELLINGTON
CAPETOWN SALISBURY IBADAN NAIROBI DAE BS 8ALAAM LUSAKA ADDIS ABABA
BOMBAT CALCUTTA MADRAS KARACHI LAHORE DACCA
KUALA LUMPUR SINGAPORE HONG KONG TOKYO
©OXFORD UNIVBR8ITY PRB88 1958, 1970
FIRST EDITION 1958
8BCOND EDITION 1970
PRINTED IN ORBAT BRITAIN
BY BUTLBR & TANNBR LTD
FROMB AND LONDON
PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION
N the twelve years since this book was written, the history of
the Sudan in the Mahdist period has been the subject of a
good deal of study. The appearance of a second edition
seemed, therefore, an appropriate time to revise the text in the
light of fuller information. Apart from short insertions and cor­
rections of detail, I have completely rewritten the section on
The Mahdist Idea* (pp. 22-31) and the Bibliography (pp. 267-77),
and have greatly expanded the sections on 'The Mahdi’s Pro­
paganda' (pp. 105-16) and 'The Khalifa and thejihäd’ (pp. 146-
152). In footnotes to the citations from the Mahdi’s writings, I
have, wherever possible, given references to the textus recepta» pub­
lished by Dr. Abu Selim as Manshürät al-Imäm al-Mahdt.
During recent years, I have had the agreeable duty of reading
theses on various aspects of the Mahdia by Sudanese scholars,
who have kindly allowed me to make use of their findings. My
thanks are due to Sayeds Musa El Mubarak, Salah El Tigani
Humodi and Abdel Wahab Ahmed Abdel Rahman, who have
enabled me to correct some particulars in my accounts of Darfur
and of the activities of al-Khatim Músa, 'Uthmin Diqna and al-
Nujümï. Dr. Salih Mohammad Nur worked under my super­
vision, and to our mutual profit, on the Memoirs of Yusuf
Mikhä’il. To Dr. Abu Selim, I am indebted in many ways, and
(like all students of the Mahdia) welcome the recent publication
of his calendar of the Mahdi’s writings, al-Murshid ilä toathffiq
al-Mahdi.
Two comprehensive and authoritative contributions to the
subject are: Dr. Robert O. Collins’s study of developments in
the south, The southern Sudan 1883-1898, and Professor G. N.
Sanderson’s impressive analysis of European diplomacy concerning
the region, England, Europe and the Upper Nile, 1882-1899.
On both these aspects, I have left my original brief account as
it was, while directing attention to these fuller works.
Finally, I wish to express my gratitude to the following for
allowing me to use excerpts from my articles as shown:
The Editorial Board of the Bulletin of the School of Oriental and
vi
PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION
African Studies, London (‘The Sudanese Mahdia and the
outside world: 1881-9*, BSOAS, xxi/2, 1958, 276-90).
Messrs. Chatto and Windus, London (The source- materials of
the Sudanese Mahdia*, St. Antony’s Papers, No. 4: Middle
Eastern Affairs, No. j, 1958).
The Editor of Archives, London (The Mahdist archives and
related documents*, Archives, v, 28, 1962, 193-200).
P. M. H.
South Heath, Bucks.
July 1969
PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION
The purpose of this book is to examine the origins of the
Mahdist movement, to trace the stages by which the Mahdi
Muhammad Ahmad and his followers succeeded in over­
throwing the Egyptian administration in the Sudan, and to outline
the course of events in what has hitherto been an obscure period be­
tween the death of General Gordon in 1885 and Kitchener's advance
upon Dongola in 1896. Much has been written upon the Mahdia in
relation to Egyptian history or as an interlude in the story of British
imperialism in Africa, but there has been little detailed study of the
nature of the movement or of the Sudanese state which it created.
I have tried to view the Mahdia against its Sudanese and Islamic
background, as well as in the setting of Egyptian and British history,
and to examine it as a development of intrinsic historical interest.
Although the circumstances in which it arose were produced re­
motely by the extension of Turco-Egyptian rule up the Nile valley,
and more directly by the increasing influence of Britain during the
reigns of the khédives Ismâ'ïl, and Tawfiq, the importance of the
Mahdia is not merely contingent upon its place in Egyptian or
British imperial history.
Until recently the study of the internal history of the Mahdia
was hampered by lack of documentation, since the existence in
Khartoum of the copious archives of the Mahdist state was not
generally known. To these I was granted unrestricted access by
the Sudan government between 1951 and 1955. These Mahdist
documents are so numerous that in the time at my disposal I could
not hope to exploit them to the full. The present work is essentially
a preliminary historical study, susceptible of much amplification in
the light of further research on the materials in Khartoum. Since
I have been concerned chiefly to supplement our knowledge of
developments within the Mahdist Sudan, I have said little beyond
what was strictly necessary to the narrative concerning the inter­
national events and rivalry of imperialisms which ultimately deter­
mined the course of history in the Nile valley. I have also dealt
lightly with the military history of the conflicts between Mahdist
and Anglo-Egyptian forces, since much has already been written
on the Relief Expedition, the operations in the Suakin region,
• ••
VU1 PREFACE TO THE FIR8T EDITION
and the Reconquest itself. Finally, I have tried to set in context
well-known episodes such as Gordon’s last mission to Khartoum,
which have tended to assume a disproportionate place in accounts
of the period.
In the spelling of Arabic names I have preferred classical forms
both to Sudanese colloquialisms or to European corruptions. To
this there are some exceptions in regard to place-names. The names
of larger towns (i.e. provincial headquarters and above) are given
in the conventional form, e.g. El Obeid for al-Ubayyid, Khartoum
for al-Khaitüm. I have retained the characteristic colloquial vowel-
ling of the diminutive, e.g. in al-Qitayna for al-Qufayna. Arabic
personal names have been rigorously transcribed from the classical
form, thus TJthmän Diqna takes the place of the traditional English
spelling, Osman Digna. The colloquial toad (for toalad, ‘son of)
is generally omitted in conformity with current Sudanese practice
but appears, abbreviated to to., in a few names. In the names of
some notables the classical equivalent, ihn, is used in contemporary
documents and I have followed this usage, abbreviating the word
to b.y e.g. for the Khalifa 'All b. Muhammad Bilfl, whose name
has appeared in most English works as 'Ali wad Uilü. In my spelling
of non-Arabic names I cannot claim to have been systematic but
have used a recognized conventional form. Where a name has an
arabicized form, I have preferred this to the conventional, e.g. al-
Rajjâf for Rejaf.
With regard to the conversion of hijríya into Gregorian dates
it should be noted that a discrepancy of one day appears between
hijríya dates in the Sudan and Egypt during this period. Thus the
death of the Mahdia is given in the Mahdist documents as 8 Rama­
dan 1302, elsewhere as 9 Ramadan. Shoucair has noted this dis­
crepancy (Tttrikh, iii, 358; Dietrich, 266) but as I cannot determine
the point at which it began nor whether it continued throughout
the Mahdia, I have not allowed for it in converting dates derived
from Mahdist documents.
My thanks are due to all who have assisted me in the preparation
of this book: in the first place to the Sudan government and its
officials, both Sudanese and British; to the authorities of the
School of Oriental and African Studies in the University of London,
who provided me with the opportunity to write the book; and to
the trustees of the Leverhulme Research Awards, who made a
grant towards its completion. Professor Sir Hamilton Gibb super-
IX
PREFACE TO THE FIR8T EDITION
vised my early research. Mr. E. F. Aglen and Mr. H. C. Jackson
(both formerly of die Sudan Political Service) and Lieut.-Col.
C. E. Hamill-Stewart lent material for my research. Professor B.
Lewis and Mr. A. H. Hourani read my drafts and aided me with
their comments. To all these I would express my gratitude.
Finally, I received much encouragement and assistance in the early
days of my research from three of my former colleagues in the
Sudan, Mr. A. B. Theobald and Mr. M. Jolliffe, both of the
University of Khartoum, and Mr. P. J. Sandison, formerly of the
Sudan Political Service.
P. M. H.
South Heath, Bucks.
August IQ57