CONQUEST OF DARFUR, 1874.
Conquest of Darfur, 1874.During the year 1874 an important addition was made to the Egyptian possessions in the shape of the Province of Darfur.
Gordon writes:—“Dar For and Dar Fertit mean the land of the Fors and the land of the Fertits. The Fors and the Fertits were the original negro inhabitants; then came in the Beduin tribes, who partially conquered the country and made the Fors Mussulmans, giving them a Sultan. The Fors and the Beduin tribes, the one stationary and the other nomadic, live in peace, for their habits are different.”
The country of Darfur had never been subjugated, but had been governed by its own Sultans in unbroken succession for more than 400 years.[157] The inhabitants were not of the true negro type, and the numerous wandering Arab tribes paid tribute to the Sultan and formed the bulk of his fighting men. Darfur enjoyed the celebrity not only as a centre of commerce, but also as a large slave depôt, a fact which appears from the following correspondence which passed between Bonaparte and Sultan Abd-el-Rahman, surnamed “the Just.” During the French expedition to Egypt, “the Just” wrote to Bonaparte “In the name of God the compassionate, the merciful,” saying he was glad to hear that he had conquered the Mamelukes. The reply was as follows:—“Au Sultan du Darfour, 12 Messidor, an VII, au nom de Dieu, clément et miséricordieux, il n’y a d’autre Dieu que Dieu! au Sultan du Dar-fur Abd-el-Rahmân.
“J’ai reçu votre lettre: j’en ai compris le contenu; lorsque votre caravane est arrivée j’étais absent ayant été en Syrie pour punir et détruire nos ennemis. Je vous prie de m’envoyer par la première caravane 2,000 esclaves noirs ayant plus de 16 ans, forts et vigoureux: je les achèterai pour mon compte. Ordonnez votre caravane de venir de suite, de ne pas s’arrêter en route: je donne les ordres pour qu’elle soit protégée partout.
Le Général-en-Chef Bonaparte.”
Bellal’s expedition to Bahr El Ghazal destroyed by Zubeir, 1869.Dating from the days of Mohammed Ali’s expeditions, Darfur was in constant dread of Egyptian aggression, and the country was practically closed to all Europeans, who were regarded as spies. For many generations Darfur had sent annually a caravan containing ivory, feathers, gum, slaves, etc., to Egypt, bringing back in exchange cloth, beads, firearms, etc. In 1874, the slave trade having been stopped in Egyptian territory, the Governor of the Sudan seized all the slaves belonging to the caravan of that year; this was one of the causes which led to a rupture with the Sultan of Darfur.
In 1869 the power of the slave dealers in the Bahr El Ghazal had become so great that they refused to pay their rentals to the Egyptian Government. Conspicuous among them was a certain Zubeir Rahama, who, according to Dr. Schweinfurth, lived in princely style and was regarded as a kind of king.
With the object of re-establishing his authority in the Bahr El Ghazal provinces, and also of conquering Darfur, the Khedive sent a small force under the command of Bellal. This force was destroyed by Zubeir, who became the chief power in the country. The Sultan of Darfur, in the meantime, to meet Bellal’s threatened attack, had placed an embargo on corn along his southern frontier. This incensed the slave traders, who drew their supplies from Darfur, and a further cause of quarrel was the invasion of Bahr El Ghazal territory by Darfur troops in pursuit of slaves. Zubeir accordingly prepared for an invasion of the province. The Egyptian Government, seeing the danger of his acquiring fresh strength, determined upon taking the conquest into their own hands, giving out as a pretext that the repeated hostile expeditions of the Sultan had made it necessary to occupy Darfur. Two expeditions were accordingly organised—one from the north under the command of Ismail Yagub Pasha, and one from the south under Zubeir. In one of the ensuing battles the Sultan and two of his sons were killed, and Darfur fell into Egyptian hands. Zubeir was made a pasha, but he claimed a right to be made governor-general of the new province, and his acknowledged power was likely to make him formidable. His request, however, was refused, and though at first he intended to assert his independence, he, in the end, decided to push his claim at Cairo. Here he was, however, detained,[158] his son, Suleiman, of whom more hereafter, meanwhile taking his place in the provinces.
Exploration of Darfur and Kordofan, 1874.Darfur having thus become an Egyptian province, the Khedive sent out two scientific expeditions, composed of staff officers and attachés, to report on the capabilities of the country. These left Cairo on the 5th December, 1874: one, under Colonel Purdy, was to enter Darfur on its northern frontier; the other under Colonel Colston, by the east from Kordofan. The latter expedition was afterwards commanded by Major Prout, when Colston was incapacitated by sickness. Reports of these expeditions were compiled by the Egyptian General staff.