Ten Years' Captivity in the Mahdi's Camp 1882-1892

by Josef Ohrwalder; Sir F. R. Wingate

Thus ended the Mahdi—a man who left behind him a hundred thousand murdered men, women, and children, hundreds of devastated towns and villages, poverty, and famine. Upon his devoted head lies the curse of his people whom he had forced into a wild and fanatical war, which brought indescribable ruin upon the country, and which exposed his countrymen to the rule of a cruel tyrant, from whom it was impossible to free themselves.

Before his death, the Mahdi had nominated the Khalifa Abdullah as his successor; he saw that this was the only man capable of holding in check the rapacious Sudanese tribes, and of governing the strange empire which he had raised; but the selection of this "foreigner" was a bitter disappointment to the Danagla and Jaalin, who, hitherto rulers, had now to become the ruled; and from whose hands their authority was transferred to the cruel and tyrannical Baggaras, who henceforth became the conquerors of the Sudan, and who governed its inhabitants with a rod of iron.

In nominating the Khalifa Abdullah, the Mahdi threw the firebrand of discord amongst the hitherto united ranks of Mahdieh, and thereby greatly weakened his cause. It was hard for the Mahdi to die, just when he had established an empire stretching from the Bahr el Ghazal to Egypt, and from Darfur to the Red Sea; he had neither had the time nor the inclination to try and govern it; his mission had been the destruction of all existing forms of government; and he had carried it out to the letter.

Immediately after the Mahdi's death, the Khalifa Abdullah summoned a meeting, and then and there insisted on the two Khalifas and the Ashraf acknowledging him as the Khalifat el Mahdi (or Mahdi's successor). After a long discussion it was at length agreed to, and he gave a solemn assurance that he would follow absolutely in the Mahdi's footsteps. Just at this time the agitation was too great for him to think of introducing the selfish and ambitious plans which he had already formulated. Moreover, Sennar and Kassala were still holding out; it was therefore the first necessary step to be most conciliating on all sides, and to all parties.

The Mahdi's name was still paramount in inspiring fanaticism; and therefore the Khalifa's watchword became "Ed din mansur" (Religion is victorious); thus he sought to establish unity and concord by means of the new religion which the Mahdi had founded, and which, now that its originator was dead, he sought to make unassailable.

Nevertheless, discord very soon sprang up. The Khalifa Sherif and the Ashraf were furious at being out of power, and they could not long conceal their discontent. Each Khalifa now did his utmost to show his independence of the other; each of them rode about in Omdurman in the greatest splendour, as if he were a king, and ordered his own great war-drum to be beaten. Jealousy, hatred, and discontent spread rapidly amongst the people; and soon Omdurman was divided into two distinct camps: Khalifas Sherif and Ali Wad Helu in the one, and Khalifa Abdullah in the other.

Both parties now prepared for battle. Abdullah had the Baggaras and blacks, under Fadl Maula (Abu Anga's brother). There were frequent disputes in the market-place; and every day it was thought a fight must take place. At length matters reached such a stage that Abdullah challenged the two other Khalifas to fight on the open plain, on which the great reviews usually take place, just outside the town.

The two parties collected their entire forces; but it was evident the Baggaras were by far the stronger; and as they marched out they shouted "Môt el Gellaba" ("Death to the Gellabas!" i.e. the Danagla, in contradistinction to the Baggara). Khalifa Wad Helu now acted the part of mediator, and went across to confer with Abdullah; the troops of the latter were drawn up in battle-array, and quite prepared for the fray. Khalifa Sherif feared to enter the lists alone, and therefore he submitted; he was obliged to hand over his soldiers, arms, ammunition, flags, and war-drums, which Abdullah took possession of, and was allowed to retain only fifty men, with firearms, as a bodyguard.

Thus Abdullah constituted himself the one and only ruler, and showed that he was quite resolved to allow no one else to share his authority with him. Gradually he reduced the power of the two other Khalifas and of the Ashraf, and in a short time they became men of little influence. The Mahdi's two uncles, Abdel Karim and Abdel Kader, who showed the most open and violent animosity, were at once thrown into chains, their houses destroyed, and themselves declared enemies of the Mahdi; and, as we shall presently relate, he ordered Abu Anga to secure Zogal and put him in prison.

Whilst all these disturbances were going on in Omdurman, the two places, Sennar and Kassala, in which Government troops were still holding out, were now in the greatest straits; and I will here give a brief account of the events which occurred.