Darfur had, for the last four centuries, been governed by its native sultans, who had gradually extended their authority into Kordofan, and it was here that they first came into contact with the Egyptian Government. Mohammed Ali had sent his son Ismail Pasha to take possession of the Sudan, and whilst he was engaged in subduing the petty kings of Shendi and Halfaya, his general, Ahmed Bey Defterdar, had advanced from Dongola into Kordofan. This province was then administered by a Magdum appointed by Sultan Musallem, of Darfur, who, hearing of the advance of the "Turks," collected a large force, and awaited the invaders at Bara. Spies had told him that it would be impossible to fight the Turks, as they used fire; but the Magdum laughed at the idea, and said he had no fear of fire. Moreover, to prove his word, he had an immense quantity of thorns and brushwood collected, which he set fire to, and then ordered his cavalry to dash through it; these bold and fearless riders did so, and received no great harm. Thus did he impress his followers that they need have no fear of the Turks; but the good man had no notion of firearms and what they were. He met the attack of the Turks in the most heroic manner; but he and most of his followers fell, and the province became an Egyptian possession, though no steps were taken to establish a government there.
It was not until August 1874, that the bold slave-hunter Zubeir Pasha attacked and took the ancient kingdom of Shakka, and thus did Ismail Pasha extend the Egyptian authority over Darfur.
From that date the country knew no peace; there was a constant series of little wars. Slatin had fought no less than twenty-seven battles. Then after the defeat of Hicks Pasha came the Dervishes, and Zogal became Emir of Darfur, residing at El Fasher; but his rule was not peaceful. The Sultan Dudbenga was fought, overcome, and sent to Omdurman a prisoner in 1884; thence he was sent to Galabat, where he died. After this, Zogal was left undisturbed, and succeeded in accumulating a considerable amount of riches; but when the Mahdi died, Zogal, as we have seen, was summoned to Omdurman, and left Darfur in the hands of Sultan Yusef, Dudbenga's son; this sultan was entirely submissive to the Khalifa; and when Sheikh Madibbo, of the Rizighat tribe, revolted against Karamallah, the Dervish Emir of Bahr el Ghazal, and fled to Jebel Marra, Sultan Yusef took him prisoner, and sent him back to Karamallah, who passed him on to Abu Anga, by whom he was decapitated in El Obeid.
But Abdullah did not wish Darfur to continue in this semi-independent state; he therefore instructed Karamallah to raid the country from Dara. Yusef sent word, begging that their respective boundaries might be adhered to, but Karamallah only raided the more. In self-defence Yusef sent out his army, and thus a war broke out, which was just what Abdullah wanted. Yusef allied himself with Sultan Said, of Jebel Marra, and their combined forces defeated Ketenbur, who had been sent by Karamallah in command of a force.
In consequence of this disaster, Abdullah despatched his uncle, Osman Wad Adam (nick-named "Ganu"), with a strong force to Shakka, where he joined Karamallah. Yusef, fearing that he had been betrayed, sent a very strong force, and in the month of December a great battle took place, in which the Furs were almost annihilated, and it is said that Karamallah's brother, Kerkesawi, killed so many men with his sword that his right arm became bent.
Darfur once a prey to the bloodthirsty Dervishes, Osman Wad Adam continued his victorious march to El Fasher. Sultans Yusef and Zayid then fled to Jebel Marra, and sought the assistance of Sultan Jabrallah. Osman sent troops in pursuit. Yusef detached himself from Jabrallah and fled again, while Jabrallah betrayed and murdered the brave Zayid and sent his head to Osman. Shortly afterwards Yusef was captured, brought to El Fasher, and there decapitated. The heads of both these sultans eventually reached Omdurman, and were hung up beside the Abyssinian heads, where I saw them in January 1888.
After this the captor of Zayid returned to El Fasher, whilst Jabrallah, anticipating a great reward for his treacherous conduct, was sent with his five sons to see the Khalifa in Omdurman. He was allowed his liberty for a time, but having once attempted to escape, he and his sons were thrown into chains; four of the latter died in prison, and just before I escaped I saw the unfortunate Jabrallah and his surviving son in a pitiable state in the streets of Omdurman.
For the second time Darfur had now become a Dervish province, under the direction of Osman Wad Adam. The Khalifa believed that all opposition was over, and that he had nothing to fear from that direction. Indeed, the majority of the inhabitants had been killed, and the few surviving sheikhs had taken refuge in the Dar Tama and Masalit districts; but they did not remain inactive; there were constant meetings, in which they discussed how they should rid themselves of these "enemies of Islam," as they called the Dervishes.
The Masalit people are savage and cruel to a degree; they are in the habit of making waterskins out of the skins of their slain enemies. Slatin Bey told me that when in Darfur he had two of these skins—of a male and a female—which he had kept as curios. Some of the Darfur sheikhs had gone as far as to apply to the Sultan of Borgo for help, but he had refused to interfere in any way with Mahdieh. Then a man suddenly appeared amongst the Masalit about whose origin little was known; he represented himself as the arch-enemy of the hated Dervishes, who, under the guise of Mohammedanism, robbed, plundered, ravished, and murdered all they could lay their hands on.
Such influence did this fiki, or religious teacher, gain over the superstitious masses of the west that some said he must be the true Mahdi; others said he was the fourth Khalifa (Osman); then again many said he was the celebrated Sheikh es Senussi, the great religious head of all the North African tribes, and whose influence has extended far into Central Africa. Several asserted that he was merely a delegate from the great Senussi.