The present ruler of Darfur is Sultan Ali Dinar, a grandson of Sultan Mohammed Fadl; he was kept a prisoner at Omdurman during the Mahdia. In September, 1898, immediately after the defeat of the Khalifa at Kereri, he escaped to his native country. He now pays an annual tribute to the Sudan Government by which he has been officially recognised as its Agent in Darfur.
| By kind permission of | M. Venieris, Khartoum. |
THE DARFUR MAHMAL PASSING THROUGH OMDURMAN, 1904.
Administration.The management of the internal affairs of the country is left almost entirely to the sultan, though the Sudan Government sends him instructions and advice on certain matters from time to time as occasion arises. His judgments on all administrative questions are based on a combination of the Sharia Mohammedia and common law.
Army.The sultan maintains an army, organised on Dervish lines, of some 6,000 rifles, mostly of a more or less antiquated description. In case of need he could probably mobilise upwards of 2,000 horsemen. His chief commanders are Mohammed Ali Dedingawi, Adam Rijal, and Kamar El Din. The greater part of the army is quartered at El Fasher: the principal outlying garrison (about 500 men) is at Jebel El Hella on the Fasher-Obeid road.
Communications.Though in 1874 it took Colonel Mason, with a large caravan, from 100 to 150 days to reach Fasher from Cairo, nowadays a letter from Cairo could reach Fasher in 30 days without any difficulty.
In the old days the telegraph extended to Foga, now the furthest point to which it is proposed at present to extend it is Nahud, which is on the western frontier of Kordofan, and about 10 days’ camel ride from El Fasher.
(1) With Omdurman.There are two routes from Omdurman to El Fasher. That most generally used is viâ El Obeid, Nahud, and Jebel El Hella. The other, which has hitherto been avoided by merchants owing to the number of robbers in the neighbourhood of Kaja Katul, and Serrug, lies to the north of El Obeid, and, after passing the two above-mentioned places, joins the El Obeid-Nahud route at Jebel El Hella. Both are described in the route reports in [ Vol. II.]
(2) With Wadai.There are three routes from Fasher to Abesher, the capital of Wadai. The direct road known as Sikkat El Masalat passes viâ Kebkebia (Darfur) and Bir Tawil to Abesher. This is not much used, in fact Ali Dinar has forbidden merchants or pilgrims to use either this or the northern route, as at Kebkebia there is a Fiki named Senin who has defied all the sultan’s efforts to induce him to tender his submission, and this road is consequently unsafe.