Mahdist State

Mahdist State
الدولة المهدية (Arabic)
Al-Dawla al-Mahdiyah
1885–1899
Red, defaced with a blue rectangle, defaced with a smaller salmon rectangle, defaced with black arabic text
One of the flags of the Mahdi movement; most Mahdist flags varied in color but were similar to this one in their style.[1]
Mahdist Sudan's approximate territory in 1894
Mahdist Sudan's approximate territory in 1894
StatusUnrecognized state
CapitalOmdurman
Common languages
Religion
Islam
GovernmentIslamic state
Mahdi 
• 1881–1885
Muhammad Ahmad
Khalifa 
• 1885–1899
Abdallahi ibn Muhammad
LegislatureShura council[2]
Historical eraScramble for Africa
1881–1885
26 January 1885
• Sudan Convention
18 January 1899
24 November 1899
• Fall of Sanin Husain's holdout
1909
Population
• Pre-Mahdist[3]
7,000,000
• Post-Mahdist[3]
2,000,000–3,000,000
Currency
ISO 3166 codeSD
Preceded by		 Succeeded by
Turco-Egyptian Sudan
Anglo-Egyptian Sudan
Sultanate of Darfur
Today part ofSudan
South Sudan

The Mahdist State, also known as Mahdist Sudan or the Sudanese Mahdiyya, was a state based on a religious and political movement launched in 1881 by Muhammad Ahmad bin Abdullah (later Muhammad al-Mahdi) against the Khedivate of Egypt, which had ruled Sudan since 1821. After four years of struggle, the Mahdist rebels overthrew the Ottoman-Egyptian administration and established their own "Islamic and national" government with its capital in Omdurman. Thus, from 1885 the Mahdist government maintained sovereignty and control over the Sudanese territories until its existence was terminated by the Anglo-Egyptian forces in 1898.

Mohammed Ahmed al-Mahdi enlisted the people of Sudan in what he declared a jihad against the administration that was based in Khartoum, which was dominated by Egyptians and Turks. The Khartoum government initially dismissed the Mahdi's revolution; he defeated two expeditions sent to capture him in the course of a year. The Mahdi's power increased, and his call spread throughout Sudan, with his movement becoming known as the Ansar. During the same period, the 'Urabi revolution broke out in Egypt, with the British occupying the country in 1882. Britain appointed Charles Gordon as General-Governor of Sudan. Months after his arrival in Khartoum and after several battles with the Mahdi rebels, Mahdist forces captured Khartoum, and Gordon was killed in his palace. The Mahdi did not live long after this victory, and his successor Abdallahi ibn Muhammad consolidated the new state, with administrative and judiciary systems based on their interpretation of Islamic law. The Coptic Christians, who composed a substantial portion of the country's population, were forced to convert to Islam.[5]

Sudan's economy was destroyed during the Mahdist War and famine, war and disease reduced the population by more than half.[6] Muhammad Ahmad al-Mahdi declared all people who did not accept him as the awaited Mahdi to be infidels (kafir), ordered their killing and took their women and property.[7][failed verification]

The British reconquered Sudan in 1898, ruling it after that in theory as a condominium with Egypt but in practice as a colony. However, remnants of the Mahdist State held out in Darfur until 1909.

  1. ^ Knight 2005, p. 37.
  2. ^ Sidahmed & Sidahmed 2005, p. 17: "The Mahdist administration centred around the person of the Khalifa Abdullah, both as the ultimate authority as well as the prime mover of the administrative system and initiator of policy. It has been noted that the Khalifa used to consult with his closest aides (such as his brother Ya'qub, and son 'Uthman Shaykh al-Din), and occasionally call for a meeting of the 'State Council'—apparently an advisory council—to which the Mahdi's surviving companions were invited."
  3. ^ a b Metelits, Claire (2009). Inside Insurgency: Violence, Civilians, and Revolutionary Group Behavior. New York University Press. p. 37. ISBN 978-0-8147-9578-1. Estimates cite that the population of Sudan fell from seven million before the Mahdist revolt to between two and three million after the end of the Mahdist era.
  4. ^ a b Abu Shouk, Ahmad Ibrahim; Bjørkelo, Anders, eds. (1996). "A note on currencies". The Public Treasury of the Muslims: Monthly Budgets of the Mahdist State in the Sudan, 1897. The Ottoman Empire and its heritage, v. 5. E. J. Brill. pp. xvii–xviii. ISBN 978-90-04-10358-0.
  5. ^ Minority Rights Group International, World Directory of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples - Sudan : Copts, 2008, available at: http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/49749ca6c.html Archived 17 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine [accessed 21 December 2010]
  6. ^ White 2011, "Mahdi Revolt" entry. "Most history books skip the next fifteen years because the British weren't involved" et seq.
  7. ^ Nicoll 2005.