Muhammed Ahmed

Muhammad Ahmad al-Mahdi
Ruler of Sudan
Artistic representation of Muhammad Ahmad al-Mahdi.
Reign	1881-1885
Successor	Abdallahi ibn Muhammad 'Khalifa'
Born	(1844-08-12)August 12, 1844 Labab Island, Dongola
Died	June 22, 1885(1885-06-22) (aged 40) Khartoum, Sudan
Burial	Omdurman, Sudan
Full name Muhammad Ahmad bin Abd Allah
Religion	Islam

Muhammad Ahmad bin Abd Allah ^[1] (12 August 1845 – 22 June 1885) was a religious leader of the Sufi Samaniyya order in Sudan. On 29 June 1881, he proclaimed himself as the Mahdi or messianic redeemer of the Islamic faith.

His proclamation came during a period of widespread resentment among the Arabic part of the Sudanese population. They resented the oppressive policies of their Turco-Egyptian rulers (who were also muslims).

There were messianic beliefs among the various Sudanese religious sects of the time. There were earlier Mahdist movements in West Africa, and Wahhabism and other puritanical forms of Islamic revivalism. The root cause of this was the growing military and economic dominance of the European powers throughout the 19th century.

The British influenced the Sudan, and had claimed it as a "Joint Anglo-Egyptian Condominion". In general, the British were behind the rule of the Khedives of the Muhammad Ali Pasha dynasty in Egypt.^[2] At the time of the Mahdi, Egypt and the Sudan were ruled jointly by Tewfik Pasha as recognised by the Ottoman Empire, and by the British. Britain's claim to the Sudan led to British forces being sent there after the Mahdi had beaten the forces of the Khedive. The British government appointed General Charles George Gordon ("Gordon pasha") to be Governor General of the Sudan, and that led to his famous death in Khartoum at the hands of the Mahdi's forces.^[3]

From his announcement of the Mahdiyya in June 1881 until the fall of Khartoum in January 1885, Muhammad Ahmad led a successful military campaign against the Turco-Egyptian government of the Sudan. The fighting ended with the death of Gordon in Khartoum. After Muhammad Ahmad's unexpected death on 22 June 1885, only six months after the conquest of Khartoum, his chief deputy took over the administration of the Sudan. Churchill says they had by then killed all the people capable of running the country.

1. ↑ Arabic: محمد أحمد المهدي
2. ↑ Hassan H. 2000. In the House of Muhammad Ali: a family album, 1805–1952. American University in Cairo Press. ISBN 978-977-424-554-1. OCLC 45016821
3. ↑ Nicoll, Fergus 2004. The Sword of the Prophet: the Mahdi of Sudan and the death of General Gordon. The History Press. ISBN 978-0-7509-3299-8