Religious PRactice & belief 95was, understandably, very sensitive to religious questions. It gave what
support it could to the more orthodox and conservative forms of Islam
wherever these were already established in the country. Any signs of
continuing Mahdism or other Muslim ‘fanaticism’ were thoroughly inves-
tigated, and various charismatic figures, such as claimants to the title of
nabi Isa – part of a millennial expectation of the coming ‘prophet Jesus’,
which was a problem for the British in the western Sudan especially after
the conquest of Darfur – were kept under control. The old Sufi tariqas
did re-emerge, while the Mahdi’s own followers in the Ansar became
something like a Sufi order themselves, but rarely caused concern to the
government.
In the south, however, the influential religious leaders of the Nilotic
peoples, especially those whom later scholarship described as ‘prophets’,
were the object of extreme suspicion and regarded as rebels, or potential
rebels, against government rule. The Nuer prophet Guek, for example,
son of the prophet Ngundeng, was killed by British-led forces in a punitive
campaign which was the direct outcome of this suspicion in 1929, and
his body hung on a tree as a warning to others. Everywhere the govern-
ment sought those they deemed legitimate tribal chiefs, as distinct from
charismatic ritual figures, as the true leaders of the people.
Under British administration Christian missionary organizations
were welcomed, though under considerable restrictions. They were
allocated spheres of influence where it was assumed they would not be
a provocation to Muslim feelings: across the south, below the Twelfth
Parallel, and later in parts of the Nuba Hills. Very broadly, the Roman
Catholic sphere occupied the country west of a line drawn from Tembura
to Meshra-al-Rek and then from there along the west bank of the Nile
to just north of Kodok (Fashoda). The American Mission (Presbyterian)
was assigned the east bank of the Nile from Kodok to west of Tonga,
together with the hinterland north and south of the Sobat River all
the way to the frontier with Abyssinia. The Anglican CMS had all the
intermediate country south toward the frontier, except for the east bank
of the Nile south of the Fifth Parallel which had been a part of Uganda.The Sudan Handbook, edited by John Ryle, Justin Willis, Suliman Baldo and Jok Madut Jok. © 2011 Rift Valley Institute and contributors The^ latter^ area^ was^ a^ free^ zone^ between^ spheres^ of^ influence,^ but^ had^
(www.riftvalley.net).