The Sudan Handbook

314 thE sudan handbook

the quest for slaves and gold. The last Funj Sultan, Badi IV,
surrenders without resistance.
1825 Uthman Bey, the Turco-Egyptian Governor-General of
Sudan, founds Khartoum at the confluence of the Blue and
White Niles.
1839–1841 Muhammad Ali sends an expedition to find the source
of the Nile. On the second attempt, the expedition
successfully navigates through the Sudd.
1854 Viceroy Said Pasha orders an end to the slave-trade in
Sudan. A post at Fashoda, the southern limit of Turco-
Egyptian rule, is established to stop the transport of slaves
down the White Nile, but with little success.
1869–73 Turco-Egyptian boundaries extend to include new
provinces of Equatoria, annexed by Samuel Baker, and Bahr
al-Ghazal, formally annexed by the appointment of Zubayr
Rahma Mansur as Governor, in recognition of his control
over an extensive slave-trading empire in western Bahr al-
Ghazal.
1874 Zubayr Rahma Mansur, as Governor of Bahr al-Ghazal,
invades Darfur, overthrowing the Fur Sultanate.
1881 Muhammad Ahmad publicly proclaims in Aba Island that
he is the Mahdi. Government troops are sent to Aba Island
to apprehend him but are repulsed by his followers.
1882 Political and financial instability in Egypt. Britain occupies
Egypt to safeguard its imperial interests.
1883 The Mahdi and his followers attack El-Obeid. After a four-
month siege, the city’s garrison surrenders. The Mahdist
revolt continues to spread. An Egyptian expeditionary force
of 10,000 soldiers led by Colonel William Hicks, a British
officer, is sent to destroy the Mahdi but is massacred at
Shaykan, south of El-Obeid.
1884 General Charles Gordon travels to Khartoum to organize
the evacuation of Egyptian residents but, contrary to
orders, stays to defend the city.
1885 Mahdists capture Khartoum, beheading General
Gordon, and conquer Darfur. The Mahdi dies of illness
and is succeeded by Khalifa Abdullahi who rules from
The Sudan Handbook, edited by John Ryle, Justin Willis, Suliman Baldo and Jok Madut Jok. © 2011 Rift Valley Institute and contributors Omdurman.

(www.riftvalley.net).