326Key Figures in Sudanese History,
Culture & Politics
Abdallahi al-Taisha (1846–1899). The Khalifa. Muhammad Ahmad
al-Mahdi’s successor (khalifa) as leader of the Mahdist movement. Born
in Darfur, he was one of Muhammad Ahmad’s earliest followers and
became the leader of the ‘Black Flag’ division of the Mahdist army. He
ruled Sudan from al-Mahdi’s death in 1885 until the Anglo-Egyptian
defeat of the Mahdist army at the Battle of Omdurman at Kerreri in- As ruler of the Mahdist state, he consolidated his position by
bringing Baggara, especially his Taisha kinsmen, from Darfur to resettle
in Omdurman and by awarding the most important offices of state to his
relatives. He established a centralized administration but spent most of
his thirteen-year reign struggling to suppress insurrections, especially
in the west, and to see off challenges to his position as Khalifa from
members of the Mahdi family. He continued to pursue the Mahdi’s jihad
beyond the borders of Sudan with mixed success: in 1889 he defeated the
Abyssinian monarch but his ill-conceived invasion of Egypt was defeated
the same year. He fled from Omdurman after the Battle of Omdurman in
1898 and was killed a year later at the battle of Umm Diwaykarat, near
the present-day town of Kosti.
AbdEl Khaliq MahGoub (1927–1971). Marxist theorist and Secre-
tary-General of the Sudanese Communist Party until his death. Born in
Omdurman, he was introduced to communism while completing his
studies at Fouad University in Egypt. After being dismissed from the
university for his political activities in 1948, he returned to Sudan and
became the Secretary-General of the Sudanese Communist Party. As
leader of the SCP he was arrested under Ibrahim Abboud’s military
regime. A longtime advocate of democracy and broad-based political
The Sudan Handbook, edited by John Ryle, Justin Willis, Suliman Baldo and Jok Madut Jok. © 2011 Rift Valley Institute and contributors mobilization, he reluctantly joined the May Revolution that brought
(www.riftvalley.net).