The Mahdi's Return

In 1884 a Sudanese boatman, turned religious seer, involved the British Empire in a sticky little war. Mohamed Ahmed, who had declared himself the Mahdi, the long-awaited messiah of Islamic tradition, had whipped his dervish followers into a frenzied jihad (holy war) against the Sudan's Egyptian rulers. Since Egypt was under British occupation, Britain sent solemn, Bible-reading General Charles George ("Chinese") Gordon* to restore order. Instead, the fanatical dervishes bottled up the undermanned British garrison in Khartoum, hacked Gordon to death with their swords.

Thirteen years later, another British army, under General Horatio Herbert Kitchener (thenceforth known as K of K, Kitchener of Khartoum), set out to avenge Gordon. As the dervishes tried to cut their way out in a ferocious surge known as the Battle of Omdurman, a young cavalry officer named Winston Churchill got in the way, nearly lost his life. Dervish power was smashed.

Last week the dervish spirit was astir again in Khartoum. So was the Mahdi's son. Sir Sayed Abdul Rahman Mohamed Ahmed El Mahdi Pasha lacked his father's messianic complex. But he rode the wave of nationalism that was surging from North Africa to Indonesia. Sir Sayed threatened a second jihad if Egypt won its demand for outright annexation of the Sudan (now an Anglo-Egyptian condomimium).

Square Meter in Heaven. This time the British sided not with the Egyptians, but with the Mahdi. The British knew how deeply the Sudanese hate the Egyptians, who still call them Abed (slaves) in memory of the times when Sudanese tribesmen were sold down the river to the slave marts of Alexandria and Cairo. The British also knew the value to Britain of the Sudan under sympathetic native rule.

Common gratitude would ensure Sir Sayed Abdul Rahman's sympathy. The British had rescued him from his father's disgrace, restored his family lands, given him a splendid palace. They had given him lucrative Army contracts for wood. When El Mahdi Pasha promised his followers a square meter in Heaven for every meter of lumber they felled, fanatic Sudanese woodsmen chopped trees with as much zeal as if they had been infidel heads.

Last month Sir Sayed flew to London to present his case to Prime Minister Clement Attlee. In the British capital he attracted attention by carrying a lady's umbrella, established a reputation for generosity by tossing around -L-100 tips. At No. 10 Downing Street, he talked loudly about Sudanese independence, but added that no one would mind if the British stayed for a while to teach the Sudanese how to run the country.

Last week the Mahdi sat quietly in his villa, watching his tame cranes and awaiting the results of his mission. In Cairo, diplomats, hard at work on an Anglo-Egyptian treaty of alliance, were deadlocked over the Sudan's future. Probable compromise: the Sudan would be formally placed under the Egyptian crown, but actual administration would remain in the hands of the British (who would lay the groundwork for eventual self-government).

* Gordon had established his military reputation as a young colonel in command of the European-officered Chinese "Ever-Victorious Army" against the "Taiping" Rebellion. The rebel leader, Hung Hsiu-chuan, who declared himself brother of Christ, had revolted against the Manchu Dynasty to win Taiping--the Rule of Peace. Gordon, who characteristically went to battle armed only with a light cane, crushed the rebel, lion in two years of bloody fighting.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.