The Mahdi
Mahdi from Wikipedia
A Mahdi is a Moslem mystic. For this, we are only concerned with the Sudanese man Mohammed Ahmed, who rose in the 19th Century.
In the movie Khartoum, the Mahdi was played by Sir Laurence Olivier. This was the first time I had ever heard of him. Today, you would consider him a terrorist. His war back then did have legitimacy, however. He was fighting to rid the Sudan of Egyptian officials who were stealing it blind.
In the White Nile, Alan Moorehead states that the desert climate of Northern and Central Sudan is so hot and stultifying, men become torpid and dreamlike. I live in a desert. The Sonoran Desert is not as severe as the Sudan, but you can sit here and be moved in some ways by the heat. The Prophet Mohammed lived in a similar setting just across the Red Sea. Mohammed Ahmed had a good voice and was a skilled preacher, so men rose to join him. He then defeated a 10,000 man army led by a British general named Hicks.
Besides running the Egyptians out, the Mahdi wanted a strict Islamic Government run by Sharia. (Sounds familiar in our times? See separate post on Sharia).
General Gordon was only supposed to get the foreigners out of Khartoum before it was cut off. Gordon disobeyed orders and died for his pains. The British public never forgave Gladstone, who went from being known as the G.O.M. (Grand Old Man) to M.O.G. (Murderer of Gordon).
Mohammed Ahmed's victory was short lived. He died of Typhus six months later, however his chief lieutenant ran Sudan until 1898 and the Battle of Omdurman.
The Mahdist Revolt still colors what goes on in the Sudan now. Mohammed Ahmed's great grandson was running the place recently. The religious fight goes back to those times.
A Mahdi is a Moslem mystic. For this, we are only concerned with the Sudanese man Mohammed Ahmed, who rose in the 19th Century.
In the movie Khartoum, the Mahdi was played by Sir Laurence Olivier. This was the first time I had ever heard of him. Today, you would consider him a terrorist. His war back then did have legitimacy, however. He was fighting to rid the Sudan of Egyptian officials who were stealing it blind.
In the White Nile, Alan Moorehead states that the desert climate of Northern and Central Sudan is so hot and stultifying, men become torpid and dreamlike. I live in a desert. The Sonoran Desert is not as severe as the Sudan, but you can sit here and be moved in some ways by the heat. The Prophet Mohammed lived in a similar setting just across the Red Sea. Mohammed Ahmed had a good voice and was a skilled preacher, so men rose to join him. He then defeated a 10,000 man army led by a British general named Hicks.
Besides running the Egyptians out, the Mahdi wanted a strict Islamic Government run by Sharia. (Sounds familiar in our times? See separate post on Sharia).
General Gordon was only supposed to get the foreigners out of Khartoum before it was cut off. Gordon disobeyed orders and died for his pains. The British public never forgave Gladstone, who went from being known as the G.O.M. (Grand Old Man) to M.O.G. (Murderer of Gordon).
Mohammed Ahmed's victory was short lived. He died of Typhus six months later, however his chief lieutenant ran Sudan until 1898 and the Battle of Omdurman.
The Mahdist Revolt still colors what goes on in the Sudan now. Mohammed Ahmed's great grandson was running the place recently. The religious fight goes back to those times.
posted by CactusCorner at 12:09 AM
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