Mahdi trilogy

Muhammad Ahmad al-Mahdi (1844-1885)

The Mahdi trilogy or Im Lande des Mahdi comprises volumes 16-18 of Karl May's collected travel stories . It describes the adventures of Kara Ben Nemsi and his companion Ben Nil in Egypt and Sudan .

History of origin

The magazine Deutscher Hausschatz , published by Friedrich Pustet in Regensburg , published the travel story Der Mahdi in two volumes from 1891 to 1893 . The first year comprised the chapter On the Nile , the second the chapter In Sudan . When Karl May prepared the magazine version for the book form for Friedrich Ernst Fehsenfeld in 1896 , it became clear that the first year had exactly the size of a book of around 640 pages. The second part, however, was too extensive for a volume, so May decided to create a trilogy. To do this, he had to rewrite two more chapters, replacing the original ending. This resulted in the following breakdown:

1.  In the land of the Mahdi I. (since 1950 man-hunter. )

• First volume. On the Nile.

• 

  Title page of the first edition as a book (1896)

• 

  Sascha Schneider edition of the book (1905)

2.  In the land of Mahdi II (since 1950 The Mahdi. )

• Second volume. In Sudan. (1st chapter)

• 

  Kara Ben Nemsi (right) at the bastonnade, postcard (around 1900)

• 

  Sascha Schneider edition (1905)

3.  In the land of Mahdi III. ( In Sudan since 1950. )

• Second volume. In Sudan. (Part 2)
• Do good to those who hate you (1896 new)
• The last slave hunt (new 1896)

• 

  Kara Ben Nemsi fights with a bear, postcard (around 1900)

• 

  Kara Ben Nemsi and his black horse Rih , postcard (around 1900)

• 

  Sascha Schneider edition (1905)

The two new chapters were, however, an intervention in the entire work. The third chapter in particular (“Do well to those who hate you”) remained a foreign body. Recourse to an adventure with Hajji Halef Omar in Kurdistan marks a break.

This version was printed unchanged by Karl May Verlag Radebeul until 1941 . After the war, logical and language sample errors were corrected from 1950, the number of chapters increased and the three volumes given new titles. The title “In the Land of the Mahdi” remained on the golden spine shields.

content

Egypt and Sudan towards the end of the 19th century: real places of action are u. a. Cairo, Siut and Faschoda

Manhunter

Slaves in Sudan, 19th century

Kara Ben Nemsi has adventures to endure in Cairo that bring him into contact with slave traders. He is supposed to be murdered, but escapes the attack and later saves Ben Nil ("son of the Nile"). On the onward journey up the Nile, he met the Reïs Effendina ("Captain of our Lord = of the Khedive "). This is the top slavehunter-hunter in Egypt and together they arrest those responsible for a slave caravan. The main villains Abd el Asl and his son Ibn Asl ("servant" and "son of the origin / God") escape to Sudan. Kara Ben Nemsi promises the cave guide Ben Wasak to look for his brother, who is missing after a trip in Sudan.

The Mahdi

On the journey through Kordofan , Kara Ben Nemsi saves the fakir Muhammad Ahmad from a lion. He learns that he thinks he is the expected Mahdi . He too is an ally of the slave hunters. Kara Ben Nemsi and Ben Nil ride ahead to the Nile and fall into the hands of Ibn Asl. They break free and meet the Reïs Effendina. Together they win several clashes and kill Abd el Asl. The brother of the cave guide Ben Wasak, Hafid Sichar, is freed from slavery. Kara Ben Nemsi and his companions reach Faschoda . The local Mudir , also known as the father of the five hundred (blows) , is notorious for his cruelty, but supports the fight against slavery. Further south, Kara Ben Nemsi's group conquered a slave hunter's headquarters. However, Ibn Asl has already set off on a slave hunt in South Sudan and is thus once again beyond the reach of Reïs Effendina.

In Sudan

Kara Ben Nemsi forms an alliance with the Bor tribe on the Obernil . The slave hunters Nubar, the Muza'bier, and Abd el Barak, the Mokkadem of the holy Kadirine, are also camped nearby. After his failed attempt to capture Kara Ben Nemsi, Ben Nil and Selim, both are hanged on the orders of the Reïs Effendina. Then the Askaris des Reïs Effendina and the allied Bor warriors pursue Ibn Asl. The expedition reaches the village of Wagunda der Gohk off the Nile. Kara Ben Nemsi devises a plan of attack against the expected slave hunters, but cannot prevail against the Reïs Effendina. Instead, Ibn Asl captured Kara Ben Nemsi, who was chasing him, and burned the neighboring village of Foguda . Its residents are either murdered or enslaved. The village of Wagunda can be saved by Kara Ben Nemsi's escape. Ibn Asl is captured and executed. The jealous Reïs Effendina wants to put his colleague in the cold and sends him to a supposedly remote island in the Nile. Nevertheless, Kara Ben Nemsi manages to strike another blow against the slave traders.

A Kurd who appears in this episode is a former acquaintance of Kara Ben Nemsis. Therefore, the volume contains an extensive insert, the Kurdistan chapters 6 to 13. These chapters contain the persecution and outwitting of the Kelhur Kurds under Sheik Schir Samurek. This robbed the horses of Kara Ben Nemsis and his servant Hajji Halef Omar .

Quote

Mary, the daughter of the missionary Waller, explains in And Peace on Earth ! at the foot of the great pyramid of Giza "in a moment of the most wonderful fiction May's literary leitmotif":

“'Do you know, father, who I am thinking of now?' she said. 'To Karl May. I have read his three volumes In the Land of the Mahdi , and - - -'

'Don't read the stupid stuff from this May!' he interrupted her quickly and snarling. 'This writer has nothing but imagination, and you know that I hate his soft piety!' "

- Karl May

Book editions

• Karl May: man hunter. Travel story Volume 16, Karl-May-Verlag, Bamberg 1952.
• Karl May: The Mahdi. Travel story Volume 17, Karl-May-Verlag, Bamberg 1952.
• Karl May: In Sudan. Travel story Volume 18, Karl-May-Verlag, Bamberg 1952.
• Current issues in the book database.

literature

• Wolfgang Hermesmeier, Stefan Schmatz : Development and expansion of the collected works. A success story for 110 years. In: Lothar and Bernhard Schmid (eds.): The polished diamond. Karl May's Collected Works. Karl-May-Verlag, Bamberg / Radebeul 2003, ISBN 3-7802-0160-7 , pp. 341-486, especially p. 371 ff.
• Dieter Sudhoff and Hartmut Vollmer (eds.): Karl May's "In the Land of the Mahdi" . Karl May Studies Vol. 7, IGEL Verlag, Hamburg 2003, ISBN 978-3-86815-506-8 .
• Johannes Zeilinger : In the land of the Mahdi - Karl May meets Islamic fundamentalism , in: Holger Kuße (Hrsg.): Karl Mays Friedenswege. His work between ethnic stereotype and pacifism , Bamberg / Radebeul: Karl-May-Verlag 2013, pp. 183–224.

Web links

Commons : In the Land of the Mahdi I  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Commons : In the Land of the Mahdi II  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Commons : In the Land of the Mahdi III  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• In the land of the Mahdi. 1st volume at Zeno.org .
• In the land of the Mahdi. 2nd volume at Zeno.org .
• In the land of the Mahdi. 3rd volume at Zeno.org .
• Entry in the Karl May Wiki (from there also links to the individual volumes)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Wolfgang Hermesmeier / Stefan Schmatz: Development and expansion of the collected works ... , 2003, pp. 371–373.
2. ↑ Karl May: People hunter. Travel story Volume 16, Karl-May-Verlag, Bamberg 1952.
3. ↑ Karl May: The Mahdi. Travel story Volume 17, Karl-May-Verlag, Bamberg 1952.
4. ↑ Karl May: In Sudan. Travel story Volume 18, Karl-May-Verlag, Bamberg 1952.
5. ↑ http://karl-may-wiki.de/index.php/Mary_Waller
6. ↑ Johannes Zeilinger: In the Land of the Mahdi ... , p. 224.
7. ↑ And peace on earth! , 1904, p. 15.