Mahmoud Ahmad
Emir Mahmud Ahmad was a general in Sudan during the Mahdi uprising .
Life
Mahmud Ahmad commanded the western army of Caliph Abdallahi ibn Muhammad in Kurdufan and Darfur in the 1890s .
After General Kitchener's Anglo-Egyptian Nile Expeditionary Force captured Dongola in 1896 , the caliph Mahmud Ahmad ordered more than 10,000 men to the capital, Omdurman . In early June 1897, the Caliph decided to move Mahmud's forces to Metemmeh , the area where Kitchener's anticipated advance was expected. The Jaalin tribe living there refused to support the caliph. On July 1, Mahmud attacked Metemmeh with around 12,000 men, conquered the city and caused a bloodbath among the population.
Mahmoud Ahmad pressured Caliph Abdallahi ibn Muhammad to allow him to attack Kitchener's army. It was only at the beginning of December 1897 that the caliph decided to attack. Disputes over the occupation of the supreme command meant that not all Mahdist forces were deployed as planned, but only Mahmoud Ahmad's contingent. He marched with a 15,000-strong army, reinforced by Osman Digna's contingent, north to the confluence of the Nile and Atbara rivers to attack Kitchener. On April 8th, the battle of Atbara broke out between the two armies . Mahmoud Ahmad was beaten in battle and taken prisoner.
literature
- Winston S. Churchill : Crusade against the Empire of the Mahdi . Eichborn, Frankfurt am Main 2008, ISBN 978-3-8218-6204-0 , ( Die Andere Bibliothek 282), (original: The River War. A Historical Account of the Reconquest of the Soudan . London 1899).
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Ahmad, Mahmud |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | General in the army of Mahdi Muhammad Ahmad in Sudan |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 19th century |
| DATE OF DEATH | 19th century or 20th century |