Sennar Expedition (1882)

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Sennar expedition
Part of: Mahdi uprising
date April to June 3, 1882
place Sennar Province or Jazira Plain
output Victory of the egyptians
consequences short-term pacification of Sennar province
Parties to the conflict

Flag of Egypt (1882-1922) .svg Khedivat Egypt

pro-Mahdist rebels

Commander

Carl Christian Giegler
Salih Agha al-Mak

Amir wad Umar al-Makashif
Ahmad Taha


The Sennar expedition of 1882 was a campaign by the Egyptians against pro- Mahdist uprisings in the province of Sennar.

prehistory

The Mahdi uprising broke out in the summer of 1881 . After a failed arrest , its leader, Muhammad Ahmad , fled with his supporters to Gedir in the Nuba Mountains . The governor-general ( hikimdar ) of the Egyptian Sudan provinces , Muhammad Rauf Pascha , was of the opinion that the movement there would soon collapse and refused to actively contain it. However, this rather gave the movement the necessary time to strengthen itself, which became apparent after the devastating defeat at the First Battle of Jebel Gedir . Therefore, Rauf Pascha was recalled in early 1882. Until a successor arrived, his deputy, Carl Giegler , assumed the position of governor general.

Giegler intended to end the uprising by force, but he assessed the situation too optimistically and expressly renounced military aid from the Egyptian heartland. To suppress the uprising, he set up an expeditionary force in February 1882 and withdrew forces from the provinces of Kordofan, Khartoum and Sennar (see: Second Battle of Jebel Gedir ). The province of Sennar remained only a garrison with a strength of 75 regular and 33 irregular soldiers. Amir wad Umar al-Makaschif used this situation to initiate a rebellion in the name of Muhammad Ahmad and found support especially among the Rufa'a al-Hui tribe in the southern Jazira plain . Amir held a grudge against the Egyptian administration after they imprisoned and punished him for the actions of his brother Ahmad wad Umar al-Makaschif , a faki and early supporter of the Mahdi uprising , who had already fled . With about 3,000 warriors he attacked Sennar , the capital of the province of the same name. Although Amir was able to take part of the city, he was expelled from the garrison on April 6, 1882, whereupon Amir besieged the city. Sennar's garrison telegraphed Governor General Giegler for help, whereupon he sent Salih Agha al-Mak , who was originally to accompany the expeditionary force for Gedir, with 200 irregular soldiers to Sennar.

course

Salih's squad was transported on the White Nile from Khartoum to al-Kawah , where 100 Başı Bozuks joined. From there Salih moved towards Sennar. In between, another attempt by Amir failed. Salih reached Sennar on April 13, 1882 and was able to lift the siege and drive Amir out.

On April 15, Giegler left Khartoum with 300 irregular soldiers to support Salih. When he arrived in al-Masallamiya , Giegler learned that Ahmad Taha was preparing a rebellion on behalf of Muhammad Ahmad in a village on the Blue Nile . To arrest him, Giegler sent Yusuf Agha al-Malik with 50 soldiers. Yusuf and most of his soldiers were killed in the attempt. He then requested reinforcements from 6 companies of regular soldiers and 100 irregular soldiers from Gallabat , a border town with Ethiopia. These were supposed to gather in Abu Haraz (near Wad Madani ), where Giegler and his troop also moved. The reinforcements from Gallabat were led by Surur Raschid, who was commissioned by Giegler to take action against the rebels of Ahmad Taha on May 4th, but also failed. 210 men were killed on the Egyptian side. In advance, Giegler Awad al-Karim Pasha Ahmad abu Sin , nazir of the Shukriya Arabs, asked for support. One day after the defeat of Surur, Awad al-Karim and his warriors reached Abu Haraz. With his support, Giegler was able to defeat Ahmad Taha on May 6th.

After this success, Giegler resumed the march to his original destination in Sennar. At Abu Shukah (near Sennar), Giegler defeated a rebel army on May 24, and its leader, Muhammad Zain, a supporter of Amir al-Makaschif, was killed. The survivors fled to the location of Amir and his main army on Lake Taiqu . Giegler returned to Khartoum and left Salih al-Mak in command of the troops in Sennar province. With 4 companies of regular and a few irregular soldiers, he finally defeated the rebel army on June 3rd. Amir al-Makaschif survived the battle and joined the camp of Muhammad Ahmad in Kordofan .

consequences

The pacification of Sennar Province was short-lived. Towards the end of 1882, Amir's brother, Ahmad al-Makaschif, began to threaten the city of Sennar and to incite the population on behalf of Muhammad Ahmad. In another expedition , Abd al-Qadir Pasha succeeded in driving Ahmad out of the area around Sennar, but it wasn't until William Hicks' expedition in April 1883 that Ahmad was finally eliminated. After the conquest of Khartoum by the Mahdists in January 1885, Muhammad Ahmad sent his uncle Muhammad bin Abd al-Karim to conquer the city of Sennar. Its siege and assault attempts failed. Muhammad Ahmad then sent his main army with his most capable generals, including Wad al-Najumi and Abu Qarja . In view of the hopeless situation, the Egyptian garrison surrendered before the arrival of the warrior horde in August 1885 and Sennar became part of the Mahdi Empire, which existed until 1899.

literature

  • Mekki Shibeika: The Independent Sudan . Robert Speller & Sons, New York, 1959.