Sennar Expedition (1883)
| date | January 2 to March / April 1883 |
|---|---|
| place | Sennar Province or Jazira Plain |
| output | Victory of the egyptians |
| consequences | short-term pacification of Sennar province |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
| Commander | |
| Troop strength | |
| 3,200 regular and at least 1,200 irregular soldiers | 20,000 to 24,000 men |
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Aba - Jebel Gedir I - Sennar I - Jebel Gedir II - al-Ubayyid I - al-Ubayyid II - Sennar II - Sinkat - Sheikan - First Battle of El Teb - Second Battle of El Teb - Tamanieh - Khartoum - Abu Klea - Gallabat - Toski - Firket - Atbara - Omdurman - Umm Diwaykarat
The Sennar expedition of 1883 was a campaign by the Egyptians against Mahdist uprisings in the province of Sennar.
prehistory
Carl Giegler , who for a few months took over the post of governor general ( hikimdar ) of the Egyptian Sudan provinces , succeeded the pro-Mahdist rebels in the Jazira plain led by Amir wad Umar al-Makaschif and Ahmad Taha in one from April to June 1882 to defeat ongoing expedition . Amir al-Makashif's brother, Ahmad wad Umar al-Makashif , who joined Muhammad Ahmad 's camp , was sent to rekindle the rebellion in the region. From Kordofan, Ahmad al-Makaschif and his warriors moved to Dueim . After the city failed to capture, he established himself at al-Sabil , north of the city of Sennar , and threatened the village of Ibud . Another threat came from the faki Fadl Allah wad Karrif , who joined the Mahdi uprising and revolted with some Fadniya Arabs in the west of the Jazira plain . An Egyptian expedition from al-Kawwa was defeated by Fadl Allah in mid-December 1882. In May 1882 Abd al-Qadir Pasha took over the office of Governor General of the Egyptian Sudan provinces. After the first reinforcements from the heartland of Egypt arrived in Khartoum at the end of 1882 , Abd al-Qadir decided to lead a campaign in the province of Sennar to put an end to the rebellions in this region.
course
On January 2nd, Abd al-Qadir left Khartoum on a steamship on the White Nile . On his way he made a few stops and held talks with local notables in order to convince them to call on the local population to be loyalty to the government. Abd al-Qadir set up his headquarters in Ibud. He had Salih Agha al-Mak , military commander of the city of Sennar, assemble there with a battalion consisting of irregular soldiers and horsemen from the Shukriya Arabs, a battalion from al-Shawwal and a battalion from Khartoum. Meanwhile, Fadl Allah wad Karrif concentrated his 10,000 to 12,000 warriors around the village of Matuq in the east of the Jazira plain and threatened Ibud with it. After all the battalions had reached Ibud, Abd al-Qadir moved to Matuq on January 27, where his troops were able to repel an attack by a vanguard of Fadl Allah's warriors near a forest. After that, the Horde separated: one part gathered in Quz Abu Jima (south of al-Kawwah) and the other in Matuq. Abd al-Qadir defeated the rebels in Matuq and then moved to al-Kawwah.
On the way, the Egyptian expeditionary force was reinforced by two battalions from al-Qarrasah under the command of Husain Bey Mazhar . Arriving in al-Kawwah, Abd al-Qadir Husain Bey ordered the rebels to attack in Quz Abu Jima and the three others to move to Wad Madani . Abd al-Qadir wanted to reach the Wad Madani on the Blue Nile from al-Kawwah on the White Nile via Khartoum by steamship. When he arrived in Khartoum, however, his onward journey was delayed because the Egyptian government did not initially approve it. Husain Bey, meanwhile, broke off the attack on the rebels in Quz Abu Jima because he considered his troops to be inferior and requested reinforcements from 2 battalions. Fadl Allah wad Karrif was later defeated and killed sometime in 1883 by Muhammad Bey Islam al-Albani.
Abd al-Qadir was able to leave Khartoum in February. The three battalions with a total strength of 2,400 men, 600 irregulars and horsemen of the Shukriya Arabs, led by Awad al-Karim Pasha Ahmad abu Sin , were assembled in Wad Madani . On February 22nd, Abd al-Qadir's expeditionary force withdrew for Sennar. The warrior horde of Ahmad al-Makaschif (about 10,000 to 12,000 men strong) was assembled in Mushra al Dai , a place about 35 km north of Sennar on the Blue Nile. On February 24th there was a battle in which the rebels were defeated. The rebels lost 2,000 men, while the Egyptians only had 27 injured. Then the rebel army split up: Ahmad al-Makaschif moved part of it west to Saqadi Moya , while the rest moved south to Karkuj . The Egyptian expeditionary force reached Sennar the following day. Salih Agha al-Mak and 1,200 irregulars destroyed the rebel army near Saqadi Moya on March 4, killing 547 rebels. The Egyptians had only 2 wounded to complain about. Abd al-Qadir defeated the rebel army at Karkuj and remained in this region until he learned of his recall as governor general, after which he left Sudan for Egypt via Khartoum.
consequences
Despite the success of the expedition, Ahmad al-Makashif was not yet completely defeated. After a short time he gathered his strength and threatened the garrisons on the White Nile. In another expedition, this time led by William Hicks , Ahmad's army was finally defeated at al-Marabi on April 29, 1883, with Ahmad losing his life. 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.