The Mahdi of the Sudan and the Death of General Gordon (review)

Given his title, plus a cover reproducing George Joy's famous painting, General Gordon's Last Stand, one might dismiss Fergus Nicoll's excellent book as just another piece of Gordon Literature. This would be a mistake, for this is not so much about Charles George "Chinese" Gordon, as it is a sound biography of his lesser known adversary, Muhammad Ahmad Abdallah.

Sufi mystic, Islamic revivalist, politician, and general all describe this revolutionary leader who convinced many Sudanese he was al-Mahdi—the Islamic Messiah. Modern readers might join contemporary English, American, or Egyptian writers, who lambasted Muhammad Ahmad as a religious humbug, and Orthodox Islam would confirm that opinion, then and now. Yet to the vast horde of Sudanese ansar ("helpers"), who fought and died with his army, Muhammad Ahmad was a rightly guided agent of God.

Explaining this phenomenon is a strong point of Nicoll's book, which combines a lively style with extensive research in both Britain and the Sudan. Although there is plenty on Muhammad Ahmad's early life, the bulk of the story is centered in the late 1870s to early 1880s. Here Nicoll succinctly records the serious misgovernment in Egypt's unhappy colony. Whether dumping criminals to serve as soldiers and administrators, or allowing the same to levy outrageous taxes, Cairo provided plenty of fuel to a smoldering fire.

It blazed out of control in 1881, when the thirty-eight-year-old Muhammad Ahmad declared a jihad against the government. Nicoll does a nice job of taking the reader through the next four years of struggle, culminating in the epic 317-day siege of Khartoum. While famous British commanders like Valentine Baker, William Hicks, and Gordon get good coverage, the focus again is on the rebel side of these battles. This is another good feature of the book, allowing non-Arabic readers to see "the other side of the hill" for the first time since I. H. Zulfo's Karari (1980).

Nicoll also makes clear that Sudanese victories were only possible against the demoralized rabble that passed for an Egyptian army in the mid-1880s. An important point, but even these sorry soldiers could use their vastly superior firepower to smash the ansar at al-Marabi (29 April 1883). Pluck, however, combined with dynamic leadership, allowed "al-Mahdi" to triumph by 1885.

Victory created an Islamic state, one that quickly reinstituted slavery, had little room for dissent of any kind, and was poised to launch an international jihad into Egypt and the Ottoman Empire. Although Muhammad Ahmad's 1885 death from typhus halted the jihad, his state persisted until its destruction by an Anglo-Egyptian army in 1898–99. Students of colonial and liberation warfare, North East African, or Islamic history, should consider The Mahdi of the Sudan and the Death of General Gordon. It could also serve as a supplementary text for World Civilization courses, or upper level college history classes.