Religious war in Sudan drew our troops into first battle on foreign soil

WHEN Muhammad Ahmad declared himself a Muslim messiah in Sudan in 1881 it would spark a conflict that would eventually involve troops from Australia.

Huge crowds flock to see off the NSW Sudan contingent leave from Circular Quay in 1885.

CHARISMATIC religious leader Muhammad Ahmad had been steadily gaining followers for several years, earning him the enmity of Sheikh Muhammad Sharif, a rival who had once been his teacher. Sharif, jealous of his following or suspicious of his growing power, ousted Ahmad from his branch of the Samaniyya religious order.

But far from destroying his power base, Ahmad’s power grew and on June 29, 1881, he declared himself to be the Mahdi, a “redeemer of the faith”, vowing to bring freedom to the people of Sudan. The move brought his followers into a long war against their Ottoman Egyptian overlords, which would eventually involve the British and draw Australia into its first imperial war.

While Sharif and most conservative clerics dismissed Ahmad’s claim that he had been elected Mahdi by an assembly of prophets from Adam to Muhammad, thousands believed he was divinely chosen and flocked to his side.

In 1819 Sudan was invaded by the forces of the Ottoman ruler of Egypt, Muhammad Ali. Over the ensuing decades the Sudanese often rose up against the Ottomans, only to be heavily taxed and brutally repressed under a succession of Turkish rulers.

Portrait of Muhammad Ahmad bin abd Allah the Sudanese Mahdi in the 1880s.

The Sudanese looked for a saviour and seemed to find him in Ahmad. He was born Muhammad Ahmad bin as-Sayyid Abd Allah in 1844, the son of a ship builder. He developed a passion for religious studies as a boy and became a disciple of Sheikh Sharif, becoming a sheik himself.

Differences of opinion developed between the two men, particularly over the strength of Ahmad’s personal following, which led to violence between their supporters and Ahmad’s expulsion from Sharif’s sect.

He joined a rival Samaniyya sect under Sheikh al-Qurashi Wad al-Zayn and when al-Qurashi died in 1878 Ahmad became leader. Al-Qurashi had preached that a messiah, or Mahdi, would one day come from within the Samaniyya order and Ahmad believed that he was the chosen one, announcing himself Mahdi in 1881.

Despite resistance from conservative religious leaders his support base grew. He made his followers, known as Ansars or Mahdists, swear an oath that they would not put on new clothing until all foreigners had been driven from their land. His tinkering with the religion, especially the pillars of faith, put him off-side with religious conservatives in the Ulema, the religious ruling body in Sudan which sought to have him arrested by the Ottoman authorities from Egypt.

NSW artillerymen waiting at Suakin on the Red Sea for their marching orders in 1885.

Eventually this led to full-scale conflict between the Mahdi’s Ansars and Egyptian authorities.
A humiliating defeat by Mahdist forces in 1883 led to Egypt calling on the British for help.

The British involvement came about because they had invested heavily in Egypt’s modernisation, particularly the Suez Canal, which had cut sailing time to British colonies in India. Egypt had also appointed many British to help with the modernisation, among them was General Charles George Gordon, who helped end the slave trade in Sudan and was governor of the country from 1879-1880.

In 1884 Gordon was sent back to Sudan to help evacuate Egyptian forces threatened by the Mahdist rebels, but he was killed in 1885 when Ahmad’s troops overran Khartoum. Gordon’s death was depicted as that of a Christian martyr and it became a rallying cry for the British to send more troops to help put down the rebellion.

General Charles Gordon who led British forces to evacuate Khartoum during Sudan War of 1885.

Britain’s loyal colonies wanted to help. Canada sent messages to Britain offering to supply troops and New South Wales did the same. It was the first time that Australian troops would be sent to another continent to take part in a British imperial war.

The NSW Sudan Contingent paraded through Sydney and boarded ships at Circular Quay, cheered on by huge crowds. The 770-man contingent arrived in Sudan on March 29, 1885, took part in some small action, sustaining minor injuries. The only deaths were from disease. They sailed home on May 17, 1885, and were interned at Quarantine Station at North Head where one man died of typhoid. Five days later they marched through the city again for a reception at Victoria Barracks where they listened to speeches in the rain.

The Mahdist revolt suffered a setback with the death of Ahmad from typhus on June 22, 1885. Although a successor was appointed and resistance continued up until 1899, they never again posed the same threat.

Originally published as Religious war in Sudan drew our troops into first battle on foreign soil