REVOLT AGAINST THE DERVISHES.
The black soldiers of the old Sudan army--They revolt against the
Dervishes in El Obeid--And march off to Dar Nuba--The emir Mahmud
pursues and is slain--Ohrwalder quits El Obeid for Omdurman--Zogal
and Abu Anga at Bara.
The old Sudanese soldiers of the Egyptian army were perhaps, of all
others, the most dissatisfied with Mahdiism. These brave blacks who, as
they say in the Sudan, "had eaten the Khedive's bread," were now in a
wretched state compared with the once miserable Gellabas, who now
galloped about proudly on horseback, while in former years they had
scarcely a donkey to their name. Several of these soldiers had been to
Egypt, some had been servants to Europeans, and most of them had been in
the various fights which had previously taken place in the Sudan. Sherif
Mahmud, it is true, treated them with some deference, and gave them corn
when he refused to give it to the Gellabas who were starving; but in
spite of this, their previous condition was infinitely preferable to
their life under Mahdiist rulers. There were about two hundred of these
soldiers in El Obeid; shortly afterwards, a number of slaves arrived,
and quite recently their numbers had been further increased by the
addition of a company sent by Zogal.
Many of these men had fought under Munzinger Pasha, and under Slatin
Bey, and were distinguished for their bravery; their total number was
now three hundred, under the command of an Egyptian mowallid,[J] named
Abdullah. These men used to complain of being always placed in the
forefront of the battle; and they were further irritated by the arrogant
way in which they were treated by the Danagla and their unbearable emir
Wad el Hashmi, who used to call them "abd" (_i.e._ slave); they
therefore decided to revolt against this tyrannical rule, and in this
their emir supported them. It was agreed that they should await the
great Dahiyeh festival, and when they were all out on parade, and the
Dervishes were going through their prayers, they would suddenly separate
themselves and, trusting to their good rifles, would be able to
annihilate their hated enemies; but the thought that a number of
innocent people would be thus sacrificed, decided them to await some
other more favourable opportunity. It was often a matter of surprise to
me how these blacks managed to keep their secret, which even all their
women knew.
A clever young mukuddum lived near my hut, and did me many a kindness;
he often used to bring me some meat to eat, as the soldiers who looked
after the sheep and goats taken from the Arabs frequently killed some
for their own food and then reported that they had died. At this time I
suffered a great deal from fever, I could not remain in my close and
small hut, and used to lie wide awake and tossing about on my hard bed
outside. I often saw the mukuddum in secret conversation with some of
his men, and then they would look at their arms to see they were all
right; this made me feel certain that some plot was brewing.
Amongst the soldiers I had also another good friend, Hajji Selim, who
was at all times ready to render me any little service, in return for
which I used to give him a little coffee or some tobacco. Hajji Selim
had a curious story. He was born in Bornu, and when young had joined his
father, who was going with a caravan to Mecca. Whilst journeying through
the Sahara, they came to a district in which two tribes were at war; he
joined one of them, but was taken prisoner by the other, sold as a
slave, and taken to Tunis; from here, he was brought to Constantinople,
where he became the playfellow of his master's son, and in this way
learnt the Turkish language. Soon afterwards his master was sent to
Egypt as a Pasha, and he came with him, from thence they went on a
pilgrimage to Mecca, hence his title of Hajji. On their return to Cairo,
the master died, his property was confiscated, and Selim was taken into
the army. He was sent to Sawakin, then he served under Munzinger Pasha
at Massawa, and was with him at the time of his murder; from here he was
sent to Darfur, then to Kordofan, and eventually to Delen, where he was
taken prisoner with Mohammed Suleiman, and thus became attached to the
Mahdiists.
This unfortunate man, though comparatively young, had become aged by
constant travelling, he was homeless, and had neither wife nor child; he
wore an old coat which had been given to him by some of Hicks Pasha's
soldiers, it was riddled with bullet-holes, covered with patches of
blood, and very dirty; however, that did not much matter to him, as he
had no soap to wash it; he always wore the hood of his coat over his
head, which further added to his curious appearance. He made his coat
into a species of Dervish uniform by patching up the holes with the
pieces of an old tarbush; but withal he was a thoroughly honest man, and
I liked him. I also knew I could rely on him to carry out a secret
mission, and therefore, after Bonomi had fled, I had made over to him
some money and two volumes of the 'Popular Educator,' which Lupton Bey
had given me, and which I looked upon as a priceless treasure. I did
this because I was afraid that Sherif Mahmud would confiscate my little
all; but when all fear was over, the honest man brought back everything
just as I had given it to him. At that time I had no suitable place in
my hut to hide them, so I asked him to keep them a few days longer; but,
alas! my books were to become food for the flames, which soon afterwards
devoured the camp, and this was an irreparable loss. I tried to find but
from Hajji Selim what plot was brewing; but all my inquiries were
fruitless. He would not breathe a word, and from that time I saw no
more of him, for he was afraid that my importunity might make him
divulge the secret. I knew perfectly well that he must have been one of
the conspirators, and as I never saw him again, I presume he must have
been killed.
The above little incident is merely mentioned to show how zealously the
soldiers kept their secret; but all the same, the people in El Obeid had
a notion that something was going to happen, and one day an order was
suddenly given that a hundred soldiers were to prepare to proceed to Dar
Hamer. In this way they thought to split up the party, and then disarm
them; but the men guessed that this was the intention, and therefore
decided to execute their plan the following day.
That night I was lying outside as usual; the sky was particularly
brilliant, and I was watching the myriads of shooting stars which,
leaving bright trails behind them, burst suddenly like rockets, and
illumined the night till it became for an instant almost as light as
day. Every one wondered at this curious phenomenon, and foretold that it
meant mischief of some sort, and, curiously, there was mischief enough
in the air that night.
The next day, at about noon, I was startled by the sound of firing, and
bullets were suddenly flying over my head. In my alarm I had rushed out
of the hut, and saw that the firing was from the direction of the
powder-magazine. To my intense surprise, I did not see a solitary
soldier in the zariba; even their wives had gone, and had taken their
household goods away with them. I shouted and cried out, but no one
answered; a few women passed by, but they were too occupied to answer
me; they, too, soon disappeared, and the whole place, which but a few
moments before had been a Babel of din and noise, became silent as the
grave. In the distance I could hear continuous firing, and occasionally
I caught sight of women and children running away in a northerly
direction.
I now thought it time to quit the zariba myself. I seized a bayonet, and
tried to push aside the thorns, but they were so firmly fixed in the
ground, that I could not move them. I then made for the gate, and here
there was not a soul to be seen; even the slaves in chains had
disappeared. Bullets were now flying in all directions. I went towards
the Emir Abdullah's house, and found him standing by his door in a state
of great agitation, with only two soldiers. In reply to my question as
to what was the matter, he answered in a surly tone: "These beit el mal
slaves have destroyed everything." These words were scarcely out of his
mouth, when fifty Dervishes with drawn swords suddenly rushed up, and
with frightful yells dragged him and his men off to the courtyard of the
Mudirieh. I followed them. Here an enormous crowd of Dervishes was
collected, and, wild with rage, they would have torn Abdullah to pieces
had not Wad el Hashmi stopped them.
The Dervishes now accused Abdullah of having incited the soldiers; but
he protested that he knew nothing of the affair, and in proof of his
statement urged that he had not quitted his house; but it was useless.
The air resounded with cries of "Cut off his head!" and he was obliged
to kneel down. With one blow his head rolled on the sand; both the
soldiers were also beheaded, and their bodies thrown down near the
mosque, so that everyone might see them.
I now learnt that the soldiers had taken possession of the powder
magazine, which consisted of a square yard, with small towers at the
corners; it had been utilized as a magazine in Government days. All arms
and ammunition were stored here, and a number of Egyptians were employed
moulding bullets and filling cartridges; there were also quantities of
caps, and all the necessary implements. The soldiers had broken into
this place, killed the guards, made loopholes, and prepared for defence;
they had burnt down most of the houses in the town, and forced all they
met to join them. Two Egyptians who refused to do so were at once
killed. The Dervishes had rushed, in a body, to attempt to recover the
magazine, but had been shot down in numbers; several emirs also fell in
this assault, and no one dared to return to recover their bodies. At
length, having rallied from their first failure, they again collected
and advanced--this time with more order--to the attack; but the
soldiers, who had learnt of their Emir Abdullah's death, fought with
desperate courage, and again drove them back, with heavy loss.
The Dervishes now assembled beside the great gate of the Mudirieh, and
consulted what was best to be done; they were thoroughly alarmed, and no
wonder; for everyone who came within range of the fort was almost
certainly shot down. Amongst these was Fiki Isa, of the Shanabla, who
was struck in the neck by a bullet, and fell dead at once. Naturally, I
fled as soon as possible from this dangerous proximity, and went to the
house of a clerk, whose walls I knew would give me protection.
The firing now became faster, and the soldiers sounded the trumpet for
the attack on the Mudirieh, intending to capture the guns which stood
outside the gate; but the Dervishes had withdrawn them and closed it, so
the troops were forced to retire; their ranks had been largely increased
by a number of male and female slaves, who, on hearing of the mutiny,
had at once left their masters.
Fighting lasted till nightfall; and at length, under cover of darkness,
I made my way back to the zariba, to see what had become of my
companions in adversity. I found it empty and deserted; even the cattle
had escaped somehow; and only two miserable slaves, suffering from
ferentit (guinea-worm), and who were unable to move, remained behind. I
was feverish and restless; so returned again to the Mudirieh, to see
what was going forward there. I found a crowd of Dervishes, exasperated
at the idea of having been defeated by the "slave-soldiers," as they
called them; more of their emirs had been killed; and the chief, Wad
Hashmi, had been mortally wounded, and died the following day. When the
Dervishes caught sight of me (hitherto I had passed unnoticed), they
ordered me back to the zariba, threatening to kill me if I again left
it; I suppose they did this because they thought I might join the
mutineers. It was believed that the soldiers would attack and capture
the town the next day. How I wish they had had a good leader!
My companions and I now found ourselves in the beit el mal again, under
the guard of four soldiers. Worn out with excitement, I threw myself
down on my angarib; the success of the mutineers again revived in my
breast hopes of release; and with this pleasing thought, I dropped off
into a sound slumber.
I was suddenly roused up by one of the guard prodding me with the butt
end of his rifle, and saying--"When everyone is in terror of his life,
how can you sleep?" So I reluctantly had to get up, and began chatting
to the guard, as I feared any display of satisfaction on my part would
probably call down vengeance from them. We talked over the events of the
day; and I soon realised that the Dervishes were, in truth, greatly
alarmed.
The powder magazine was not far from the beit el mal, so we could
overhear a great deal of what was going on there; and one would have
imagined that they were engaged in marriage festivities rather than in
bloody warfare. The whole night through they kept up singing; the women
were dancing, and the men drinking marissa: every now and then the
trumpets were sounded, which seemed to add to the women's delight; they
were all laughing over the Mahdi's doings, heaping insults on him and
his religion; and still further exasperating the Dervishes by shouting
out to them to come and join them in a drinking bout.
But whilst these good blacks were enjoying themselves in the magazine,
the Dervishes had fortified the beit el mal, and placed bodies of
troops, with their flags, in different parts. Occasionally, the blacks
fired a volley into them, which made them disperse, leaving their flag
behind them. Everyone was in a state of most anxious expectancy for the
next day; it was looked upon as certain that a fight would take place
between the Dervishes and the soldiers, which would finally decide
matters; and that night there was little sleep for anyone.
Early the next morning the soldiers played the Khedivial salute, which
stirred us to the quick; and by the time the sun had risen, firing had
recommenced, and was continued up till nine o'clock. The soldiers made a
few raids on camels and donkeys, but did not attempt to attack the
Dervishes; and it was not at all clear what they intended to do. The
Dervish emir, being certain that the mutineers were quite demoralized,
sent their imam (priest) to tell them that if they wished to surrender,
they would receive pardon; this exasperated the blacks beyond measure;
the imam was told not to talk nonsense; and was then deliberately
dragged out about fifty paces from the fort, pierced through and through
with his own spears, and his body thrown out in the direction of the
Mudirieh, whilst the soldiers shouted out--"This is the head in return
for the head of our Emir Abdullah." They continued to make desultory
sorties during the day, and captured a quantity of animals.
In the afternoon they left the powder magazine; the band playing, women
and children marching in front; then came the ammunition, surrounded by
armed men, and lastly, the soldiers, marching in good order, and
disposed in such a manner as to resist any sudden assault.
The Dervishes, however, determined to attack, and, marshalling their
banners, they made for the powder magazine, which they found quite
deserted; the soldiers had thrown into the wells all the powder they
could not carry. There were only five fresh graves in the magazine,
which showed that the soldiers had lost only five men, whilst the
Dervishes had lost about five hundred.
Meanwhile, the blacks were marching gaily towards Melbeis; but the
Dervishes, more furious than ever after their discoveries in the
magazine, set off in hot pursuit; and when they had got within a short
distance of their enemy, they were received by a well-directed volley,
which killed some fifty of them; the remainder fled in disorder to El
Obeid. The total number of the blacks, including the slaves who had
joined them, did not exceed one thousand men, whilst the Dervishes more
than trebled that number. Had they only had a competent commander, there
is no doubt they could easily have captured El Obeid. They continued
their march, unopposed, to Nuba, and arrived first of all at Delen,
where they established themselves, and selected Beshir, an old soldier
of Slatin Bey's, to be their Mudir. Mahdiism was entirely renounced, and
the Khedive's Government proclaimed. Anyone who swore by the Mahdi's
name received eighty lashes; the regular form of swearing was--"Hakk ras
Effendina" ("By the Khedive's head!") Strict discipline was enforced.
Any one found selling arms or ammunition to the Nubas was punished with
death, and the sentence was carried out by shooting.
Shortly afterwards, they quitted Delen and marched to Jebel Naïma, the
inhabitants of which place are known as the bravest of the Nubas; but
here they still seemed to think themselves too close to their hated
enemies, and therefore moved on to Golfan, where they took up a position
in an inaccessible mountain, were recognized by their neighbours as the
rulers of the country, and were supplied by them with quantities of
cattle and sesame.
In the meantime Sherif Mahmud, in Omdurman, had been fully informed of
all that had occurred. He fell into a terrible passion, accused all his
emirs of cowardice, and proceeded forthwith to El Obeid. He would not
even enter his house, but encamped outside the town. Khalifa Abdullah
had ordered him to leave the mutineers alone, and to proceed, _viâ_ the
Es Safiyeh Wells, to Dongola; but Mahmud entirely disregarded this
order. He thirsted for vengeance against these rebels, and determined to
subdue them. Added to this, he had also conceived the idea of usurping
Khalifa Abdullah's authority. His object, therefore, was to increase
his power by regaining the co-operation of the soldiers, and so proud
and self-confident was he, that he believed they would never attempt to
fight against him.
Here, underneath the great Adansonia tree where the Mahdi had stayed so
long, he pitched his camp and made preparations for his advance on Nuba.
He called for volunteers, saying that he did not wish to force anyone to
go to war, and at the same time he endeavoured to encourage the people
by telling them that the Mahdi had appeared to him in a dream, and had
told him to advance and attack the rebels, promising him certain
victory. In spite of this summons, very few volunteered, and getting
thoroughly annoyed, he now threatened with death anyone who refused to
join him. Thus did Mahmud realise that the spirit of Mahdiism had almost
died out, and that in future force would be required to carry out its
behests.
He rapidly advanced with a force of 2,500 men, most of them armed with
Remingtons. On his way he was joined by a number of Arabs, which raised
his force to some 8,000 men. On arrival at Naïma he found that the
mutineers had moved on; he therefore advanced to Golfan, and sent in a
letter to the effect that if they surrendered he would give them a free
pardon. But the soldiers had had previous experience of Mahdieh
promises, and received the messengers with volleys, which soon made them
turn back. Mahmud determined, therefore, to invest his former adherents,
and, putting himself at the head of his troops, he advanced towards the
mountain; but the soldiers, concealed behind rocks, sent volley after
volley into the Dervish ranks. Mahmud received a bullet in his side,
but, nothing daunted, he continued to advance, carrying his own flag,
until another bullet, hitting him full on the forehead, killed him.
Already over a hundred Dervishes had fallen, and the remainder, hearing
that Mahmud was dead, turned tail and fled in disorder towards El Obeid.
The soldiers did not pursue, but took up Mahmud's body and gave him an
honourable burial befitting the brave man he was. In his death Mahdieh
lost perhaps the boldest of its adherents, and certainly the bravest of
the Mahdi's family. And though he had latterly given himself up to a
life of pleasure and debauchery, as all the rest had done, still he did
not fear exposing himself to every sort of danger.
Mahmud fell in the month of November 1885, and Khalifa Abdullah was by
no means displeased to be rid of a rival whose prowess and popularity he
greatly feared and envied.
In place of Sherif Mahmud, Abdullah despatched his brother Bakhit to
Kordofan; but he was a very different class of man, and was nicknamed
"Tor" ("The Bullock").
Soon afterwards Bakhit received orders to leave all his men at El Obeid
and to return to Omdurman. He was succeeded by the emir Wad el Hashmi,
who was followed by Osman Wad Adam (nicknamed "Ganu"), the Mahdi's
nephew.
Preparations were now made to transport all Mahmud's people to Omdurman,
and in order to convey so many thousand people, camels were forcibly
seized. We also were released, and permitted to go to Omdurman. I had
passed too many miserable years in Kordofan not to rejoice at the
change: for a time I had a faint hope that someone might be sent by
Father Bonomi to assist me to escape, but now it seemed useless to hope
for this any longer, whereas, once at Omdurman, I might manage to escape
by myself. Our departure was delayed for a month.
El Obeid had gradually become a dirty Arab village; except meat and
dokhn, there was absolutely nothing to be got in the market. I suffered
much from dysentery. There were no medicines to be had, so I had to
trust to the recuperative powers of nature, assisted by a little rice
which was grown in the marshes about Birket. I had not a civilized soul
with whom to associate.
The Nubas of Jebel Dair did their utmost to harass El Obeid; they were
always hovering about in the outskirts, ready to pounce down on any
cattle and slaves they saw. It would have been madness to go an hour's
distance from the town without an escort. The Dervishes frequently made
attempts to clear the neighbourhood of these brigands, but I observed
that they always returned considerably fewer in number, and I secretly
rejoiced at their inability to cope with these brave Nubas. Taking
everything into consideration, I was not sorry to say good-bye to this
dreary and inhospitable town.
We were given four camels, whose owners acted as the drivers. It was
agreed that on arrival in Omdurman we should pay them at the rate of
seven dollars a camel.
On the 25th of March, 1886, we left El Obeid. What a flood of
recollections welled up in my mind as we marched for the last time
through the desolate ruins of the city! How strange had been the
vicissitudes of this once flourishing place during the last few years!
From a thriving and peaceful township it had been transformed into the
theatre of constant warfare and bloodshed. It had then been the scene of
the Mahdi's debaucheries, when he rested after his victories, and now it
had dwindled down into a wretched Arab village.
Our road took us past the site of the El Obeid Mission-house, of which
not a trace remained. In its place was the market, and a heap of white
bones indicated the locality of the cook's shop. We halted that evening
at Korbatsh; the next day we started very early; and after a two days'
march, arrived at Bara. This beautiful little town is situated in a
woody depression of the great Kordofan plain. In the distance we could
see the white ruins through the high acacia trees. Formerly the place
had been well planted with date-palms; but during the siege the
inhabitants had cut them down, and lived upon the crushed core.
In the Government days Bara had been a sort of sanatorium for El Obeid,
where the richer inhabitants used to spend the summer; they had made
lovely gardens, full of date-trees, lemon-plants, banana-trees, and
vines, while the vegetables used to be sold in El Obeid. The soil is
exceptionally fertile, and there is an abundance of water obtainable at
only six feet below the surface. But now the place was completely
destroyed and neglected; and wild bushes and thorns grew apace amidst
the ruins.
As we approached Bara, we heard the thunder of guns, and were told that
it was a salute announcing the arrival of Zogal, the Governor of Darfur,
with his troops. It was the 2nd of April. We halted under a large acacia
tree, and took down our angaribs, over which mats were tightly
stretched. The arrival of two large parties, one from El Obeid and one
from Darfur, soon changed this dismal graveyard into a noisy camp.
Zogal had brought with him 2,500 infantry, 4,000 black soldiers and
singers, and 1,500 good horses. He had over 10,000 dollars in his beit
el mal, besides what each of his men possessed--and that was no
inconsiderable quantity: for everyone had enriched himself in Darfur;
and all this wealth was destined to become the Khalifa Abdullah's
property. Zogal had organized bands in his army; and the same tunes
which had been played in the days of the Government, now resounded over
the deserted plains of Bara. Zogal's camp was a scene of pleasure and
merry-making. Marissa was publicly sold and drunk openly; all idea of
being within the Mahdi's jurisdiction seemed to have been forgotten.
Zogal was a liberal man; his principle was "live and let live;" and he
thoroughly enjoyed the good things of this life, which the Mahdi's
revolt had placed within his reach. He was a powerfully built, stout
man, of about sixty years of age, with a white beard, which gave him a
patriarchal appearance. He was known as the father of many children, and
was of an open-hearted and generous disposition.
Zogal's camp was pitched on the ruins of Bara; rich carpets were spread
over the sand, and there he sat, ready to see anybody and everybody at
any time of the day; abundance of food was always ready for all his
guests. The only thing for which Zogal should be blamed was his shooting
to death twenty-five Sanjaks and Turks, who had surrendered with Slatin,
on the fall of Darfur. These Sanjaks had sworn to revolt against
Mahdiism, but had been betrayed. With this exception, he had conducted
his rule with great moderation; he did all he possibly could to further
trade; and when in Bara I saw some French calico, which had come from
Tunis, _viâ_ Wadai, to Darfur. Zogal's Bazingers made a great impression
on me; they were a wild and turbulent lot, capable of great marching
power, and able to support long-continued privations.
Lupton Bey often used to tell me of the cannibal propensities of these
black warriors. In many instances, their only dress consisted of the
leather bandolier, or cartridge case, and a big leather bag, from which
a human leg could often be seen protruding; and in almost every bag some
human flesh or bones could be found. When I used to go to the market,
crowds of these swarthy warriors would collect to gaze on my white skin,
which, in truth, the sun had long since tanned to a very brown colour.
Zogal's nine days' halt in Bara soon came to an end. News came that
disturbances had occurred in Omdurman between Khalifas Abdullah and
Sherif; the latter had frequently written to Zogal to come to Khartum at
once, as he was most anxious to have him there. News was brought at the
same time that Abu Anga had arrived at El Obeid _viâ_ Birket; it was
rumoured that Abu Anga had been sent by Abdullah to arrest Zogal, for it
was reported that Zogal and Sherif had agreed to combine and wrest the
authority from Abdullah. Zogal was quite strong enough to overturn
Abdullah; but unfortunately he was no soldier, and Abdullah had secretly
won over a number of his emirs to his side.
Abu Anga pressed on from El Obeid, and, arriving at Bara, summoned Zogal
to surrender. The latter, however, prepared to fight; but most of his
Bazingers and emirs went over to Abu Anga's side, and he was soon left
with but a few followers, and easily fell into Abu Anga's hands; he was
at once put in chains and handed over to Said Bey Guma, who was at that
time commander of the artillery. All his property was confiscated. Abu
Anga did this in revenge, for Zogal had done exactly the same to Said
Bey when he took possession of Darfur. Zogal was now dragged in chains
to El Obeid, where he was left for a year to think over his changed
state. His emin beit el mal, Ibrahim Ramadan, was also seized on his way
to Omdurman, and brought back in chains to El Obeid, where he was
mercilessly flogged to make him disclose the hiding-place of the money;
but nothing would induce him to tell. He was subsequently taken to
Omdurman, where Abdullah received him well and gave him a situation in
the beit el mal.
Zogal's arrest was the signal for ill-treating all the Khalifa Sherif's
adherents; these were deprived of all their positions, and were replaced
by Abdullah's nominees. I had relied considerably on seeing a change for
the better if this attempt of Sherif and Zogal to upset Abdullah had
succeeded; but it had failed, and we again moved on towards Omdurman,
still further depressed by the feeling that Abdullah was growing more
and more powerful. By the time we arrived near Omdurman my camel had
died; the poor Arab wept bitterly for his loss, and I could do nothing
towards repaying him. On the evening of the 24th of April, 1886, we
encamped close to the town. A fearful sandstorm was blowing, and we were
enveloped in clouds of dust--a fitting advent to the capital of the
Mahdi's empire!
FOOTNOTES:
[J] The name given to natives of a mixed parentage; _i.e._,
generally an Egyptian or Turkish father and a Sudanese mother.