THE KHALIFA AND HIS GOVERNMENT.
The Khalifa's system of government--His household--An outline of
his character--His system of prayers in the mosque--His visions and
dreams--His espionage system--His household troops--His great
activity and circumspection--The great Friday review described--The
emigration of the Baggara and western tribes to Omdurman--The
flight of Sheikh Ghazali--Management of the beit el mal--System of
taxation.
This chapter I propose to devote to a brief description of Khalifa
Abdullah and his system of government.
Abdullah is a Baggara of dark chocolate-coloured complexion, with a long
and prominent nose; he wears a short beard cut according to the Moslem
custom. When I first saw him at the siege of El Obeid he was very thin,
but now he is extremely stout, and his skin hangs in great folds
underneath his eyes; he has a strong clear voice, and though well
instructed in Arabic, he cannot conceal his Baggara dialect and accent.
His dress consists of the usual Dervish jibbeh and drawers, he also
wears sandals, and over his jibbeh, which is generally reeking with
grease and fat, he wears a tob or light cotton cloth; on his head is the
usual Mecca takia, round which a turban is bound.
As regards food, the Khalifa is more moderate and simple than the Mahdi;
he still adheres to his native dishes--asida (a sort of polenta), eaten
with milk or meat, over which a strong sauce full of spices and pepper
is poured. Sometimes he eats roasted chicken and drinks quantities of
milk and sugar, especially camels' milk, to which all Baggaras are
devoted. He has no fixed hours for food, but eats whenever he feels so
inclined; and it is perfectly astonishing the amount of food which a
Sudanese can consume at a sitting.
Like his master the Mahdi and all important persons in the Sudan, the
Khalifa is much addicted to harem life. Shortly after he had established
himself as supreme ruler, he thought to surround himself with all the
pomp and splendour of a Sudanese Sultan, of which the most important
item is a very extensive harem. As the Mahdi had done before, so did he
take to himself numbers of wives. Wherever a pretty woman is to be
found, he at once gets information about her from his spies, and she is
immediately brought to the harem.
Each of his wives has her own house, kitchen, and slaves quite apart
from the rest, consequently the expenditure of his household is
considerable. His first wife is head of all the other wives, who now
number one hundred and fifty. She is a Baggara woman, and is waited on
by numbers of eunuchs, who were formerly in the service of the Turkish
and Egyptian pashas; and although the making of eunuchs is strictly
prohibited by Mahdi law, nevertheless the Khalifa secretly employs
numbers of persons who arrange to supply eunuchs when required.
The chief eunuch is a certain Abdel Gayum, who is head of the entire
household. He has under his orders numbers of female slaves, who grind
dhurra and prepare the food; it is estimated that three ardebs of dhurra
a day are consumed in the Khalifa's household.
Abdullah is endowed by nature with a good constitution, but his
irregular mode of life has gone far to destroy it. Twice he has had
severe attacks which have all but killed him; on both occasions he was
delirious, and his body became enormously distended. The last time he
was ill all hope of his recovery had been given up, and the doctor who
was attending him, and had given him a purgative, was on the point of
being beheaded, when at the last moment the medicine took effect, and
was the happy means of saving the lives of both the Khalifa and his
doctor.
The Khalifa's illnesses are always kept secret, so that whenever he
fails to attend prayers, it is generally thought that he is sick.
Fifteen days after the last crisis, and when all danger was over,
Abdullah summoned the other two Khalifas and the judges to show them
that he had recovered, whereupon Khalifa Ali at once offered up a prayer
of thanksgiving, though, if his real feelings had been analysed, it
would have been found that he was anything but thankful. After leaving
Abdullah, the Khalifas announced to the people in the mosque that he had
been very dangerously ill, but that God in His mercy had spared him.
This news was the signal for a wild shout of delight, which reached the
Khalifa's ears and pleased him not a little. Eight days afterwards he
appeared for the first time in the mosque, then the rejoicings knew no
bounds, and the shouts were heard miles off; all the emirs congratulated
him on his recovery, and the air resounded with the cries of "Allah
etawil Omrak!" ("May God prolong your life!") All this flattery pleased
the Khalifa immensely, and this eye-service is a particularly
highly-developed characteristic of the Sudanese.
And now a few words as to the Khalifa's character: he is an intensely
vain and proud man, very cruel and quick-tempered. Occasionally his
ideas are good, but he is surrounded by so many fanatics that his ideas,
however good they may be, generally die almost before they are born. He
is of a most distrustful nature, because he knows he is surrounded by
enemies--thus he is a curious mixture of resolution and inconstancy. He
listens eagerly to calumnies, and delights in hearing evil spoken of
other people; this causes his decisions to be changeable and capricious;
he is guided a good deal by what low slanderers tell him, but they have
to watch his temper very closely, and have become great adepts at
humouring him. He is fearful and jealous of his authority, and the very
smallest infringement of it is looked upon as a most serious crime and
punished accordingly. He has surrounded himself with spies, who pander
to his jealous and tyrannical nature.
These spies are everywhere, they get into private houses, attend every
meeting, and often start a discussion against the Khalifa and against
Mahdiism, merely to draw the unwary into a trap and make them divulge
their real feelings and opinions. He is told about the most trivial
thing, and sometimes during his speeches and sermons he will give way to
the wildest denunciation of his unfavourable critics. He knows perfectly
well that he is hated, but he will never allow it to be said openly;
for, though he cares little whether he is liked or disliked, he does not
wish anything to intervene between him and his authority.
The Khalifa adheres most strictly to the prescribed forms of prayer;
every day he attends five times in the mosque and enforces the presence
of all the principal emirs. He does not like the Ansar to get into
comfortable and luxurious modes of life, but insists on their always
being hardened and in readiness to withstand the fatigues of war; all
prayers end with the "fatha,"[N] after which is an invocation for the
victory of religion, the long life of the Khalifa, and the continual
success of his arms; then follows a prayer calling down God's vengeance
on unbelievers and those who have erred from the paths of Mahdiism, and
asking that their wives and children may be given as booty to the true
believers; at the end of the prayers the whole congregation joins in a
loud "Amen."
After afternoon and evening prayers, the Khalifa generally holds short
political conversations, in which the affairs of the empire and of the
capital are discussed; he receives his emirs and gives them
instructions; he frequently gives discourses from the place in which he
repeats prayers, and sometimes turns and addresses in the most
benevolent manner those who are gathered around him with heads bent in
obedient submission. If he bears any one a grudge, he never attempts to
conceal it, but refers to it in the most open manner in the mosque, when
the culprit generally comes hurriedly forward, throws himself at his
feet, and implores forgiveness: if he fails to do this, he is generally
threatened with imprisonment.
The mosque is at the same time both barracks and prison, for here he
teaches his followers humbleness, obedience, and submission. He
frequently repeats his orders that all should be most punctual in their
attendance at the mosque, and if, when the appointed hour comes, people
are found in the streets, they are invariably flogged and carried off to
the zariba. This is the way the Khalifa tests the obedience of his
people, and assures himself that they are at all times ready to obey his
smallest behest.
The highest punishment possible for an absentee is that he shall attend
regularly at the mosque five times a day for eighteen months, under a
police guard, who is as a rule a Baggara, and who never lets him out of
his sight. A man under such a sentence may, if he have money, pay a fine
or bribe his guard; but if he cannot do this he must attend, no matter
how far off his house may be. Some unfortunate people who live a long
way off spend their whole day in going backwards and forwards between
their dwellings and the mosque. The emirs even, if they neglect this
order, are very severely dealt with. This enforced attendance at prayers
has greatly added to the unpopularity of the Khalifa, for work is being
continually interrupted, and all real feelings of religion are
subverted.
Formerly every important emir and fiki had his own rukuba, in which he
prayed with his own people; but the Khalifa put a stop to this, fearing
that all such meetings would have a tendency to conspiracy and mutiny.
He himself is much more a supporter of authority than of religion, but
he induces the former through the latter. Personally, he cares little
for religion. All his absurd dreams and imaginary visions only make him
a laughing-stock of the people, and he is considered by the orthodox
Moslems to be an absolute heretic.
On one occasion, when his spies reported to him that he was very
unpopular, and that it was the general wish that he should die, he
withdrew for three days. This considerably alarmed the people, for they
had no notion what form of revenge he might not be preparing for them.
At the end of this period he reappeared, and from his place in the
mosque he announced as follows:--
"I have been taken in the spirit to the third heaven, where I beheld the
Mahdi, the Prophet Elias, and Jesus Christ; when I saluted the Mahdi, he
introduced me at once to the two prophets; the Prophet Elias had a very
ruddy and sunburnt appearance, and took me very roughly by the hand; but
the Prophet Jesus was white and soft as wool. These two prophets were
pleased to know me, and I represented to the Mahdi that I had no desire
to quit this pleasant heaven; I begged him, therefore, to send some one
to rule my people instead of me, as I was tired and exhausted by trying
to govern people who did not care for me; but the Mahdi told me not to
lose heart, and that he would give me power to please all; the Mahdi
also told me that he was quite satisfied with my ruling. He afterwards
took me into the presence of God, who also showed pleasure at knowing
the Khalifa of the Mahdi."
All true Moslems who heard this extraordinary tissue of lies were very
angry that he should dare to take God's name in vain in this way, and
thoroughly understood his reasons for having such absurd and blasphemous
pretensions.
On another occasion he was told that the two Khalifas were very
dissatisfied with his arbitrary ruling, and resented being excluded from
a share in the government of the country. This induced another vision,
in which he declared that the Mahdi had told him he should live eight
years more, after which the Prophet Jesus would appear. In this way he
gave them to understand that they had not much hope of being given any
authority; but this vision appeared to have exactly the opposite effect
on the Khalifas, who became more clamorous than ever. He therefore
instructed his "vision secretary" to withdraw this vision from
circulation, and added that should any one ever be heard talking on this
subject again, he would be punished by the loss of a hand and a foot.
And then he tried to justify his action by declaring that it was the
fault of his secretaries, who had put an entirely different construction
on the vision to what he had intended, and indeed to what he had
actually seen!
After noonday prayers he ordered extracts to be read from the book
dealing with the early wars of Islam. This was quite a new departure. To
keep any book on religion or religious history, it was necessary, in the
first instance, to obtain the Khalifa's permission; and indeed it was
very difficult to keep any such books safe from the wild fanaticism of
the Dervishes. It was the Mahdi's intention to destroy, as far as
possible, everything which would serve to remind his people of the old
days, so that they should believe the more readily in his revelations
only.
The Khalifa will not accept written petitions, as he himself cannot
read. If any one has a complaint to make, he must call out, as the
Khalifa enters the mosque for prayers, "Khalifat el Mahdi!" or "Sidi!"
or he may cry out, "Ya Sidi ana mazlum!" ("Master, I am oppressed!")
Abdullah then listens to what he has to say, and decides the matter.
Whether the decision be favourable or not to the complainant, he must be
satisfied with it.
Gifts and alms are frequently besought of the Khalifa, chiefly because
he is not of such a benevolent nature as the Mahdi, and moreover, he has
less to dispose of than his predecessor.
If the Khalifa does not at once dispose of a case that is brought before
him, it is a sure sign that he has no intention of giving a decision on
it, and woe to him who dares to again bring forward the question!
Abdullah gets very angry if he is interrupted when speaking. The various
expressions of content, restlessness, and revenge are so clearly
portrayed on his face that one seldom mistakes the frame of mind he is
in at any particular time, though he often vainly tries to conceal his
actual feelings.
There are some people in Omdurman who make the expressions of the
Khalifa's face their study, and are wonderful adepts at knowing what is
passing in his mind. They listen attentively to every word he says, and
their estimates of his moods go the round of their friends, but are
often rather distorted in course of transmission. These thought-readers
assign causes to his various moods, which they put down to a variety of
reasons, such as ill-health, a disaster, or a quarrel with one of his
many wives. All these reports spread at once throughout the country, and
one would think that the people had nothing else to do but to discuss
the Khalifa and every incident of his daily life. And perhaps this is
not to be wondered at, since he exercises so indiscriminately the powers
of life and death. One word from the Khalifa is able to rouse up the
energies of all those spies whose special duty it is to report the
smokers and marissa-drinkers. The liberal payment to them of bribes by
these law-breakers occasionally serves to make them neglect their
duties; but should the Khalifa wish to replenish the waning supplies of
the beit el mal, the reporting of a few delinquents rapidly fills the
exchequer again.
The Khalifa is a man of great activity, and personally directs all
important matters. He receives reports on the most trivial affairs, and
is always overwhelmed with business. This, however, helps to keep him in
health, and prevents him leading a life of sensual ease to which his
inclinations undoubtedly tend. He has nothing but his activity to thank
for the fact that he is still alive, though during the last few years he
has greatly deteriorated in this respect, consequent on his indulging
more than usual his uxorious appetites.
After morning prayers he generally takes a short sleep, and during the
remainder of the day he is busy with the affairs of State. Posts are
continually coming and going; and the telegraph having been destroyed, a
camel postal service has been organised, but is exclusively used for
official letters. Any one who wishes to send private letters must do so
through the intermediary of merchants and travellers.
After the day's work is over, the Khalifa delights in gossiping till
late in the night, surrounded by his emirs and judges. Sometimes just
before midnight he will again enter the mosque, and will summon the
poets to sing his praises. He delights in music, and keeps a number of
Dar Fertit and Niam Niam singers, who accompany themselves on the rubaba
(a sort of native guitar), and their strange and weird melodies delight
the Khalifa's soul. These native musicians have a sort of school of
music, in which they practise all day; but they never seem to learn
anything new.
Abdullah is by no means a ruler in name only. His palace is crowded with
male and female servants, slaves, eunuchs, and young boys, who
continually wait upon him, and carry after him the inevitable "ibrik."
One slave is especially told off to carry the "farwa" or sheepskin to
the mosque. The other servants are called mulazimin, and act rather in
the capacity of spies than personal attendants. A good or bad word from
them has no small weight with the Khalifa. Of course they are all
submission to their master; and if they have been brought up in the
Khalifa's service, when the time comes he permits them to marry, and
gives them a horse as well--the two things they long for most. The
Khalifa has also his special barber, who is a slave; and his master of
the horse, who is an immensely tall Dinka. He has also a sort of giant
slave who lifts him on and off his horse. His life-guards consist of 500
black slaves armed with Remington rifles, who always accompany the
Khalifa whenever he rides out. They wear a very short jibbeh--not unlike
a soldier's tunic--and short knickerbockers. Amongst them are about 100
Taisha and Homr Arabs, whose special duty is to prevent any one
approaching the Khalifa's person. To further add to his prestige, he has
also appointed an honourable council, composed of all the principal
sheikhs of the great Sudan tribes.
His mulazimin el bab, or "household cavalry," are obliged to be in
continual attendance at the great gate of the palace, and never quit
their posts until Abdullah has retired for the night. He occasionally
selects one or two of their principal officers to despatch on important
missions into the provinces. The household cavalry rank next to the
judges in the mosque precedence. If any man seek employment, he must
attend at the mosque at prayer-time and humbly make known his request to
the Khalifa; and if he wishes to succeed, he must not be sparing in the
lavishness of the compliments with which he prefaces his demand. The
Khalifa is specially open to such eye-service, and always selects for
his servants persons who possess this qualification in a marked degree.
The business affairs of State are conducted by an army of clerks, of
whom the most influential are Fauzi, Muntasser, Abu el Gharem, and
Ahmed; these are all men who possess a good knowledge of Arabic, and
know something of history and the Moslem laws; they read all incoming
letters to the Khalifa, and answer them in accordance with his
directions; one of these clerks is his special seal-bearer; all letters
are supposed to be strictly confidential, as well as the deliberations
and discussions of the council. If he ever mentions a matter in public,
in which he conveys blame or censure, then it is understood that this is
merely a warning; if he wishes to inflict punishment, then the culprit
is seized unawares, and the chastisement or imprisonment inflicted
without further ado; thus does he bring the men of the Sudan low before
him, and tramples on their necks.
Abdullah specially delights in a display of magnificence; whenever large
expeditions start from any of the hejiras, he generally proceeds there
in the afternoon, returning in the evening. Latterly he has made fewer
of these excursions, as much work and an irregular life are beginning to
tell upon him. He never announces beforehand what he intends to do, but
just before noonday prayers the onbeïa is sounded, and a herald shouts
"Khalifat el Mahdi yerkab" ("The Khalifa of the Mahdi is about to ride
out"); then everyone who owns a horse prepares to mount and accompany
him. The horses in Omdurman have become so accustomed to the sound that
whenever they hear the onbeïa they begin to neigh and prance, as if
rejoicing in the honour of being allowed to join the Khalifa's ride.
Immediately after prayers the giant slave puts him on his horse, and as
he proceeds, hundreds of horsemen and thousands of men on foot follow
him shouting and showing all the signs of joy. He always carries a large
spear, and is little different from other riders. These latter do not
march quietly behind, but continually dash forward in groups of four and
eight, their spears poised to strike, then suddenly pull up and re-enter
the ranks; this "fantasia" delights the mob, who shout the most violent
applause.
During these excursions the Khalifa observes carefully all that is going
on around him and what the people are doing. On one occasion, when he
rode to the beit el mal and was surveying the mighty river, a woman
wearing man's clothes was brought to him from a ship close by. In reply
to the Khalifa's question what she was doing, she said she was preparing
the crew's food; he then asked if she was married, and she said no,
thereupon he began joking and presented her to Wad Adlan; but the
latter, seeing that she was neither young nor pretty, readily answered
that he was already possessor of the four lawful wives. The Khalifa
could not of course violate the law, so he summoned the captain of the
ship and insisted on him marrying this old creature on the spot; he also
casually remarked that the sailors had a noggara (copper drum) on board,
and he immediately gave a general order that no drums were to be allowed
on board boats.
On another occasion he noticed a very thick cloud of smoke, and on
inquiry he found that it came from a soap manufactory; he therefore
immediately issued orders that the soap monopoly rested with the beit el
mal, and that any other manufactory was prohibited. In this way he
deprived numbers of people of a means of livelihood.
One day he remarked a large heap of sewage in the centre of the town,
which spread a most foul odour all around; this was the cause of the
Khalifa himself stating in the mosque that if, when he inspected the
town three days hence, he found any refuse, the trespassers should be
very severely punished.
Everyone now became directly responsible for the cleanliness of his own
dwelling and its vicinity, and this order had a most excellent effect;
it was further enforced by the presence of horsemen, who took good care
to see that the instructions were carefully carried out. The Khalifa
also went so far as to order that if any impurity should be found in the
public streets, the owner of the defiled place should carry it away
himself with his own hands to the appointed place. This was a cause of
great delight to the street-arabs, who heaped insults on the disgraced
individual by shouting after him "Shalhu!" ("He has taken it away!") But
as it was with the Mahdi, so it is with the Khalifa--at first orders are
obeyed with the greatest alacrity, and then people get as careless as
ever. Omdurman at the present time is by no means a particularly clean
or sanitary town.
The occasions on which the Khalifa appears in the greatest splendour are
when he rides to parade. In accordance with the Mahdi's orders, these
reviews have always taken place on Fridays, no matter what the weather
may be, rain, sunshine, or sandstorm. The review, or "Arda," as it is
called, is a religious ceremony, and those who take part in it are
supposed to obtain special blessings and advantages. The Mahdi of course
wanted to keep up the martial spirit of his followers, and therefore he
based his reviews on religious grounds. Sometimes Khalifa Abdullah is
absent from these parades, in which case his brother Yakub takes his
place.
[Illustration: A TROPHY OF ARMS, BANNERS AND DRUMS CAPTURED FROM THE
DERVISHES.]
On parade days the great war-drums begin beating two hours before
sunrise, and the slaves whose duty it is to beat them have two
varieties of cadence, whilst a small drum beaten in quick time completes
the call to arms. The people apply all sorts of expressions to the
beating in quick time, such as "Nakelkum" or "Naktulkum" ("We will eat
you up," or "We will kill you"), _i.e._ their enemies. In the stillness
of the night these drums are heard a very long way off, and in the
terrible times of the Mahdi wars their weird and monotonous roll created
a most sad and depressing effect on me.
Immediately after morning prayers the leaders proceed to the flag yard,
each takes his flag, and they all stand in line in the open space in
front of the beit el amana.
The flags of the Khalifas Abdullah and Ali Wad Helu are kept quite
apart. Khalifa Sherif seldom goes out, and keeps himself as much as
possible from appearing anywhere in public with Abdullah, with whom he
is on very bad terms, because he has been deprived of all authority.
The four drum-beaters stand in front of the flags, and gradually the
followers all collect round their respective leaders. As soon as the sun
rises they begin shouting, and then march to the parade ground. Arrived
here, the flags are all placed in line. The horsemen follow Yakub or any
other person whom the Khalifa may delegate.
The Ansar are drawn up in a long line facing eastwards, and all the
people immediately rush to get into the various divisions to which they
belong. Then the onbeïa sounds to indicate that the great master himself
is arriving; this is the signal for all those who have stayed behind,
attempting to shirk parade, to rush helter-skelter to the ranks, as the
Khalifa gets very angry unless the review is well attended. He is
generally mounted on a very good camel led by Wad Beshir; he sits with
drawn sword, and moves very slowly, surrounded by his black life-guards
formed in square.
The four onbeïa-blowers march just in front, and take it in turns to
sound the great elephant's tusk. Behind the Khalifa follow the mulazimin
riding. Arrived on parade he first inspects the whole line, and
occasionally performs some cavalry manoeuvres in the hills which
stretch towards Kererri. These hills are supposed to be the abode of the
Jinns,[O] who are said to be the Khalifa's auxiliaries in battle, and he
frequently indulges in visions, retiring into a small hut, while the
Ansar have to stand outside waiting for hours in the burning sun.
At length he gives the signal to march off; again the flags unite in two
groups, followed by the shouting Dervishes. The horsemen keep dashing
round the flanks to see that no one goes away. All must march back to
the beit el amana, where they await the Khalifa's arrival to be
dismissed.
The orders respecting the arms and equipment to be carried by the Ansar
on parade are all strictly adhered to; everyone must carry at least
three spears, _i.e._ one large and two small ones; also a sword, which
is slung round the shoulder, and a girth as well; anyone appearing
deficient of any of these articles is flogged.
At large festivals the reviews are most imposing. Months before, orders
are sent in all directions for the Ansar to assemble. On these occasions
there are generally about 1,000 horsemen. The Khalifa, wearing a suit of
mail armour and a helmet, is generally mounted on a good charger, and is
surrounded by some 200 horsemen, also clad in mail, wearing helmets and
greaves; the horses also wear brass head-armour lined with
thickly-quilted stuffs, which are intended to protect from sword-cuts.
The riders wear thick red turbans, which they wind round the helmet, and
then tie tightly under the chin, thus leaving only very little of their
face exposed; they also wear red girdles, which they throw over their
shoulders. The combination of red with the dark Baggara complexion is
peculiarly effective, and gives them a most martial appearance. The red
turban and girdle are entirely the Khalifa's idea. At first the horses
were not shod, but recently Abdullah ordered some thousands of
horse-shoes to be made in the arsenal.
The wild excitement and confusion prevailing on these occasions can
readily be understood. The guns are all brought out, arms distributed
amongst the Ansar, and the shouting and yelling is endless; crowds of
horsemen dash hither and thither at a wild gallop, raising clouds of
dust.
Horses and horsemanship are a great delight to the Sudanese; the best
breeds are from Dongola and Abyssinia. At one time there were quantities
in Darfur, and there was no difficulty in raising 4,000 of them, but
since Mahdiism has fallen on the land the numbers have greatly
decreased. Every horse-owner is entitled to half an ardeb of dhurra from
the beit el mal.
The reviews which I have just described tend to keep alive enthusiasm,
and also to intimidate those who are secretly opposed to the Khalifa,
and whom the sight of such numbers of foot-and horsemen cannot fail to
impress. The best riders are the Khalifa's own countrymen--the
Baggaras--who are brought up on horses from their early childhood. The
Khalifa has craftily arranged that all horses remain in the hands of the
Baggaras. At first not many of this tribe joined the Mahdi, they
preferred to remain in their own happy hunting-grounds, rearing horses,
and living in unfettered liberty in their great plains and forests, and
in consequence the Arabs nicknamed them "Arab el Shedera" (Arabs of the
forests), but when the Khalifa succeeded to supreme power, he thought
that his authority would be considerably strengthened by collecting his
own countrymen around him.
After conquering Sultan Yusef, of Darfur, the Khalifa ordered Osman Wad
Adam to gather his own countrymen--the Taisha--nearer Omdurman. The
youthful Osman gave to those wild nomads a most glowing account of the
magnificent countries near the Nile, and of the Khalifa's enormous power
and authority, and to prove the truth of what he said, he showed them
all sorts of glittering dollars, and various kinds of cloths; nor did
he rest until he at last persuaded them to leave their homes.
They set out with all their movable property--women, children, and
flocks--all bound for Omdurman; they plundered the inhabitants of the
various countries through which they passed, and forcibly seized their
camels for transport. The Dar Hameda tribe alone, through whose country
they passed, lost 4,000 camels. When they reached El Obeid, a special
tax was levied for their maintenance, but, quite regardless of this,
they broke into the houses, and laid hands on all they could find.
From El Obeid they passed on to Tayara and Shatt, whence the Khalifa had
them conveyed in steamers to Omdurman. There were, in all, 7,000
warriors, exclusive of women and children; their arrival in Omdurman was
viewed with a certain amount of alarm, and not without reason. As the
Arnauts and the Bashi Bazuks were utilized by the Government in the old
days, so were the Taisha to be now utilised under the Khalifa's rule; he
favoured them in every possible way, the beit el mal was made
responsible for their maintenance and pay. After they had partially
settled down, and some had been given the richest patches on the Nile
banks, as well as several of the islands, the others were then removed
to Berber, Abu Hamed, Dongola, and the Gezireh.
In all these places they very soon made themselves masters of the
situation, and the Khalifa gave them the most important Government posts
to fill; but notwithstanding all this favoured treatment, still they
were not content: the more they had, the more they wanted. Upwards of
4,000 of them deserted from Omdurman, to proceed to their own country;
but they were overtaken, and, as an example to the remainder, the right
hand and left foot of three of them were cut off, though it was with the
greatest reluctance that he ever punished his own countrymen in this
way. Two hundred of the deserters were put in prison, where some of them
died in a few days: the horrors of this prison so impressed these wild
children of the desert, that to this day they tremble at the thought of
it.
The sheikh of the Taisha was a man named Ghazali, who was by no means
happy in his new position; and though he was well received by Abdullah,
still he could not brook the feeling of being under the authority of a
man who at one time had been one of his lowest menials. It was reported
to the Khalifa that he was discontented, he was therefore summoned
before him, and addressed as follows:--
"When you were sheikh in your own country, were we not obliged to kiss
your hand, and show you all reverence and respect? Yes: and it was quite
right to do so. But now God has placed me over you as your master, then
why do you now refuse to give me the same honour and respect which you
required of your own subjects when you were in a similar position?"
Ghazali made no reply, but then and there decided to run away. This
showed a spirit of independence which had been dead amongst the Arabs
for centuries, and to find it we have to go back to the time of Saladin.
Sheikh Ghazali was a man who knew no fear, and he confided his plans to
his wife and daughter, and they--far from deterring him--rather
encouraged him to carry it out. His wife saddled his horse, and urged
him rather to die than to submit to a position so far beneath him.
Ghazali, accompanied by two of his relatives, mounted his horse in the
middle of the night; without shedding a tear, his wife bade him
farewell, and wished him all success in his undertaking. In order to put
his enemies off his track, he at first went in a northerly direction
till just below Kererri, then turned south-west, and made for Kordofan.
But Ghazali made a fatal mistake in using horses for such an enterprise,
for, winter being over, there was a scarcity of water in the desert; it
would have been far better had he used camels.
The poor man had to pay dearly for his error. Scarcely was he out of
Omdurman than one of his own tribesmen reported his flight to the
Khalifa, who became very angry, cursed the Taisha for their
ingratitude, and ordered the fugitives to be pursued at once. They
searched the desert around Omdurman in every direction, and, thinking
they must have taken camels, they did not at first take any notice of
the horses' tracks, but eventually they decided to follow up the latter,
and were soon convinced that they were on the fugitives' heels.
Some distance after leaving Kererri, they came up with the horses which
Ghazali and his companions, owing to their fatigue, had abandoned, and
had continued their flight on foot. The pursuers were now two days
distant from Omdurman, and were on the point of giving up the chase,
when they heard a shot fired from a thickly-wooded khor. It was Ghazali,
who, suffering greatly from thirst, had separated from his companions in
search of water; he had been digging about in the sand, and, discovering
the longed-for liquid, he had fired a shot to let his companions know he
had been successful.
This shot was his betrayer; the pursuers rushed to the spot, surrounded
him, and although he killed and wounded several, he was overpowered and
fell riddled with bullets. His head was cut off, for the Khalifa had
given orders that on no account was he to be brought back alive. His two
relations submitted, and were subsequently pardoned by the Khalifa, who
is always more lenient to his own tribesmen than to others. Ghazali's
head was brought to Omdurman, and thrown amongst the heap of
"unbelievers'" heads.
There is no doubt that if Ghazali had succeeded in regaining his own
country, he would have become a dangerous rival to Abdullah. Most of the
Taisha infinitely prefer the liberty of their native forests to holding
high posts in Omdurman, and would have rejoined Ghazali in large
numbers.
One of the most important measures taken by the Khalifa to get all power
into his own hands was his attempt to gain possession of all firearms.
He had over and over again given orders that any one found with a gun
would be punished by the loss of a hand and a foot, and, of course, the
natural result was that every one feared to deliver up his gun, dreading
the punishment which would inevitably follow. This plan having failed,
the Khalifa then ordered two Jew merchants to buy up all firearms for
the beit el mal, and the people having no fear of Jews freely sold them.
In this way about 1,000 Remington rifles were secured: in a like manner
the Khalifa got possession of the coats of mail; but, as may well be
imagined, the Jews did not make much profit out of the business. They
were put into chains for eight months, and had to pay back a
considerable sum of money as well.
Thus did the Khalifa gradually concentrate all power in himself. The
emin beit el mal is obliged to give him a daily statement showing all
revenue and expenditure; the Sheikh es Suk (or sheikh of the market) has
to render a daily report of everything that has taken place in the
market, and the chief judge must keep the Khalifa fully informed of all
important cases which come under his notice. The Khalifa reserves to
himself the powers of life and death, although the judge passes the
sentence.
Every province has a governor or emir, _i.e._ Dongola, Berber, Galabat,
Karkoj, Gezireh, Fashoda, Kordofan, Lado, and Jebel Regaf. All these
emirs are Baggara, and have several emirs under their commands. Each
emir has his own beit el mal, and has the power of appointing his own
emin beit el mal and kadi (judge). The emir is the supreme civil and
military governor of his province, and is entirely responsible for its
administration.
The beit el mal at Omdurman is known as the "Beit el mal el Um[^u]m,"
and the head of it gives orders direct to all his provincial assistants.
Each emir is obliged to report all events of importance to the Khalifa,
they are frequently summoned to Omdurman to give an account of their
administration, and to take the Khalifa's instructions.
Abdullah watches most carefully all events in frontier provinces, such
as Dongola, Berber, &c., and spies, disguised as merchants, are
continually sent to Egypt to get the Arabic newspapers, which are always
read to the Khalifa by his secretaries. An emir should never pay a visit
to Omdurman empty-handed, or he is likely to fall into serious disgrace.
In addition to the emirs are the omala (tax-gatherers), who visit the
provinces annually and collect the ushr (one-tenth) and the zeka (alms
for the poor, two and a-half per cent.). These appointments are let to
the holders at an enormous rate--several thousand dollars a year. The
omala have to cover all their own expenses, which they do, and get a
very considerable profit besides.
It is therefore apparent that the inhabitants are grievously oppressed.
The emirs and omala act in the most arbitrary manner in their own
provinces; their will is absolute, and horrible systems of cruelty
prevail everywhere. One of the omala, Wad Hamdu Allah, by way of
extorting money from a man, bound his hands so tightly behind his back
that when released they remained quite powerless. The poor man went to
Omdurman to seek redress, and the Khalifa, on the principle of "an eye
for an eye and a tooth for a tooth," ordered that the amil's hands
should be cut off, or that he should pay the injured man a sum of money.
The man, of course, chose the latter, as the cutting off of his
oppressor's hands could not have done him any practical good; so he
received 200 dollars compensation and four slaves. But this is an
exceptional case; as a rule these cruelties seldom reach the Khalifa's
ears, and if the instigator of the crime is a Baggara it is never
noticed.
The Khalifa's brother Yakub is his principal supporter. He and Abdullah
are not of the same mother, and Yakub is a few years the senior; he has
a somewhat lighter complexion, but if possible he is even more cruel
than his brother, and is in charge of the harem. The two brothers work
entirely together, and Abdullah, being satisfied with Yakub's integrity,
gives him the fullest liberty. Orders given by Yakub are carried out
with the same alacrity as if they were given by Abdullah. He receives
every day from the emin beit el mal all surplus cash, and moreover has
charge of spare leather, sacking, &c., with which to supply the wants of
the Baggaras. It is said that Yakub is already possessor of great stores
of wealth.
Thus do the brothers, Abdullah and Yakub, hold the entire Sudan in the
most cruel bondage, whilst the inhabitants are harassed by the merciless
Baggaras, who have made themselves the ruthless masters of the whole
country.
FOOTNOTES:
[N] The first chapter in the Kuran; it is held in great
veneration by Mohammedans, and is used by them very much as the
Paternoster is recited by Roman Catholics.
[O] Jinn is the Arabic equivalent for genii, in the existence
of whom the Mohammedans are believers, and by whom they are divided,
into "believers" and "unbelievers." The Mahdi always asserted that in
battle thousands of Jinns fought on the side of the Dervishes.