The Carpenter of Dongola and the Mahdists
"The All-merciful God has placed the sword of victory in my hands and
declares to all peoples that I am the Mahdi. He has designated me by the
white scar upon my right cheek. In the uproar of battle I will follow
the gleaming banner, borne by Asrael, the death angel, the destroyer of
my enemies." With these words Mohammed Achmet, the carpenter of Dongola,
a settler upon the island of Aba, announced to the world his mission to
purify Islam and found a kingdom of justice and happiness.
This was in May, 1881. The attention of the Egyptian government was now
fixed upon Mohammed Achmet. Hitherto it was hoped that they had only to
deal with one of those fanatical outbreaks which are frequent in the
Orient and quickly subside, but when the feast of Ramadhan occurred, the
pallid apostle, haggard from his penitential fast, appeared with weapons
in his hands. Several attempts to make him prisoner failed, which only
tended to confirm the reports of his sanctity. Abu Saud was slain; and
Raschid Bey, who tried to stem his victorious course, fell at the head
of his overwhelmingly defeated troops. The Mahdi unfurled the banner of
revolt in the country of Baggaria.
There were many grounds for discontent in the Soudan. The venality of
the officials, the unjust and oppressive tax levies, the partiality
shown to agents had quietly and slowly created excitement among the
people. As Emin told his friend, the attempted suppression of the slave
trade had obstructed the sources of wealth and together with the
extortionate taxes had impoverished the country without having
beneficial effects of any kind. The hatred grew daily and this precept
of the Koran found an echo in their hearts: "Slay those who would slay
you. Slay them wherever you find them. Hunt them down, for the
temptation to idolatry is worse than death."
The revolt was now in full blast. On the seventh of June, 1882, the army
of Jussuf Pasha was surprised in the dense forests of Mount Kadas and
annihilated. The Mahdi, as the result of this victory, secured large
additions to his followers, sent an expedition to the south, invested
Kordofan, and made himself master of the west bank of the Nile. In the
meantime there was such unrest in Alexandria that the English government
took steps to protect its own subjects and declared its readiness to
conduct operations in the Soudan. Lieutenant Stewart was sent to
Khartoum to study the revolt and suggest measures for suppressing it.
Certain operations succeeded, but the results were not lasting.
In September, 1883, a large army was organized in command of General
Hicks. This new army, of one thousand men, five hundred horses, and
fifty-five hundred camels, should have been a match for the irregular
troops of the Mahdi. The beginning of operations was auspicious. At
Alloba one detachment of Mahdists was dispersed and on the second of
November, while marching through a thickly wooded region, General Hicks
attacked the rebels and forced them to retreat. But on the fourth of
November they suddenly found themselves surrounded by a force over one
hundred thousand strong and the heights resounded with the war cry, "Ti
sebil Ellah," the fatalistic invocation presaging destruction.
All efforts were idle. Their heroic courage could not enable them to
break through that wall of iron which blocked every possible avenue of
escape. On the afternoon of November 7 (1883) the attack was universal,
murderous, and desperate. It was no longer a battle, but a massacre.
Hicks was killed and all his soldiers with him. Mohammed Achmet
collected the heads of the slain and sent them home as trophies. The
cause of the prophet apparently was under divine protection. The revolt
grew in importance and even the gentlest of the races made common cause
with the victor. The fortune of war also favored the rebels in the
eastern Soudan.
In Egypt the affairs of the Soudan provinces were regarded as desperate,
and its inability to put down such a formidable rebellion was clearly
apparent. The English government advised the removal of the government
officials and soldiers from the Soudan, which included Emin and his
people. It was a heroic undertaking, but one without hope of success.
The removal of sixty thousand people through a country in open revolt,
swarming with fanatical rebels, without sufficient means of
transportation or arrangements for subsistence, was inevitably destined
to end in a catastrophe. For this difficult undertaking General Gordon,
who had before this rendered important service in the Soudan, was again
called upon. He offered himself freely and willingly. His was a nature
whose courage increased with each new danger and was never troubled with
thoughts of the morrow. At Berber he declared the independence of the
Soudan, gave up the administration of Kordofan to the Mahdi, and
re-enacted the laws for the suppression of slavery.
On the eighteenth of February, 1884, he arrived at Khartoum and began at
once to strengthen its defences. The magic of his name held the
rebellion in check. Mohammed Achmet did not dare to resist him by force
of arms until he had completely woven the threads of his mysterious
plans. Gordon began to hope and devoted his entire attention to the
evacuation of the Soudan. But in the east, at Suakim, things were going
badly. The government's troops were routed at El Teb and Sinkat, and
Tokar fell. The rebels had the advantage of superior numbers. Thousands
fell, but other thousands of the fanatics took their places. Gordon did
not find a favorable opportunity to evacuate the Soudan. The English
government would have nothing more to do with the matter, but public
sentiment forced the premier, Gladstone, to authorize an expedition for
the rescue of Gordon. It took a much longer time than was anticipated to
organize this force.
The year 1885 was an anxious one for Gordon. Daily and hourly he waited
for news of his deliverers. In the meantime the Mahdi invested Khartoum.
He knew that the magic of his name and the triumph of his cause would be
established by this last decisive test and that he must concentrate all
his efforts upon the Nile. The English were everywhere delayed. Time was
pressing and delay was dangerous. Two steamers at last were sent to
Khartoum under command of Lieutenant Wilson. They came in sight of
Khartoum on the twenty-eighth of January, 1885, and were received with a
fierce fire of artillery. The city was in possession of the Mahdi.
Wilson again sailed down the Nile. Both steamers were wrecked upon rocks
in the river and he himself reached the English camp with the sad
news.[6]
There were only a few survivors left to tell what happened at Khartoum.
At seven o'clock on the morning of the twenty-sixth of January, 1885,
there was unexpected alarm and uproar in the city. The air was filled
with shouts and the people were rushing about in wild disorder. The
plaza, where the governor's palace stood, resounded with fanatical and
insulting outcries. They were calling for Gordon, "the enemy of God."
Violence followed threats. Guns were fired, efforts were made to break
down the palace gates, fugitives were murdered. The city was turned into
a hell of cruelty and bloodshed. Gordon, the man "without fear and
without reproach," had been betrayed and sold to the enemy by the very
men he had befriended and whom he was seeking to help.
At last the great door of the palace opened and a man in simple military
uniform, his sword by his side and the distinctions he had earned upon
his breast, stepped out. It was Gordon with his arms crossed upon his
breast. He stepped back from the crowd and quietly surveyed it. His
heroic majesty affected his bloodthirsty enemies and they were silent.
It was the last sign of respect paid to the martyr by them. Suddenly a
shot was fired and Gordon fell, pierced in the forehead. His head was
carried upon a stake to the tent of Mohammed Achmet and his body was
thrown into the Nile. A horrible massacre prevailed three days in the
city.