Military aspects of internal security in the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, 1898-1925 with special reference to the Northern Sudan

Abstract

An attempt is made in this work to study the Sudan Government's military response to the complex problems presented by actual or potential opposition to its rule, especially in the Northern (Muslim) Sudan, between 1899 and 1925 - 26. Chapter I discusses the danger to internal security from organised Mahdist resistance, from the defeat of the Khalifa 'Abdallahi at Karari in September 1898 till his death in November 1899. Chapter II deals with the shortcomings of the Egyptian army as an instrument of military security, with special reference to the mutiny of the Sudanese battalions in 1900. Chapter III discusses Islamic resistance movements (Mahdists and Millenarian) as a threat to security in the Northern Sudan during the period 1900 - 1908. Chapter IV describes the pacification of the Nuba Mountains, partly to deny the use of this region to actual or potential resistance movements. Chapter V deals with the role of British military officers and of the British garrison in the Sudan. Chapter VI reviews the problem of security in the Sudan during the First World War and discusses the question of the re-organisation of the Egyptian army. Chapter VII relates to the future status of the Sudan and to the military implications of a possible change of status. It also discusses the impact of the Egyptian Revolution of 1919 on Sudanese Nationalism during the period 1919 - 1922. Chapters VIII and IX continue the story of the crisis that began in 1919. They throw light on the activities of the Egyptian Nationalists in the Sudan; on the Sudanese insurrection of 1924; and on the military response of the Sudan Government to these events. Chapter X discusses the serious threat to security posed by the Neo-Mahdists and by the educated Sudanese Nationalists. The revision of the Governmental policy in order to contain these threats to security in the Sudan is also the theme of this chapter.