A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE SUDAN
The history of The Sudan is influenced by the neighboring areas and countries. The Sudan has a history of at least nine million years. Napoleon plays an important role in the modern Sudanese history. In 1797 the battle of the Pyramids took place this shook the power of the ruling class of Egypt the Mamelukes. It also paved the way for the rise to power of Muhammad Ali Basha the Ottomans Khidevi.
Muhammad Ali Basha sent his son Ismail with an army of 10,000 men which was burned to the last man including Mohammed Ali son Ismail by The JAALEEN tribe King , King Nimer through the desert and by the year 1821. Then a second army was sent under the command of Aldifterdar, son in law of Mohammed Als Basha who had he had conquered north and central Sudan. This was when, the Sudan- which means the “Land of the Blacks” – started to become a political entity.
Muhammad Ahmad Abdullahi who was born in 1844 was the son of a Dongola boat-builder. He grew up to become a mystic and soon retired to the Aba Island (35 Miles long and 17 Miles wide), which was located in the White Nile150 miles south of Khartoum. His aim was to live a religious life and in 1881 proclaimed to be the Mahdi, meaning the second great prophet , the expected one. The tribes in the western Sudan listened to his orders for a olly war against the Ottomans despots and in 1884 he became the victor and master of The Sudan after the famous siege of Khartoum which ended by the beheading of General Charles Gordon who was once appointed by the Ottomans as the General Governor of The Sudan. He is best renowned as Gordon of Khartoum.
On the other side Britain had moved into Egypt. Britain believed that The Sudan could not be held, and ordered General Charles Gordon to evacuate the Egyptian Garrison Khartoum. But only 317 days later the Mahdi’s dervish hordes overran the city.
Six months after the fall of Khartoum The Mahdi died of natural causes and his deputy Abdullahi Altaaishi ,(known as the Khalifa) took over the leadership of the country. Soon after he came to power a series of civil wars took place. In 1898 the Anglo force under the command of General Herbert Kitchener met up with the 60,000 of the Khalifa’s warriors outside Omdurman was built across the Nile and was made by the Mahdi the new capital city of The Sudan. Kitchener conquered Omdurman after the Battle of Kerrari (Omdurman) 1898.
The 1936 agreement stimulated Sudanese nationalists. They expressed this by forming the Graduates’ Congress. This congress was established under the leadership of Ismail al-Azhari.
By the year 1945, two political parties had emerged. The National Unionist Party which was led by Al-Azhari, demanded for the union of the Sudan and Egypt and the Umma Party of Sayed Sir Abdur-Rahman al-Mahdi (son of Almahdi) who wanted independence and no bond with Egypt.
In 1953, Britain ended the agreement and decided to grant Sudan self government within three years. Elections took place and NUP was elected with Ismail Al-Azhari as Sudan’s first Prime Minister.
In 1955, the Parliament voted that Sudan should become “a fully independent sovereign state”. British soldiers left the country one year later on 1st January 1956.
It was the start of the new era of the independent Sudan. On 17th November 1958 a group of Sudanese Officers led by General Ibrahim Abuod made a coup de’tat and the army seized power. General Abuod regime was considered the Golden Age of the Sudan. In October 1964 under tremendous pressure from the nation, General Abuod resigned and handed power to a transitional government led by Sirelkhatim Alkhalifa. One year later after election Ismail Alazhari was elected as the President of the Sudan. On 25th May 1969 General Jaafar Numeri seized power after a coup de tat and ruled the Sudan until April 1984. A second coup de tat by a group of army officers and General Numeri was deposed during his visit to USA. The officers appointed General Abdulrahman Swareldahab who was the Defense Minster during the last months of General Numeri`s rule. After two years the military Junta returned the Power to the Elected President Mohammed Osman Elmirghani who was deposed by General Omer Albashire in a coup de tat 29th June 1989 and was ruling the country until he was ousted by a peaceful revaluation in April 2020.
