Mahdist State in the context of "Sudanese Greeks"

The Mahdist War (Arabic: الثورة المهدية, romanized: ath-Thawra al-Mahdiyya; 1881–1899) was fought between the Mahdist Sudanese, led by Muhammad Ahmad bin Abdullah, who had proclaimed himself the "Mahdi" of Islam (the "Guided One"), and the forces of the Khedivate of Egypt, initially, and later the forces of Britain. After four years, the Mahdist rebels overthrew the Ottoman-Egyptian administration with the fall of Khartoum and gained control over Sudan. The Mahdist State launched several unsuccessful invasions of their neighbours, expanding the scale of the conflict to also include the Italian Empire, the Congo Free State and the Ethiopian Empire. They also faced significant internal rebellion.

Anglo-Egyptian forces reconquered Sudan in 1898 and the Mahdist state collapsed following defeat at the battle of Omdurman. The last organised resistance from the Mahdists ended the next year, leading to the creation of Anglo-Egyptian Sudan (1899–1956), a de jure condominium of the British Empire and the Kingdom of Egypt, in which Britain had de facto control over Sudan.

Muhammad Ahmad bin Abdullah bin Fahal (Arabic: محمد أحمد بن عبد الله بن فحل; 12 August 1843 – 21 June 1885) was a Sudanese religious and political leader. In 1881, he claimed to be the Mahdi and led a war against Egyptian rule in Sudan, which culminated in a remarkable victory over them in the Siege of Khartoum. He created a vast Islamic state extending from the Red Sea to Central Africa and founded a movement that remained influential in Sudan a century later.

From his announcement of the Mahdist State in June 1881 until its end in 1899, the Mahdi's supporters, the Ansar, established many of its theological and political doctrines. After Muhammad Ahmad's unexpected death from typhus on 22 June 1885, his chief deputy, Abdallahi ibn Muhammad took over the administration of the nascent Mahdist State.

The Ansar (Arabic: أنصار) are a Sufi religious movement in the Sudan whose followers are disciples of Muhammad Ahmad (12 August 1844 – 22 June 1885), a Sudanese religious leader based on Aba Island who proclaimed himself Mahdi on 29 June 1881. His followers won a series of victories against the Egyptians, culminating in the capture of Khartoum in January 1885.

When Muhammed Ahmad died a few months later, his successor, Abdallahi ibn Muhammad, maintained the independence of the Mahdist State until 1898, when an Anglo-Egyptian force re-conquered the area. The Mahdi's eldest surviving son, Abd al-Rahman al-Mahdi, was the religious and political leader of the Ansar throughout most of the colonial era of Anglo-Egyptian Sudan (1898–1955) and for a few years after the Sudan gained independence in January 1956. His descendants have led the movement since then.

The siege of Khartoum (also known as the battle of Khartoum or fall of Khartoum) took place from 13 March 1884 to 26 January 1885. Sudanese Mahdist forces captured the city of Khartoum, Sudan, from its Egyptian garrison, thereby gaining control over the whole of Turco-Egyptian Sudan.

Egypt had conquered Sudan in 1820, but had itself come under British domination in 1882. In 1881, the Mahdist War began in Sudan, led by Muhammad Ahmad who claimed to be the Mahdi. The Egyptian Army was unable to suppress the revolt, being defeated in several battles and retreating to their garrisons. The British refused to send a military force to the area, instead appointing Charles George Gordon as Governor-General of Sudan, with orders to evacuate Khartoum and the other garrisons. Gordon arrived in Khartoum in February 1884, where he found it impossible to reach the other garrisons which were already besieged. Rather than evacuating immediately, Gordon began to fortify the city, which was cut off when the local tribes switched their support to the Mahdi. Approximately 7,000 Egyptian troops and 27,000 (mostly Sudanese) civilians were besieged in Khartoum by 30,000 Mahdist troops, rising to 50,000 by the end of the siege.

The history of South Sudan comprises the history of the territory of present-day South Sudan and the peoples inhabiting the region.

South Sudan's modern history is closely tied to that of Sudan. These ties began in the 19th century with the southward expansion of the Ottoman Khedivate of Egypt and the establishment of Turco-Egyptian Sudan with the land that makes up modern South Sudan remaining part of Sudan through the Mahdist State, Anglo-Egyptian Sudan and the Republic of Sudan up until South Sudan's independence in 2011.

Northern State (Arabic: الولاية الشمالية Aš Šamāliya) is one of the 18 wilayat (states) of Sudan. It has an area of 348,765 km and an estimated population of 936,255. Northern Sudan was known in ancient times as Nubia. Jebel Uweinat is a mountain range in the area of the Egyptian-Libyan-Sudanese border. The state has been part of historical Sudanese kingdoms and countries such as the Mahdist State and the Kingdom of Kush. The state is bordering Egypt to the North, River Nile State to the east, Khartoum State to the southeast, North Kordofan to the south, and North Darfur and Libya to the west. The disputed Wadi Halfa Salient is located on the border of the state and Egypt.

The Battle of Omdurman, also known as the Battle of Karary, was fought during the Anglo-Egyptian conquest of Sudan between a British–Egyptian expeditionary force commanded by British Commander-in-Chief (sirdar) major general Horatio Herbert Kitchener and a Sudanese army of the Mahdist State, led by Abdallahi ibn Muhammad (the Khalifa), the successor to the self-proclaimed Mahdi, Muhammad Ahmad. The battle took place on 2 September 1898, at Kerreri, 11 kilometres (6.8 mi) north of Omdurman.

Following the establishment of the Mahdist State in Sudan, and the subsequent threat to the regional status quo and to British-occupied Egypt, the British government decided to send an expeditionary force with the task of overthrowing the Khalifa. The commander of the force, Sir Herbert Kitchener, was also seeking revenge for the death of General Gordon, who had been killed when a Mahdist army captured Khartoum thirteen years earlier. On the morning of 2 September, some 35,000–50,000 Sudanese tribesmen under Abdullah attacked the British lines in a disastrous series of charges; later that morning the 21st Lancers charged and defeated another force that appeared on the British right flank. Among those present was 23-year-old soldier and reporter Winston Churchill as well as a young Captain Douglas Haig.