3 Reflections on a Subsistence Economy: Production and Trade of the Mahdist Sudan, 1881–1898

In 1881 a revolt broke out in the Sudan against Egyptian rule. It was led by Muhammad Ahmad ibn Abdallah who assumed the title of Mahdi. ¹ In the following years, the supporters of the Mahdi(al-ansar) succeeded in gaining control over large parts of the Egyptian Sudan; this culminated in the occupation of the capital Khartoum in January 1885. Until 1898, when the country was occupied by the Anglo-Egyptian forces, an independent Mahdist state existed in the Sudan. After the Mahdi's sudden death in June 1885, the state came under the rule of the Khalifa Abdallah ibn Muhammad.