ABSTRACT
The conflict between the North and the South Sudan took place against a background of slavery, domination, deceit, and hostility. In 1869, the new ruler of Egypt, Khedive Ismael, employed Sir Samuel Baker, an Englishman, to lead an expedition to the South to stop the slave trade. Many historians believe that the Mahdists formed the first national movement in the Sudan. According to Mohamed Omer Beshir, even southern tribes, who had "no kinship to the Arabs, joined the revolt against an oppressive and unpopular government and by 1880, the whole South was united against Egyptian rule." The period when the Sudan was ruled by the Condominium Agreement is significant for understanding the dynamics of the conflict which later came to engulf independent Sudan for seventeen years. A series of blunders on the government's part, and many unfavorable incidents, led to further tension and misunderstanding between the North and South.
