Sheikan Museum in El Obeid is a well-hidden jewel. The range of artefacts is wide and representative of both the colonial occupiers, as represented by the doomed Hicks Expeditionary Force, and the ansarwho defeated them at Sheikan in November 1883. From the Mahdi’s own razor (donated by the son of the Mahdi’s barber) to a wide range of weaponry, clothing and banners, complemented by photographs of several key participants on both sides of the conflict. (FN)
إن انتصار المهدي في معركته النهائية يقوم هنا بتوصيفه دكتور محمد بابكر أحمد ( جباد) مدير المجلس الأعلامي للثقافة والشباب والرياضة في ولاية شمال كردفان وهو مؤلف " تاربخ كردفان " الذي تم نشره في العام 2013.
The Mahdī’s final victory is described here by Dr Mohamed Babiker Ahmed “Jabad”, who is Director of the High Council for Culture, Youth and Sport in the North Kordofan Governorate and the author of a 2013 History of Kordofan.
This interview with Imam al-Sadiq al-Mahdi, the great-grandson of the Mahdi, was conducted by Fergus Nicoll at the interviewees family home in Omdurman. [March 2020 NSty]
Reem Alhilou is a consultant to the MAC project, advising us about the Sudanese objects in the collection of the Royal Engineers Museum. She also played a crucial role in organising and facilitiating the research trip to Sudan. Where she is referred to or has substantially contributed to entries on this archive you will see the identifier RA.
During this interview Imam Ahmad al-Mahdi explains why the jibba and the flag are so important in Mahdist culture. You can see a version of the early Jibba he describes (Muraqqa'a) on the British museum website. While there are many jibbas in museum collections across the UK Muraqqa'a are rare. (NSty)
Sheikan Museum in El Obeid is a well-hidden jewel. The range of artefacts is wide and representative of both the colonial occupiers, as represented by the doomed Hicks Expeditionary Force, and the ansarwho defeated them at Sheikan in November 1883. From the Mahdi’s own razor (donated by the son of the Mahdi’s barber) to a wide range of weaponry, clothing and banners, complemented by photographs of several key participants on both sides of the conflict. (FN)
A brief research trip to Khartoum, Omdurman and El Obeid was undertaken by Making African Connections (MAC) consultant Fergus Nicoll between 6 and 14 March 2020.
