El Obeid

“ A man descended out of heaven, having a pitcher in his hand, out of which he gave drink first to her husband, and then, one after another, to several warriors of his tribe. She told Abu Obeid, who answered that he wished it might be a token of impending martyrdom to him and them. He then appointed each of the warriors, in turn, whom she had named, to succeed him if he fell; and so it turned out. Abu Obeid cut at the lip of the elephant, being told (erroneously) that it was the part where a mortal blow could most easily be struck.
[208] The same clan as Abu Obeid’s. ”

“ General Hicks's white horse was handed over to Klootz with orders to cure the wound in its back.
At length the pestilential smell of thousands of dead bodies of men and animals drove the conquerors forward. The Mahdi's entry into El Obeid was a scene of wild enthusiasm and excitement. The many-coloured flags came first, then followed thousands upon thousands of Dervishes moving to the ever-swelling murmur of "La Ilaha il'lallah" ("There is no god but God") , whilst others danced out of the ranks and shook their blood-bespotted spears, uttering fearful yells. ”

“ The nahas—the brazen wardrums—would summon, with their weird rolling, the whole host to arms. The green flag and the red flag and the black flag would rise over the multitude. The great army would move forward, coloured, glistening, dark, violent, proud, beautiful. The drunkenness, the madness of religion would blaze on every face; and the Mahdi, immovable on his charger, would let the scene grow under his eyes in silence.
El Obeid fell in January, 1883. Meanwhile, events of the deepest importance had occurred in Egypt. ”

“ In spite of the formation of the military post at Fafa and Woda, the Bir Om Lawai Khawabir Arabs had again collected, and, joined by a number of Mima who had been [209] irritated by the roads to their country being cut, and stimulated by the fall of El Obeid, were now stirring up the entire country between Fasher and Dara, whilst the troops at Fafa were not in sufficient force to attack them. I therefore decided on another expedition against them, as I was resolved to show them that the fall of El Obeid had not discouraged us. ”

“ During the dry seasons nothing but dusty spaces intervene between the huts, and the town presents a dreary appearance ; but towards the end of the kharif , when the vegetation is in its beauty, the outlying quarters of El-Obeid appear like vast prairies, and the conic roofs of the tokuls are hardly visible above the floating sea of red -eared dokhn. Before the war the population of El-Obeid, including the suburban villages, was calculated at 30,000 persons. An Italian traveller even ventures to raise the number to 100,000 ”

“ His idea was boldly to accost the first living being he met, and ask the way to El Obeid, intending to represent himself as a merchant whose caravan had been attacked and robbed by Nubian blacks. He knew that he would be recognised as a European by his speech, and probably arrested as a spy, but then would be the time to test the efficacy of his uncle’s talisman. It might be inefficacious, or he might perish in the desert before he met any one, but he did not give up all hope of a better fate. ”

“ The rumours of the enormous quantities of treasure stored in El Obeid misled the Arab hordes, and there is no doubt that the town would not have fallen had the inhabitants remained loyal to the Government. Mohammed Said Pasha had dug a ditch and raised a high parapet round the whole city; but this line of defence was so extensive, that it would have required at least 20,000 men to hold it ”

“ If the soldiers had only had a good leader, El Obeid would certainly have fallen into their hands; but, under the circumstances, they had no special desire to take this post, and were merely bent on regaining their freedom. That night they spent in the powder magazine, where they were joined by quantities of male and female slaves, who took this opportunity to run away from their masters. Early the next morning, the inhabitants and the Dervishes attempted an attack on the soldiers, but were utterly defeated, and lost a large number in killed and wounded. ”

“ Zaki nodded.
"That would be a good tale, my lord, for men who have escaped from El Obeid, and have come here, have said that the Khalifa's troops there have not been called to join him at Omdurman; for it is necessary to keep a strong force there, as many of the tribes of the province would rise in rebellion, if they had the chance. Therefore you would not be likely to meet anyone from El Obeid in Mahmud's camp."
"How is it, Zaki, that when so many in the Soudan have suffered at the hands of the Dervishes, they not only remain quiet, but supply the largest part of the Khalifa's army?" ”

“ Three hours later Abdullah, which was the name of the second man, mounted, and assisted me to lift Saleh in front of him, and we set out for El Obeid. We got into the town at daybreak. There were few people about, and these paid no attention to us. Wounded men had been coming in, in hundreds. Turning into the street where both the men lived, we went first to the house of Saleh, which was at the farther end, and was, indeed, quite in the outskirts of the place. It stood in a walled enclosure, and was of better appearance than I had expected. ”

“ Abu Anga had taken part in the campaigns against Zubeir Pasha, by whom he and his entire family had been captured, but subsequently released. When the Mahdi declared himself he joined with his master, Abdullah. During the siege of El Obeid little was known or heard of him, but after the fall of that city Khalifa Abdullah handed over to him the charge of all captive soldiers in El Obeid, as well as in other places. The astute Khalifa had for long had his eye on these blacks, whose fighting powers he well knew, and he was most desirous to bring them under his direct control, and utilize them. ”

“ The prolonged resistance of the town, and the knowledge that the English were almost there, caused no small alarm amongst the people in El Obeid; when, therefore, Sherif Mahmud ordered a salute of one hundred guns to be fired to announce a great victory, the reaction was tremendous.
The news of the fall of Khartum and of the English victory at Abu Klea reached El Obeid the same day. Mahmud held a great review, and the Mahdiists were wild with joy. Thus the last bulwark of Egyptian authority in the Sudan had disappeared; the English turned back and left the Sudan to its fate. ”

“ Terrible sufferings of the besieged—The Kababish—Fall of Bara—Fall of El Obeid—The Mahdi enters the town—Fate of the El Obeid Mission—Cold-blooded murder of the brave defenders—The Dervishes live a life of ease in El Obeid—The Mahdi makes laws—He sends out proclamations—Prestige increased by capture of town—News from Khartum—Bonomi and Ohrwalder summoned before the Mahdi—The interview.
The garrison in El Obeid now began to suffer from the effects of this close siege and blockade. The necessaries of life were failing rapidly ”

“ Idris had taken them out of some good leather trunks, which he had filled with his own effects. Three days after the Mahdi's departure my master and I quitted El Obeid. The road to Rahad was one uninterrupted stream of human beings—men, women, and children; camels carrying the household goods, on the top of which were fastened angaribs, on which women were seated; oxen and donkeys, all heavily laden; numbers of Arabs were driving along their flocks with them; here one would see a camel fallen prone under its heavy load, there a child or a slave vainly seeking in the crowd for his lost master. ”

“ The gratitude of Obeid-Allah was shown by his putting to death him to whom he was indebted for his power; but talent and valour can exist without the presence of virtue, and Obeid-Allah and his two next descendants extended their sway to the shores of the Atlantic. Moez-ladin-Allah, his great-grandson, having achieved the conquest of Egypt and Syria, wisely abandoned his former more distant dominions along the coast of the Mediterranean, his eye being fixed on the more valuable Asiatic empire of the Abbassides. ”

“ Have we not taken El Obeid, and taken Khartoum, and destroyed Hicks and slain Gordon, and prevailed against every one who has come against us? How, then, can it be said that the blessing of Allah does not rest upon us?”
The Colonel had been looking about him during the long exhortation of the Moolah, and he had observed that the Dervishes were cleaning their guns, counting their cartridges, and making all the preparations of men who expected that they might soon be called upon to fight. ”

“ The most powerful and determined opponent to Mahdiism was Saleh Bey Fadlallah Wad Salem, the brother of Sheikh Tome of the Kababish, who had been executed in El Obeid. This tribe has enormous quantities of camels and sheep, and occupied the desert between Dongola and Kordofan; they formerly paid taxes to the extent of 100,000 dollars a year to Government. They did all the carrying trade between Dongola and Kordofan. It will be remembered that, during the siege of El Obeid, Saleh Bey had come to the Mahdi's camp ”

“ As the cataracts of the Kile greatly increase the cost of transport, it is in the interest of the caravans coming from Egypt to follow the desert route south-east towards Khartum and south towards El-Obeid. In both of these towns, articles of European manufacture commanded the same market price before the rising of Kordof^n. The trade of El-Obeid was then very considerable, especially the sale of slaves who, according to Munzinger, form three -fourths of the population of Kordofan. ”

“ Whenever we came to a village we were subjected to the rudest treatment, and had we not been guarded by our escort, we must have inevitably been killed. We were constantly searched, in the hope that money would be found on us. When we got near El Obeid, Naser put us into a hut, where we were told to remain until he should see the Mahdi, and ascertain from him his instructions regarding us. ”

“ Baggara from the plains of Dar Nuba, Miserieh, Dar Abu Dali, and Hawazma Arabs. These hordes assembled, according to the Mahdi's orders, at Birket, and to this place also came the Bederieh, Ghodiat, and Dar Homr Arabs, whilst on the further side of El Obeid, cruel fiki Minneh was gathering the Gowameh, Asaker Abu Kalam and Dar Giumeh Arabs, with whom he intended to assault El Obeid from the north, simultaneously with the Mahdi's attack from the south. ”

“ I thoroughly understood Darho's disposition, and I was most anxious to create hostility between him and his men and the Arabs, who were now the firm adherents of the Mahdi, and thus by every means in my power prevent a coalition between them, which was the principal danger I feared.
The postal system was now completely interrupted, and I was obliged to send any communications to El Obeid and Khartum concealed in hollowed-out lance-staves, between the soles of boots or sandals, or sewn into the bearer's [152] clothing. ”

“ He dealt very severely with the robbers who now infested El Obeid, and cut off a number of hands and feet. He thoroughly believed in the Mahdi's divine message, and had the reputation of being the bravest of the family. He had received a bullet wound at Gedir, and at Shekan he was always in front, carrying a flag, until he disappeared in the smoke; he fell pierced by two bullets and was thought to have been killed; after the battle, however, his people found him lying on the ground with both legs broken; but he recovered. He carried such a number of arms that men laughed at him. ”

“ I have not seen any of the Dervishes yet, but the natives who have come in from El Obeid, or any other neighbourhood where they are masters, could give me an account of their dress, and the way in which they wear the patches on their clothes, which are the distinguishing mark of the Mahdists."
"I could tell you that. So could any of the officers. Their dress differs very little from the ordinary Arab costume. Nearly all wear loose white trousers, coming down to the ankles. ”

“ Nahud 101⁄2 154 For description, see Routes 19, 30, and Vol. I, Chap. VIII. 97.—EL OBEID to EL EDDAIYA, viâ SUNGIKAI. By Captain W. Lloyd, April, 1900; and Captain C. H. Townsend, E. Surrey Regiment, 1901.
Place. Miles. Description. Inter-mediate. Total. El Obeid — — For route El Obeid to Sungikai, vide Route 17. Sungikai 72 72 The track, which is good, leaves the wells in a south-westerly direction. The country is fairly level, but much cut up by khors. Low rocky hills are seen on all sides. The bush on both sides is thick, but horses can move without much difficulty. ”

“ Several attacks from Khartoum were repulsed; and at last, the Mahdi felt strong enough to advance against the enemy. While his lieutenants led detachments into the vast provinces lying to the west and the south—Darfur and Bahr-el-Ghazal—he himself marched upon El Obeid, the capital of Kordofan. It was in vain that reinforcements were hurried from Khartoum to the assistance of the garrison: there was some severe fighting; the town was completely cut off; and, after a six months' siege, it surrendered. ”

“ But when he took the hand for the purpose of drawing the ring off it, and saw the stone close, he started back with the exclamation, “Allah is great!” and let the hand drop.
“He bears the signet!” he said to his followers; “and he lives. We must not leave him. We must take him on to El Obeid.”
“The Fakir’s Oasis is close at hand,” said another; “let us bear him there. The holy man will know best what to do with him, and the shorter the journey the better for his life.”
“You speak the words of wisdom, Meouf,” said the leader; “let us lift him on to your camel; it has the easiest pace.” ”