Search

Upon the Mahdiyya era having been closed in 1899, a new period in Sudan called Condominium, designating the joint administration of England and Egypt, was entered in Sudan. This period, witnessing the struggle of both parties for influence evolved to a political state where British authorities were effectual. However, this ceaseless struggle for influence between the two countries carried on until the self-determination process of Sudan. Moreover, the contribution made by this contest to the self-determination process of Sudan is well-credited. The Anglo-Egyptian tussle could not avert the submission of the new generation in Sudan to independence in the years to follow. Just like in the whole World, the demand for independence in Sudan has been called out since 1940s. As a response to the irrepressible demand for independence, England gradually initiated the process which would lead to Sudan’s autonomy, and ultimately its independence. Sudan gaining an autonomous status in 1953 caused political parties to increase their efficacy. This process also facilitated an electoral system in Sudan based on self-governance for the first time. As a result of the general elections held towards the end of 1953, Ismail al-Azhari became the first Prime Minister of Sudan having won the elections. A short while later, the British and Egyptian bureaucrats serving in Sudan began to be replaced by the Sudanese. Upon constitutional regulations, total independence of Sudan was enacted by the Sudanese Parliament on 1 January 1956. Thus, the Sudanese owned an independent country the future of which they would determine like the countries in the rest of the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the absolute sovereignty of Great Britain over Sudan started with the 1899 Treaty, the struggle for influence over Sudan dates back to the 1881 Mahdi discourse of Muhammad Ahmed. The implementation of the British policies on Sudan began with the occupation of Egypt in 1882. The United Kingdom’s then southward expansion policy across Egypt became possible after nearly 20 years of conflict against the Mahdi of Sudan, Mohammed Ahmed. After the withdrawal of the Anglo-Egyptian military force (with great losses), the UK attempted its the second invasion during the Dongola Campaign of March 1896. The Anglo-Egyptian military carried out their assault against the Caliph Abdullah (the successor of Muhammad Ahmed). In January 1899, this resulted in official birth of Sudan with the Condominium Agreement. This treaty was signed between Britain, Egypt, and Sudan on January 19, 1899, and it handed over the sovereignty of Sudan to the joint administration of Britain and Egypt. The treaty consisted of 12 articles, some of which caused heated discussions between the British and Egyptian administration in the following years. Although Lord Cromer (the British Ambassador to Cairo) helped draw up these articles, the British Government itself drew up the vast majority of the treaty. This study will examine the transition process to the Condominium, the unique administration of that period, and the Treaty of 1899. In doing so, we will be better able to understand the what British-Sudan – in 20th century – was like. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the programme of land surveying and registration that was undertaken by the British-led administration of the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan in the period 1898–1914. The Legal Secretary, Edgar Bonham Carter, stated that programme was the most important project of his division in this period. Scholars have shown that the programme, known as land ‘settlement’, was used to build alliances with elites and to clarify title for European investors in the new irrigation scheme at Gezira. This article argues that, as such, the ambitions of land settlement were relatively limited. In many other colonies, and in Britain itself, politicians and administrators across the political spectrum saw the reform of private property in land as the key for addressing structural problems in agricultural labour. One might have thought that, the Sudan, land settlement might have provided a means of addressing the dependence on slave labour in agriculture. The article demonstrates that, except for a small number of administrators (including Bonham Carter), this was not the case. The general indifference to slavery itself carried through to an indifference to the transformative potential of land law. The article examines the proposals of this minority of administrators, and contrasts their views with the majority’s focus on land settlement as demonstration and opportunity to enhance state power. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Extending over nearly one million square miles and being the biggest country in Africa in terms of geography, the Sudan occupies a middle position in the Nile Basin, between the upstream countries and Egypt. All of the Nile countries except Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi, are neighbours of the Sudan. Other Sudan non-riparian neighbours are the Central African Republic, Chad and Libya. The purpose of this article is to explain the factors related to the Nile waters that developed during the colonial period, the post-independence era and the present, that prevented the Sudan from playing a crucial central role in the Nile Basin. The article argues that the 1959 bilateral Nile Waters Agreement between the Sudan and Egypt, in addition to civil wars and the economic and political instability that the Sudan has witnessed since independence in January 1956, has prevented it from playing a crucial role as a middle-stream country. The article takes the form of a description of a historical process with analytical insights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]