2-547-835 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

The ruins of the Mahdi's tomb in Omdurman, Sudan, c1898. Muhammad Ahmad bin Abd Allah (1844-1885) was a Sudanese Muslim leader who, in 1881, proclaimed himself the Mahdi, the messianic redeemer of the Islamic faith. He led a rebellion against the Turkish/Egyptian government of the Sudan, which culminated in the capture of the capital city, Khartoum, in 1885. Muhammad Ahmad died shortly afterwards, and was buried in nearby Omdurman. After the fall of Khartoum, in which the British Governor-General of the Sudan, General Charles Gordon, was killed by Mahdist warriors, the British joined the Egyptians in preaparign to fight a war to drive out the Mahdists. They were eventually successful, winning a decisive battle at Omdurman in April 1898. The Mahdi's tomb was destroyed by the victors in order to prevent it from becoming a future rallying point for Mahdists, but was later rebuilt. Lantern slide.