The failure of his efforts in matters of governance, which he had already suffered from, and which had caused harm to the government, was due to his insistence on the hated acquisition of pottery and the honor of victory. To God we belong and to Him we return.

It would have been possible for Abd al-Qadir Pasha, had the government responded to his demands, to prevent the Mahdi from reaching Kordofan by placing garrisons in the wells along his route. The utmost that could be done was for Abd al-Qadir Pasha to be a valiant warrior, and for the Mahdi to reach his goal in Kordofan, even if the government sent a campaign against him. If the government had not sent Colonel Hicks' expedition to Kordofan, it could have eliminated the Mahdist movement in that region, and we will explain all of this later.

After the Battle of Shatt al-Moyeh, Abd al-Qadir Pasha marched with his army towards Satar to confront the son of Abd al-Taffar, who had gathered about forty thousand fighters from the Jum'a and Kawahla tribes and others. He raided the city of Karkoj, killing many merchants and burning much of their merchandise. Karkoj is a large city on the banks of the Blue Nile, which traders from all over Sudan visit to obtain gum arabic, which is one of its most abundant products. However, it is about a third less than Kordofan gum, due to the quality of the former and the inferiority of the latter. Kordofan gum is of one type, known as "al-Mashshab," while Karkoj gum has many varieties, some of which are superior to others. As for sesame, it is one of the most abundant products of that land, and its price does not exceed two qirsh per ardab. This type is brought to all the northern regions.