Sudan: The Gateway

From Muhammad Ali to Abbas II 1821 - 1854

When Muhammad Ali consolidated his power in Egypt, the first thing he turned his attention to was Sudan. The historians of his reign, and especially his trusted advisor, stated that one of the reasons that pushed him to hasten this was his certainty that Egypt could not survive without Sudan. The other reasons were:

First: To reach the sources of the Nile so that they would be in Egyptian hands. Second: To mine the gold mines, so that Egypt's agricultural wealth would be matched by Sudan's mineral wealth. Third: The Sudanese people were known for their strength and ferocity, and for their wars. The new ruler needed armies, and he was concerned that the Mamluks who had fled to Sudan might raise a Sudanese army to invade Egypt. So he did what Napoleon had done before him by sending an army to eliminate the remaining Mamluks in Sudan after he had dealt with the Mamluks in Egypt. Fourth: To get rid of his surplus army of Albanians, Circassians, and Moroccans. He granted them fiefs in Sudan. This surplus army was like the Janissaries, a source of trouble and danger. Fifth: To subject this surplus army to the system that the Egyptian army was organized under, based on the French army's methods. Sixth: To improve the trade routes between Egypt and Sudan, because Egyptian merchants faced great hardships in dealing with Sudan and were exposed to severe dangers. Seventh: The formation of the Egyptian kingdom by annexing Syria and the lands of the Levant to it, and Sudan being the source of the Nile.