The history of the Sudanese war 6 and the slave trade from it Two strong factors were vying for command and sovereignty in Sudan: one was the Egyptian government, in whose hands were the trade of gum arabic, ivory, and ostrich feathers, and the other was the slave traders from the Sudanese notables and dignitaries. Their gangs had unparalleled power and influence. Since their livelihood was not in accordance with the law, they would target places devoid of law and order, possess them, and inhabit them. They first possessed the lands located around Khartoum at short distances from them, and then they began to possess what they could take of the lands until their kingdom reached the road leading to Darfur. In 1869, their most famous center was in Shika, on the Bahr al-Ghazal. The leadership at that time was Zubair Pasha, where he built himself a palace, like those of kings, guarded by a group of guards and police. Lions chained at the entrances of his halls, and slaves, servants, and attendants in luxurious clothing and magnificent attire would roam his rooms, to fulfill his orders and serve his many guests. He had an organized army fully armed with slave traders and those skilled in capturing slaves. He would send them against the tribes, and they would seize them like swooping eagles, surprising them from where they least expected. They would seize their wealth, snatch their sons and daughters, steal their livestock, and return with spoils and plunder until they instilled terror in the hearts of those tribes, drained their wealth, took away their peace, and left their lands barren and desolate, with their inhabitants gone and the remaining ones fleeing to escape oppression and seek security, as the poet said: "He who leaves a place of injustice, his home mourns its builder."