And the ambitions of British policy 11 How Sudan was pushed towards revolution The British came and entered the service of the Egyptian government in Sudan. Ismail Pasha - who used to fulfill their requests by employing their men and granting them unlimited authority - thought he was pleasing them and diverting England's ambitions from his country. He was mistaken. British officials took up positions at the request and guidance of their government so that they could dismantle the Egyptian Empire located on the route to India and transform it into English colonies. So Samuel Baker in Equatoria and Gordon in Bahr el Ghazal, both Egyptian governors granted unlimited authority, used the law prohibiting slavery to anger the Sudanese who used slaves in their work, while they themselves engaged in trade and large businesses. They severely punished people, and imposed penalties of death, imprisonment, and confiscation of property under the pretext of implementing the treaty concluded between Ismail Pasha and England in 1877 to prevent slavery, even though the English were very lenient in their own possessions. The actions of the English, in addition to the foregoing, were considered a distinction of religion. They also favored one tribe over another, exempting the Shaiqiya tribes from taxes, which angered the other tribes. They also favored followers of the Mirghaniyya tariqa over followers of other tariqas, thus creating envy among the followers of the tariqas. Following this was the neglect of the matter of Muhammad Ahmad al-Mahdi upon his appearance. The appearance of these individuals claiming to be the Mahdi in Sudan is very common. Since the re-conquest of Sudan until today, 15 Mahdis have appeared, and if they had been taken seriously, their affairs would have become serious. The weakness in the matter of the Iraqi revolution, which was being instigated and encouraged by political figures in Egypt like al-Ghamri and others in their service, diverted the attention of the Egyptian government from Sudan until it was occupied.