Gordon echoed these rumors in his daily journal during the siege. On that same day, he told me, "I hope this rumor is true, for its fulfillment may alleviate the hardships of the siege." It appears that the Mahdi, in his excessive cunning, was preparing excuses for a retreat if he were ever forced to do so. He spread rumors among the people that he was circumcising his sons in Gezira Aba so that if the English forces approached Khartoum without capturing them, he could claim it was a retreat for the circumcision of his sons, or an inability to stand against the English forces.

However, it was destined that he would capture Khartoum and be safe from the English forces. He then held celebrations for the circumcision of his sons in Omdurman, slaughtering about a hundred cattle and two hundred sheep, in addition to the gifts and food presented by the emirs. It seems that in this celebration, he displayed his pride and joy, while pretending to distance himself from these celebrations. He claimed that the treasurer of the treasury had organized it on his own, without the Mahdi's knowledge.

The treasurer of the treasury also spread the word that the Mahdi did not partake in any of the spoils of war, but rather entrusted him with spending it on good deeds and charity. He spent from it on the celebrations for the circumcision of the Mahdi's sons, which took place on the twenty-seventh of Rajab in the year 1300 AH.

Mention of the appointment of Hamdan Abu Anja to Jabal Kordofan. Hamdan Abu Anja, the commander of the Jihadiya, was originally a freedman of the Tamaysha tribe.