IV.D7.CCCXXV. OF THE SUDAN 403
CCCXVII In Muharram 1278^ he was recalled, and Muhammad Rasikh Bey, the Governor of Kordofan, was appointed in his place.
He reached el Khartoum in Safar of the same year. CCCXVIII Rasikh Bey was fond of ease and enjoyment, and did no work except to begin building the fort which stands on the east bank of the Nile, opposite the fort of the hakirnddria.
CCCXIX He was the last of the Governors {Mudiriyyun) who were restricted to the control of the province of el Khartoum and the Gezira.
CCCXX Only a short account has been given of these and of the Hakimdars who were appointed after the late Ahmad Pasha, for they made no great mark, and no important events happened [in their days]. We have therefore contented ourselves with merely enumerating them and recording their names. The real power of the hakirnddria and its proper organization had ceased with Ahmad Pasha; and in the same way the regime of the Kadis who were held in awe by the people and could speak authoritatively ceased with the late Kddi el Salawi, and after him things fell into decay, and the Kadis, as has been seen, were mere names with no authority.
CCCXXI Rasikh Bey continued to hold the position of Governor
until the good news was received of the appointment of His Excel-
lence Musa Pasha as Hakimdar of the Sudan. And the people re-
joiced at this news and were sure that it meant relief and security.
CCCXXI I Musa Pasha arrived on the 4th of Safar '79^ to the joy and relief of all men, and after its time of trial the hakirnddria re-
gained its splendour. CCCXXI 1 1 After the firman had been read, Musa Pasha sent for all the Governors and the Sheikhs of the provinces and the notables, and on their arrival at el Khartoum he thoroughly reorganized the
system of Government and fixed the taxation ... (The author ex-
plains how, in his care for the interests of the people, Musa Pasha made the yearly taxes payable in three instalments and caused each taxpayer to be provided with a sirki on which was entered the amount he had to pay and a note of each payment made to the serrdf.) . . .
CCCXXIV He also created district ndzirs {nuzdr aksdm) and officials
over the people, and as ndzir over ail he appointed el Zubayr 'Abd el Kadir, who had been Sheikh el Mashdikh. All this he did that the
people might tread the paths of civilization and progress. He also ordered them to wear Turkish clothes.
CCCXXV (The author speaks of the improvement in the state of affairs occasioned by these reforms, and then mentions an expedition made by
1 1862 A.D. ^ 1863 A.D.
26 2