To Duke Abd al-Qadir, who was a leader of the Ansar, and to the people of Omdurman, who were his followers. The Ansar were a group of Sudanese Muslims who fought against the British in the late 19th century. They were led by the Mahdi, Muhammad Ahmad, who claimed to be the Mahdi, a prophesied redeemer of Islam. The Ansar were defeated by the British at the Battle of Omdurman in 1898, and the Mahdi was killed. Abd al-Qadir was a leader of the Ansar after the Mahdi's death.