The first topic The Khatmiyya and the Condominium Rule The end of the last chapter in the fall of the Mahdist state was marked by the battle of Umm Debaykarat on November 24, 1898. The true end came with the fall of Omdurman, the seat of government, about fifteen months earlier, on September 2, 1898. From that date, Sudan became subject to foreign rule. The two conquering governments concluded the Condominium Agreement, which became the governing constitution in Sudan.

We explained in the previous chapter that the differences between the Khatmiyya and the Mahdist government had reached a very bad stage, which prompted Sayyid Muhammad Uthman (al-Aqrab) to leave the Khatmiyya village in eastern Sudan for Egypt, where he died three days after his arrival and was buried in Bab al-Wazir. He was succeeded by Sayyid al-Bakri Aytuli. The resistance. Sayyid al-Bakri remained in Kassala and defended it until, in the end, he lost the battle and the city fell into the hands of the Ansar. Sayyid al-Bakri was severely wounded and traveled to Suakin with the help of al-Uryan. Not long after, he died in Mecca al-Mukarramah. As for his sons, Sayyid Ja'far, al-Munid al-Hasan, and Sayyida Aisha, they were taken by the Ansar to Omdurman, where they remained until the end of the Mahdist era. Their mother, Sayyida Fatima al-Ula bint Sayyid Muhammad al-Hasan, was with them.

The Egyptian government encouraged the travel of Muhammad Uthman's family to Egypt and took care to facilitate their livelihood. Intelligence believed that it was very important to pay attention to Sayyid Ali and supervise his upbringing. A memorandum from Holdsmith, Director of the Red Sea, to the Sirdar in 1898 stated that Sayyid Ali's education was good, but he was surrounded by a number of caliphs who were feared for their bad influence on him. After Smith suggested removing him from them, he concluded his memorandum by saying, "The Khatmiyya method still has a strong influence in Sudan, and this boy is expected to be of future benefit to the government."

Ahmad Muhammad Shamouq: From the Margins of Revolution and Politics (Beirut, Dar al-Arabiyyah Printing), p. 9, printed by Matabi' Matouq Ikhwan (printing date omitted). Muhammad Ibrahim Abu Salim: Sayyid Ali al-Mirghani and the Leadership of the Khatmiyya in Research on the History of Sudan, Vol. 1 (Beirut, Dar al-Jil), pp. 310-311 (1991). Ibid., pp. 41-42.