Ideological and practical considerations regarding slavery in the Mahdist state and the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan: 1881-1918

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Book chapter

Title:	Ideological and practical considerations regarding slavery in the Mahdist state and the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan: 1881-1918
Author:	Warburg, G.R.
Book title:	The ideology of slavery in Africa
Year:	1981
Pages:	245-269
Language:	English
Geographic term:	Sudan
Subjects:	slavery Mahdiyya
Abstract:	One of the major reasons for the success of the Mahdi's rebellion in 1881-1885 was the suppression of the slave trade in the 1870s. The Mahdist leadership conceived of slavery within a context of Islamic law and tradition. As an accepted feature of society and the economy it was dealt with in accordance to the established law, and it was seen as a legitimate means of converting non-Muslims and of acquiring labor for agricultural production, women for harems, and soldiers for the army. After the reconquest (1896) both inspector-general SLATIN and most other Anglo-Sudanese officials accepted the continuation of slavery as a necessary evil which had to be tolerated on practical grounds, regardless of its religious roots. Map, notes, ref.