Figure 1.--This unidentified Darfur boy was captured an enslaved by Aran raiders. We have, however, no details on what happened to him.

The British after defeating the Mhadists proceeded to sharply reduced the slave trade, but were unable to completely end it because of resistance from Arab Sudanese. Slavery was officially abolished (1924), but the practice continued. Even after independence (1956), the slave trade comtinued. And it became a factor in the civil war following independence. The Arab enslavement of the Dinka people in the southern Sudan is one of the mnost brutal and well documented examples of late-20th century slavery. A U.S. State Department assessment in 1993 estimated that ascmany as 90,000 Africans were owned by North African Arabs. They were commonly sold as personal property in a thriving slave trade for as little as $15 per person. One assessment reported "... several Dinka men hobbling, their Achilles tendons cut because they refused to become Muslims." [ASI] Animist or Christian tribes in southern Sudan were attacked by Arab militias aided by the Sudanese Army which commonly killed the men and enslaved the women and children. The Sudanese Arabs saw it as their traditional right fully scantioned by the Koran to enslave African (black) southerners. The Arabs commonly practiced physical mutilation on their captives to prevent both escape, but to enforce the owners' religious and national ideologies. The reports reaching the outside world are heart rending. One report reads, "Kon, a thirteen-year-old Dinka boy, was abducted by Arab nomads and taken to a merchant's house. There he found several Dinka men hobbling, their Achilles tendons cut because they refused to become Muslims. Threatened with the same treatment the boy converted." [ASI] Sudanese Government supported Arab slave raides seized 7 year old Francis Bok in the village of Nymlal (1986). They strapped the terrified Francis to a donkey and took him north. He was sold to the Giema Abdullah family. The family for 10 years forced him to sleep with cattle. He was beaten daily and fed rotten food. He finally manged to escapr to Cairo and eventually managed to reach the United States where he testifed before the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. He wrote a moving book of his experiences. [Bok] Mende Nazer was from the Nuba Mountains of Sudan. Arabs captured her (1992). She was sold to a rich Arab family in Khartoum, Later she was sold to a Sudanese diplomat (2002). When he took him to in London, she managed to escape and sought political asylum. [Nazer] She has also written a moving account. Countlss other enslaved Sudanese fricans have not been able to tell their horrifying stories. These horrors have been reduced, primarily becaused the southernbers acquired a military capsability to force the Asb-dominated governmen to seek a peace treaty. Press reports of the slave trade in Sudan, however, continue to this day. The Sudanese-government sponsored Darfur genocide provided new opportunities for slave taking. The slavery problem in Sudan is thus now centered in Darfur where the African population does not have a substabtial military capability.

Anglo-Egyptian Condominium: Anti-slavery Effort (1898-1956)

The Mhadist rebellion had restored slavery and open slave trading to the Sudan (1881). Even after the Mhadi died, the fanaticism he inspired continued under the khalifa. Slave trading continued openly. Finally a British-Egyptian army invaded the Sudan (1896). The decisive battle with the Mhadists was fought at Omdurman (September 1898). The Anglo-Egyptian Army with modern weapons devestated the Mhadists. The khalifa fled to Kordofan where he was killed in another battle (November 1899). An Anglo-Egyptian Condominium was formed to govern the Sudan. While the British and Egyptian were restablishing control of Sudan, the Fashoda Incident unfodled (1898). The French wanted to establish a claim to the Nile between Khartoum and Gondokoro. The British were determined to prevent this and the Egyptians to restablish their control of the Sudan. Britain and Egypt signed an agreement establishing joint sovereignty over the Sudan (January 1899). While open resistance was supressed, there was still widespread support in the Sudan for the Mhadi's ideas which included slavery. Tunisian-born Mahommed-el-Amin proclaimed himself the new Mahdi and ammased a following at Kordofan. The governor of Kordofan arrested and sumarily executed him at El Obeid (1903). Abdul-Kader, a Halowin Arab and ex-dervish, rebelled in the Blue Nile province (1908). He claiming to be the prophet Issa (Jesus). He murdered a British and Egyptian official. His movement was also quickly supresed and he was hanged. Along with security operations, the Condominium reorganized the administration of the Sudan. The chief executive officer was the governor-general of the Sudan. The first govenor general was Lord Kitchener, the sirdar (commander-in-chief) of the Egyptian army, who had led the reconquest of the Sudan. When Lord Kitchener was ordered to South Africa to organize British forces in the Boer War (1899), he was replaced by Major-General Sir F. R. Wingate, who assumed the posts of both sirdar and governor-general. He had been with the Egyptian Army since 1883. The Sudan was organized by mudiria (province) and a British official was placed in charge. Many of the subordinate posts were filled by Egyptians. An exception was made for Darfur. sultan All Dina even before the climatic battle at Omdurman had overthrown the khalifa's rule. His authority was recognized by the Condominium. The first task of the new Condominium was to restore public order. After the crushing defeat at Omdurman, this was accomplished with relatively little opposition. The British and Egyptians proceeded to round up Mhadist devotees. They arrested Osman Digna (January 1900). The last remaining dervish amir of any importance surrendered to the sultan of Darfur (1902). Mhadism as a major movement was crushed at Omdurman. One lingering problem was the Nuba mountaineers, which had for centuries raided less war-like agriculturisrts. The Condominium launched several expedirions (1906, 1908, and 1910). Sultan Yambio, chief of the Niam-Niams, in the Bahr-el-Ghazal rejected the authority of the Condominium. He was mortally wounded in an action (February 1905). This was the last of the armed resistance to the Condominium in the Sudan. The Anglo-Egyptian Condominium once its authority was established was able to move against the slave trade. An important step was definativeky delimiting the border with Abyssinia (Ethiopia) (1903-1904). This enabled the Condominium to subdue what had been a kind of lawless no-man's land. Authorities were thus able to end slave raiding on a large scale. Authorities captured and executed a notorious slave trader (1904). Authorities were able to sharply reduce the slave trade, but the practice was so ingrained that they were unable to end it. Slave trading continued in Kordofan, Darfur, and the Bahr-el-Ghazal. The anti-slavery effort was primarily an Anglo-Egyptian effort. There was little enthusiam among Arab Sudanese. Nor was there any Arab abolitionist movemnent. The Ciondominium officially abolished slavery (1924), but the practice continued.

Independence (1956)

General Muhammad Naguib upon seizing power in Egypt recognizes Sudan's right to self-determination (1952). Britain and Egypt jointly agree to facilitate the transitional to independence (1953). The first elections in the Sudan are won by the National Unionist Party, led by Ismail al-Azhari (1954). He campaigned on a policy of merging Sudan with Egypt to achieve the 'unity of the Nile Valley'. His views begin to change, however, after becoming prime minister. He thus oversaw the transition toward an independent Sudanese state. Only a few months before the agreed date of independence, violence erupted in the south (August 1955). Violence flared with riots and army mutinies. The non-Muslim largely Christian majority in the south feared domination by the Arab north. Under Egyptian-British rule a secular regime was in force. Once independent, the Arabs would be able to impose Sharia on the south. And this is precisely what occurred. The more numerous Muslim Arabs attempted to transform the Sudan into a fundamentalist Islamic state, including the Christian south. Even after independence (1956), the slave trade comtinued.

Civil War

The slave trade became a factor in the civil war following independence. The Arab enslavement of the Dinka people in the southern Sudan is one of the mnost brutal and well documented examples of late-20th century slavery. A U.S. State Department assessment in 1993 estimated that ascmany as 90,000 Africans were owned by North African Arabs. They were commonly sold as personal property in a thriving slave trade for as little as $15 per person. One assessment reported "... several Dinka men hobbling, their Achilles tendons cut because they refused to become Muslims." [ASI] Animist or Christian tribes in southern Sudan were attacked by Arab militias aided by the Sudanese Army which commonly killed the men and enslaved the women and children. The Sudanese Arabs saw it as their traditional right fully scantioned by the Koran to enslave African (black) southerners. The Arabs commonly practiced physical mutilation on their captives to prevent both escape, but to enforce the owners' religious and national ideologies. The reports reaching the outside world are heart rending. One report reads, "Kon, a thirteen-year-old Dinka boy, was abducted by Arab nomads and taken to a merchant's house. There he found several Dinka men hobbling, their Achilles tendons cut because they refused to become Muslims. Threatened with the same treatment the boy converted." [ASI] Sudanese Government supported Arab slave raides seized 7 year old Francis Bok in the village of Nymlal (1986). They strapped the terrified Francis to a donkey and took him north. He was sold to the Giema Abdullah family. The family for 10 years forced him to sleep with cattle. He was beaten daily and fed rotten food. He finally manged to escapr to Cairo and eventually managed to reach the United States where he testifed before the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. He wrote a moving book of his experiences. [Bok] Mende Nazer was from the Nuba Mountains of Sudan. Arabs captured her (1992). She was sold to a rich Arab family in Khartoum, Later she was sold to a Sudanese diplomat (2002). When he took him to in London, she managed to escape and sought political asylum. [Nazer] She has also written a moving account. Countlss other enslaved Sudanese fricans have not been able to tell their horrifying stories. These horrors have been reduced, primarily becaused the southernbers acquired a military capsability to force the Asb-dominated governmen to seek a peace treaty. Press reports of the slave trade in Sudan, however, continue to this day.

Darfur

The Sudanese-government sponsored Darfur genocide provided new opportunities for slave taking. The slavery problem in Sudan is thus now centered in Darfur where the African population does not have a substabtial military capability.

Sources

ASI report on Sudanese slavery (1993).

Bok, Francis. Escape from Slavery.

Nazer, Mende. Slave: My True Story.

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Created: 7:27 PM 9/13/2010
Last updated: 7:27 PM 9/13/2010