Mahdist War: Holy War in Sudan, 1881-99

Muhammad Ahmad's followers were known as the Mahdists, and their leader called for all Muslims to join him and rid Sudan of foreign rulers. The followers were inspired both by religious beliefs and anger against the repression of the lucrative slave trade, high taxes, and general interference of the Egyptians and British in Sudanese affairs. Muhammad Ahmad also called for a return to a simpler and what he called purer form of Islam, and he believed this version of the religion should be spread across the entire world by any means.

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