Khartoum

Khartoum, or KHARTUM, once the most important town in the eastern Soudan, stands on the low tongue of land between the Blue and the White Nile, just above their junction, 445 miles SW. of Suakin (viâ Berber), and 1625 S. of Cairo, following the windings of the Nile. It was founded under the rule of Mehmet Ali (q.v.) in 1823, and soon became a place of commercial importance, and was made the capital of Egyptian Soudan. As starting-point and terminus of caravans to the interior, it was notorious for its great activity in the slave-trade. Ivory, ostrich feathers, gums, and tamarinds were other articles of commerce. It shared the evil fortune of the Soudan (q.v.); and General Gordon (q.v.) defended it against the forces of the Mahdi (q.v.) in 1884-85. Two days before the rescue army reached it Khartoum fell, and Gordon was amongst the slain (26th January 1885). Pop. then, about 60,000; a half being Turks, Greeks, Syrians, Arabs, and Egyptian craftsmen, the rest representing the varied races of Eastern Africa. But Khartoum was now deserted for Omdurman, just below and on the left bank of the river, which was the capital of the Mahdi and his successor, the Khalifa, till the advance of Kitchener's force in 1898. On 2d September the dervishes were routed and the Khalifa's power broken at Omdurman; and two days after, the British and Egyptian flags were hoisted on the ruined residency where Gordon fell. The population of Omdurman was believed to be 100,000. After the occupation the administration was restored to Khartoum; and in 1899 the Gordon Memorial College was founded at a cost of over £100,000—the design being to give the intelligent natives of the region a good education, without alarming their religious susceptibilities.