Eliseev, A.V.: Mahdism and the Current State of Affairs in Sudan

Title

Makhdizm i sovremennoe polozhenie del v Sudane, Sankt Peterburg 1894

Mahdism and the Current State of Affairs in Sudan

Keywords

Summary

Subtitle: Read at the General Assembly of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society, May 25, 1894. In 1892, the author decides to embark on a journey to Sudan with the aim of understanding the Mahdi religious movement and the Mahdist State. He asserts that this can be crucial for Russia due to the significant presence of a Muslim population within the Russian Empire. Rather than opting for the conventional route via the Nile, the author chose a less-traveled path through the Libyan desert, making his way to Darfur in order to ultimately reach Omdurman, the residence of the Mahdi. However, when crossing the Libyan desert, near the Salime oasis, the author’s caravan was attacked by armed Arabs, suspected to be from the Mahdi army. Faced with danger, the author fled, leaving behind belongings and animals. After a challenging two-day journey through the desert, he reached the Nile and stole a boat for a downstream journey to Cairo. Despite failing to reach Omdurman, the author claims that valuable information about the Mahdi state was gathered during his expedition. The state, as he describes it, had a simple organizational structure, with bans on science and luxury, and a justice system lacking objectivity. Shifting focus to the military aspect, the author outlines the straightforward organization of the Mahdist army, nominally led by the Mahdi but practically commanded by his khalifs. Concluding the report, the author expresses skepticism about the maturity of Mahdism as a religious principle and an idea of Islamic renewal, believing it had not deeply penetrated the masses. The author predicts internal instability after the death of Muhammad al-Mahdi, foreseeing a potential collapse of the state, either through external forces (like an Egyptian attack), or due to internal weakness.

Bio

Aleksandr Eliseev was a Russian doctor, traveler, and writer. Having served as a military doctor in Turkestan, the Baltic region, and Finland, Eliseev explored the northern regions of Russia, Finland, and the Urals. In 1881 he explored the Nile valley. In 1883 Eliseev crossed the deserts between the Nile and the Red Sea and traveled along the sea coast to Suakin, Massawa, and Aden. His most important journey to Africa began in 1884 from Tripoli. He traveled deep into the Sahara, crossed the Hamada el-Hamra plateau, but soon had to return to Tripoli. From there Eliseev went to Tunisia and visited the southern cities of Algeria, such as Constantine, Batna, Biskra. He also visited the oases of Ghadames, Touggourt, Ouargla, among others. In 1885 he returned to Algeria and subsequently returned to Russia. In 1893 Eliseev made a journey to the Libyan desert, and in 1895 to Ethiopia, collecting anthropological and ethnographic material. He was a representant of the Palestine Society as a physician at the military-medical department. Starting from 1878, he extensively described his travel experiences, publishing them in Russian periodicals. For his contributions to geographical and anthropological research in Africa, the Russian Geographical Society awarded Eliseev with a silver medal.

Sources

M. Zabrodskaia, Russkie puteshestvenniki po Afrike, Moskva 1955;

M. Rait, Russkie ekspeditsii v Efiopii v seredine XIX-nachale XX vv. i ikh etnograficheskie materialy, “Afrikanskii etnograficheskii sbornik”, 1956, 1, p. 220-281;

B. Val’skaia, Vklad russkogo geograficheskogo obshchestva v izuchenie Afriki, “Strany i narody Vostoka”, 1969, 9, p. 5-18;

M. Gornung, I. Oleinikov, Geograficheskoe izuchenie Afriki v Rossii, in Izuchenie Afriki v Rossii (dorevoliutsionnogo perioda), ed. by A. Davidson, G. Nersesov, Moskva 1977, p. 30-71;

M. Zabrodskaia, Puteshestviia A.V. Eliseeva po Sakhare (1881-1893 gg.), “Strany i narody Vostoka”, 1987, 25, p. 34-40.

M.E.