Silver, diameter 37.3mm.  Toughra, flowers in right field.  R. Inscription.  Khatoum mint.  Muhammed Ahmed (the Mahdi), AH 1298-1302, AD 1881-85)   KM2.  From the same dies as the specimen sold by CNG, Triton XIX, lot 828.  Our specimen from an earlier state of the dies.  Light attractive toning and Good Extremely Fine

The Mahdist War (Arabic: الثورة المهدية, romanized: ath-Thawra al-Mahdiyya; 1881–1899) was a war between the Mahdist Sudanese of the religious leader Muhammad Ahmad bin Abd Allah, who had proclaimed himself the "Mahdi" of Islam (the "Guided One"), and the forces of the Khedivate of Egypt, initially, and later the forces of Britain. Eighteen years of war resulted in the nominally joint-rule state of the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan (1899–1956), a de jure condominium of the British Empire and the Kingdom of Egypt in which Britain had de facto control over the Sudan. The Sudanese launched several unsuccessful invasions of their neighbours, expanding the scale of the conflict to include not only Britain and Egypt but also the Italian Empire, the Congo Free State and the Ethiopian Empire.

The British participation in the war is usually called the Sudan campaign. Other names for this war include the Mahdist Revolt, the Anglo–Sudan War and the Sudanese Mahdist Revolt.

Mohammed Ahmed successfully defeated the Egyptian and British forces brought against him and established an Islamic state in the Sudan. He succeeded by effectively combining religious, economic, cultural, and military strategy under charismatic leadership, thus ticking all the boxes.

The Mahdist movement, which was utterly to overthrow Egyptian rule, derived its strength from two causes: the oppression under which the people suffered, and the measures taken to prevent the Baggara (cattle-owning Arabs) from slave trading.

Casualties and legacy. The Mahdist total losses at Omdurman were about 10,000 killed, 10,000 wounded, and 5,000 taken prisoner. The Anglo-Egyptian army suffered about 500 casualties. The results of the battle were the practical extinction of Mahdism in the Sudan and the establishment of British dominance there.