Passion or Profession: Religious and Military Leader

Period: 1844–1885

Muhammad Ahmad was fascinated by religious studies from a young age. As an adult, he became a religious teacher. Eventually he proclaimed himself “the Mahdi” or guided one who would deliver his people from their oppressor, the Ottoman Empire. In 1885 he launched a holy war that would eventually bring control of the capital, Khartoum, back into Sudanese hands. He died soon after, and the British took the city a few years later. It would remain in their power until Sudanese independence in 1956.