SUDAN

[s. 723] : A territory in Africa adjacent to the Sahara. Taken in its broader dimensions, or as spoken of by the Arabs and earlier European geographers, together with the additions claimed by Eg}‘ptian rulers in late years, Beled-es-Sudan, or the “Country of the Blacks,” extends from west to east along the southern border of the Great Desert from the Atlantic and Senegal to the Red Sea and Aby in i a, and southward from the desert to Upper Guinea on the west, and to the equatorial and lake regions on the east, being some 3,500 miles in length, from east to west, and in its broader parts on the east some 1,600 in width, and comprising a population estimated at It is thus almost a fourth of Africa, 50,000,000. both in extent of country and in the number of its inhabitants. The Western Sudan from Wadai to the Atlantic is now comprised and described as belonging to the more recently created colonies and protectorates and spheres of influence of France, or to Northern Nigeria, which has fallen to Great Britain. The extreme northern part of Kamerun also falls in this general region. Eastern or Egyptian Sudan, to which the eyes of the world have been chiefly turned during recent years, lies along each side of the Nile, from A ouan or the first cataract to Uganda and the Congo Free State, extending some 1,100 miles or more from north to south, while its width, from the Red Sea to the eastern limits of Wadai, is from twelve to fourteen hundred miles. The extensive additions to his own territories, which the distinguished viceroy of Egypt, Mehemet Ali, made, more than half a century since, included all the country on the Blue and White Niles, for great distances east and west of them, and for several degrees south of the equator; and in after years his grandson, Is mail, the first Khedive of Egypt, claimed that he had a right to extend his borders as far as the Juba River on the Indian Ocean. The Sudan as now constituted (1903) comprises eight provinces, viz.: Khartum, Gezira, Dongola, Berber, Ka ala, Sennar, Kordofan, and Bahr el Ghazal, and three administrative districts, Wadi Haifa, Suakin, and Fashoda. The present area is about 950,000 square miles; the population is estimated roughly Khartum, the capital of this vast at 3,500,000. region, is situated at the junction of the two Sadnn SufiNxa Niles, Blue and White; and Suakin, on the Red seaport. This section of Africa is chiefly inhabited by two distinct races. From the eleventh degree of latitude northward the people are almost wholly Arab in their origin. They are chiefly nomads, and are profe edly Mohammedan. Being exceedingly emotional and superstitious, they have the greatest regard for their sheikhs or spiritual guides, ascribe to them a kind of supernatural Sea, is its chief power, and venerate them almost more than they do the Prophet himself. The country south of the 11th degree of latitude is peopled by negroes, chiefly of a sedentary and agricultural mode of life, who, while cla ed as Mohammedans, are in reality but slightly changed pagans. The mingling of Arab and negro blood has produced a third, hybrid, Arab-speaking cla , who are found in the more fertile parts of the Sudan, especially in Darfur. A small yet very distinct race, said to have descended from the ancient Nubians, is found in the northern province of Dongola; and between the Nile and the Red Sea, not far from Suakin, there is still another distinct and ancient tribe, who speak a language of their own. The history of the Sudan, since the expulsion of the French from Egypt by the English in 1801, has. been turbulent and more or le dramatic. Mehemet Ali, a poor fisherman of Greek descent, a shrewd and active leader, who, with a band of followers, had aided the English and Turks in expelling the French, succeeded in securing the appointment from the Porte, in 1806, as viceroy Egypt. He proved himself to be a general, a statesman, and man of affairs, and met with great succe for many years. Finding the Mamelukes, whom he had used as a stepping stone to power, a hindrance to his rule, and a plague to the country, he ma acred a great part of them in 1811; others escaped and fled to New Dongola, but they were followed and flnally exterminated in 1820. Mehemet Ali then made himself master of Upper Egypt, and by him the Egypt of to-day was virtually founded. His rule extended from the Mediterranean to the equator, and hereditary succe ion was estabof lished forever, according to Mohammedan law, in the eldest of his blood. Is mail, the fifth viceroy of Egypt, and a grandson of Mehemet Ali, enlarged his army, extended his sway southward over regions which Mehemet Ali had nominally taken, so as to recover and include the Upper and White together with the equatorial and lake provinces, and pushed his victories into the Darfur regions. But in levying enormous taxes upon the people he laid the train for revolt. The revolt took definite form in the summer of 1881. Nile, was led by Ahmed Mohammed, an Arab of An air of mystery surrounded Mohammed, and he styled himself the Mahdi, It African birth. claiming to be that prophet or reformer of Islam whose coming had been awaited for many centuries. Emerging from seclusion, he and his motley army took several large towns, and in July, 1882, he overpowered and ma acred a force of about 6,000 Egyptian soldiers, together with the commanders of the army. An English officer. General Hicks, was now sent to take command of the Egyptian forces at Khartum. After some succe es, he marched in pursuit of the Mahdi with an Egyptian force of about 10,000 men in the autumn of 188.3. Through the treachery of a guide he was led into a defile not far from 709 El Obeid, where the Mahdi fell upon him and left “not a man” of all his army to tell the tale. The fate of General Hicks’ expedition aroused in England a deep interest in the Sudan war. The Mahdi’s lieutenants appeared with strong forces England’s route before Suakin on the Red Sea. to India was in danger; a fleet was sent to Suakin, and troops were sent thence to drive off the Sudanese. Defeat of the English enterprise and ma acre was the only result. Stung to action by these disasters, the British Government dispatched troops to Suakin, and having now become concerned for the safety of Egypt, proposed to abandon the Sudan. As a first step to carrying out this policy. Gen. Gordon, who had formerly been Governor-General of the Sudan, was sent He was to tranquilize the to Khartum in 1884. hostile tribes and prepare a means by which English and Egyptian officers, civil functionaries, and soldiers might withdraw from that turbulent and unprofitable region. But the Mahdi won over Gordon’s trusted Egyptian troops, found entrance to Khartum, and killed Gen. Gordon, so that the English forces, sent tardily in the latter part of 1884 to his relief, found naught, on arriving near the city, but desolation dominated by the green flag of Islam. For eleven years after the fall of Khartum the Sudan was ruled by the Mahdi, and after his death, in 1885, by his succe or {Khalifa or Caliph). These new rulers held the country under a desolating and blood-thirsty despotism, for they considered themselves divinely appointed reformers. Prosperous districts were reduced tO’ barren wastes. The river populations, reduced to small numbers, were little better than slaves. In 1898, however, the increasing power of the Khalifa led to a serious interposition on the part of Great Britain, and under Lord Kitchener’s direction the combined British and Egyptian forces broke the power of the Khalifa, recovered Khartum and finally destroyed the last vestige of Mahdism, by the death in battle of all its most prominent leaders. The Sudan is now a condom in i on of Egypt and Great Britain, an arrangement having been made, in January, 1899, between the two governments for the appointment of a Governor-General by Egypt, with the a ent of Great Britain, who rules under general principles agreed upon by both governments. The prosperity of the Sudan is slowly reviving. A primary school system is now in operation. Gordon College, an institution proposed by Gen. Kitchener for teaching Western sciences to Mohammedans, by Mohammedans, or, at least, without Christian taint, was opened at Khartum in 1902, with an endowment of about $500,000. Direct mi ionary work for Moharnmedans is. under prohibition (1903) in the Sudan, the mil authorities fearing its results upon the fanaticism of the people. Medical mi ions have been authorized, under certain restrictions, and the CMS has a station at Omdurman, and the UP’ a station at Khartum. The last-named Society has also undertaken mi ionary work among the pagan population (Shillahs) on the Sobat River, 540 miles south of Khartum. The British Government will probably consent to the opening of schools by mi ionaries without much more itary delay. Alford (H. S.) and Sword (W. D.), The Egyptian Sudan: Its Lo and Recovery, London, 1898; Bennett (E. N.),. Downfall of the Dervishes, London, 1898 Boulger (D. C.)»; Life of Gordon, London, River War: 1897; Church ill (W. C), The The Reconquest of the Sudan, London, 1902; Lady Duff Gordon, Letters from Egypt, new ed., London, 1902; Fenn CG. M.), In the Mahdi’s Grasp, London, 1899; Fowler (MJ, Christian Egypt, London, 1900; Mardon (H. W.), Geography of Egypt and the Egyptian Sudan, London, 1902; Neufeldt (C), A Prisoner of Khaleefa, London, 1899; Steevens (G. W.), With Kitchener to Khartoum, Edinburgh, 1898; Slatin Pasha, Fire and Sword in the Sudan, New York, 1895. Also the Travels of Schweinfurth (1868-71), Speke (1863), Grant (1864), Jephson (1887-88), Baker (1867-68), etc. SUDAN PIONEER MISSION. Mi ionary Societies in. See Germany; SUDHARAM Town in Bengal, India, situated: in Noakiiali district, in the eastern portion of the Ganges Delta, and about 60 miles N. W. of Chittagong. It has some commercial importance, but is unhealthful and disagreeable as a residence. Population about 5,000. Station of the Queensland b attain 707 Baptist Mi ions (1889), with (1901) 1 woman mi ionary, 6 native workers, 1 outstation, 1 day school, and 10 native communicants. called Noakhali. Also SUFISM: A theosophy or mystical philosophy found among Mohammedans, altho branded as of heretical tendency by the Ulema or regular hierarchy of Muslim theologians. Upon it is based the “secret” or “mystery” of the orders of Dervishes, each order having its own practise and method of applying the philosophy of man’s relation with God proposed by Sunsm. The name Sufi is variously derived by Persian and Turkish writers, some holding that it comes from Sof, wool; woolen garments being worn by ascetics. Others, more correctly, perhaps, connect the word with the Greek sophos, a sage. The body of doctrine and rules as to practise followed by Sufis is called the science of tesavmmf, a word formed by regular Arabic rules from “Sof.” It is perhaps worth noting, however, that this word IS spelled with the letters which might be used (with different vowel points) to represent the word “Theosophy.” Sufism has been chiefly taught, and most extravagantly also, in Persia, where the stimulus Snflam far as can be gathered from their literary remains, the chief subject of their investigation was that knowledge of divine things which is taught imperfectly by all religious systems. They held the central Sufi doctrine, that the e ence of every existing thing is derived from one supreme mind. All knowledge, therefore, aids understanding of the One Source of all, and everything may turn to the benefit of the soul in leading it to the knowledge of God. The highest attainment is such separation from worldly things as will permit life with God and knowledge of His counsels. In this pursuit the poorest may be the richest, and all seekers may recognize a brotherhood bond which makes each ready to aid the other. Sir William Jones gives the central idea of the Sufis as follows: “Nothing exists absolutely but God. The human soul is an emanation from His The e ence, and will finally be reunited with it. highest po ible happine will arise from this consists world reunion, and the chief good in this in as perfect a union with the Eternal Spirit as the encumbrance of a mortal frame will allow.” The great Sufi writers give telling illustrations of their view of the nature of the e ential unity of the spirit of man witli God. Says one (translation by Ubicini): “You say ‘the sea and the waves,’ but in this utterance you do not signifiy distinct objects; for the sea when it heaves produces waves, and the waves when they settle down again become sea. In the same way men are the waves of God, and after death return to His bosom. Or, you trace, with ink upon paper, the letters of the alphabet, ‘a, b, c;’ but these letters are not distinct from the ink with which you write them. In the same manner the creation is the alphabet of God, and is lost in Him.” Sufism has features which recall the doctrines of the Gnostics, who had not yet vanished from Asia when Islam put forth its sword to rid the world of all formulas of belief save the formula of Like the allegiance to the Prophet of Mecca. Gnostics, the Sufis attach an important mystic So its aspirations has fostered imagination, clothed its teachings in beautiful literary garb, and changed every philosopher into a poet. Sufism first attracts attention in the 9th century. Under the Abbaside Caliphs, at Baghdad, it flourished among the men of genius brought together to grace the Golden Age of Mohammedan meaning to light, as symboUzing the’ Supreme Power. So, too, the Sufis believe in Aeons ruling the world through a whole hierarchy of under dignitaries (the Kuth, the Ghaios, etc.), and showing the power of (jod in thaumaturgic dis intellectual activity. The time was a critical one both for Islam and for the principle of free spiritual men, understanding all things, initiated thoroughly ripened into the councils of God souls who are free from all law, and, on the other hand, are fleshly men immature creatures still struggling with the desires of the body and burdens of law, and of the endle rites of religious observance. Neo-Platonism, too, is preserved like a fo il in its matrix by Sufism in the use which it makes of the doctrine of man’s unity of e ence with the Sufis hold that man may cease to be Creator. himself that is to say, individual^while in the body; and he may thus identify himself with the Absolute and Infinite Truth. This intuitive grasp or vision of the Infinite is not subject to any But by an effort of will man can effort of will. concentrate his mind for the contemplation of God to such an extent that God gives, in return, the inspiration or enthusiasm of vision which is infinitely precious, altho transient in consequence of the rnortal frame in which the soul of man is of thought which theologians sought to suppre . The a imilation by Islam of the ma of men of various religions and philosophies who had been forced into Mohammedanism, was not complete. It had produced in Islam itself various heretical schools of thought. These schools of philosophy were gradually crushed out, and Sufism, with its careful reverence for Mohammedanism in teaching secret and inward explanations of visible and outward things, seems to have become a refuge for all who revolted against chaining the mind to dogmas and formulas. It gave hospitable welcome to everything in the way of doctrine that the world has ever heard, since “aU paths lead to God.” The “Sincere Brethren,” found in Baghdad in the 10th century, seem to have been imbued with the principles of Sufism. Their mysteries made their bond of union, and in the secrecy with which they surrounded their real creed they resembled some orders of the Dervishes of to-day. Like the Gnostics, too, the Sufis divide plays. mankind into two cla es: on the one hand are — — — chained. Sir William Jones translates from Ferhad and Sufi.sin Suiiiiitra Shirin a pa age illustrating various allegories in nature which invite the soul to desire to approach God: “There is a strong propensity which dances through every atom and attracts the individual particles to some particular object. Search the universe from base to summit, from fire to air, from water to earth, from all below the moon to all above the celestial spheres, and you will not find a corpuscle destitute of natural attractabilit}’. The very point of the first thread in this apparently tangled skein is no other than the principle of attraction, and all principles beside are devoid of real basis. From such a propensity arises every motion perceived in heavenly or in terrestrial bodies; it is the disposition to be attracted which taught hard steel to rush from its place and rivet itself to the magnet; it is this quality wliieh gives every substance in nature a tendency toward some other, and an inclination forcibly directed to a determinate point.” The Sufis speak in very warm terms of their devotion to God. “We are not afraid of Hell,” says one, “neither do we desire Heaven,” Asked by a scandalized follower what he meant by so blasphemous a speech, he replied, “Our devotion only. is for love of God To God belongs the right to put us either in Heaven or in Hell. And may God’s commands be executed agreeably to His ble ed will!” M. Garcin de Ta y brings the attractive utterances of the Sufis to their true level by the following remarks in his translation of one of their finest poems: “Placed between the Pantheism of the Indian Yogis and tlie Koran (which is sometimes an informal copy of the Bible) the Mohammedan philosophers called Sufis have established a Pantheistic school appropriate to Islamic ideas a sort of esoteric doctrine of Islamism, which must be distinguished from Indian Pantheism, tho, indeed, it presents only errors of the Vedanta and the Sankhya. Pantheism as a moral doctrine leads to the same conclusions as materialism negation of human liberty, indifference to actions, and the legitimatizing of temporal — In this system all is God except God Himself, for He thereby ceases to be God. The spiritualism of the Sufi, tho contrary to materialism, is in reality identical with it. But enjoyments. more reasonable it is at least more elevated and more poetical.” if this doctrine is not There is a special Sufi vocabulary of the expeof the seeker after God. God is the Truth Hakk. The devotee’s attraction to God is called Jezb. The intuitive knowledge of Divine things, which the soul seeks to acquire, is marifeh (knowledge gnosis). That state of self effacement, which removes the obstacle of individuality from the path of union with God, is called ifna (annihilation) and the attainment of the sense of union with God is visal (the term used in speaking of a lover’s gaining acce to his misriences — A The resulting ecstasy of joy is Wejd. special meaning attaches to many other words in This must be borne in mind the mouths of Sufis. in order to avoid reading Christian or other preconceptions into the writings of these philosophers, as has been done by the one seductive tre ). of Omar Khayyam. The meaning conveyed to a Sufi by the name of God has already been hinted. He furthermore considers translator God to be the author of evil as well as of good. Hence there is no moral quality in God, and moral distinctions are obscured for men. “Love of God,” 708 “Desire for God,” “Union with God,” entrain no moral responsibility in the man who has them for his object in life. “Knowledge of God,” too, is merely apprehending His existence by some mechanical or other means which concentrates attention upon the fact. The aim of the seeker after knowledge of God is neither a clearing of the mind nor a purification of the affections and desires. It is simply personal enjoyment of an ecstasy, artificially produced and transitory, whose highest value, aside from the nervous orgasm, is its power to make the Sufi oblivious of the closely linked relations to other men which characterize life. In social matters the Sufi holds an attitude like that of the stylite monks of early Eastern Christianity who could perceive nothing in the world more worthy of effort than personal advancement in what they were pleased to call “saintline .” Sufism has never been free from the attacks of Mohammedan theologians. The heretical sects of the early centuries of Islam have disappeared. The “Sincere Brethren” have likewise gone. Sometimes one gets a glimpse of the methods of this removal of heresy in the record of the flaying alive of a poet or a teacher for some pantheistic utterance; and in modern times the persecution of Babism in Persia (which is but one of the manifestations of Sufism) is familiar to all. Such practical obstacles to free development have led the Sufis to announce loudly, and some of them honestly, their dependence upon the Mohammedan faith. They draw from the Koran proof texts which they use at their fuU value. One of such texts is, “It is not given to man that God should speak to Him; if he does, it is by inspiration, or through a veil.” By this text the Sufis prove that their teachings are authorized; they merely follow the Koran in making strenuous efforts to raise the veil by annihilation of the individuality which separates man from the Divine e ence. Another text which they use to justify their doctrine is the fourth verse of the Vth Sura of the Koran: “God made all creation as an emanation from Himself, and will afterward cause it to reenter within Himself.” Ubicini points out, however, the e ential antagonism between Sufism and the Mohammedanism to which it profe es to conform. It has “two schools, the one public, which precedes initiation; and the other secret, for adepts only. A strict observance of religion and all the social virtues is required of the candidate for initiation. Later, when, by a long suite of proofs and mortifications (under a teacher to whom absolute obedience has been vowed) and, above all, by the absolute annihilation of his individuality the novice is supposed to have arrived at the desired degree in which he may behold the truth face to face, the veil, until then spread over his vision, suddenly falls, and the teacher makes known to his pupil that the Prophet in his book has only presented under the veil of allegory maxims and political precepts; that the Koran without mystical interpretation is only an a embly of words void of sense; and that once the habit of mental devotion acquired, one can abandon all forms and outward ceremonies of religion, and reduce worship to a purelv inward and spiritual exercise.” But a Mohammedanism which has abandoned its forms of worship has ceased to be Mohammedanism. Great injustice is done to Islam by hasty writers, who represent Sufism as an enianation from Mohammedanism that explains its Snflsiu 709 The Dervishes, London, 1868; Gobineau (J. A. de), Lett Religions et les Philosophies darts I’Asie Cent rate, Paris, In fact, Sufism is a force opposed to Islam, which will one day destroy it oy sub e entials. stituting pantheism for Mohammedan theology. 1865; monotheism in the The strength of Islam its; truth, phenomenal falsehood. Ain i Hayat (Rills from the Fountain of Turkish translation from the Persian by with mystical Christianity. The Christian as well as the Sufi may join with the Hindu in saying “There is One only and there But the Sufi parts company with is none else.” The the Christian to follow his Hindu teacher. great poet Jellal-ed-din Rumi said, in a moment of exaltation, “Oh, my master, you have completed my doctrine by showing me that you are God that aU things are God!” Because the Christian finds Scripture teaching that the Spirit of God will lead him who consents to be led, and that he who is led by the Spirit of God is a son of God, he can join with the Sufi in declaring that, “To lose self in God is the one object toward which men should strive.” But this the Christian understands as a call to subject self-will to the control of God, with a change of desires that places him in harmony of purpose and action with God, enabling him to make kindly helpfulne to others the God-like characteristic of his life. The Sufi, however, finds in his desire to seek God no stimulus toward moral elevation; and his brotherly feeling toward others is but the bastard kindline of the mutual admiration society which those who do not belong to the rates the ma es as accursed. aristocracy of the instructed ones Even for his own brethren he gains little from his Saadi sets forth the quest after the Divine. barrenne of this quest, so far as benefit to others is concerned, in one of his quaint parables in the Gulistan: “A Dervish being questioned as to what gift he had brought back to his brethren out of the garden of delights to which he had gone, repHed, ‘I intended on arriving at that rose-tree (the vision of God) to fill the skirt of my robe with roses, so as to offer them to my brethren. But when there, the scent of t’le roses so intoxicated my senses that the skirt ( my robe escaped from my hands.’ The tongro of that man is — — ’ silenced who has known God.” Setting on the one hand this conception, that God countenances a man’s content to ble himself tho his fellows are left without participation; and placing upon the other side John’s great elucidation of the purpose of God’s revelation — “He that abideth in me and 1504; 1585; 727