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Mamlakah al-Arabiyyah Misr wal Sudan/Arab Kingdom of Egypt and Sudan

Population

20,000,000

Capital

Omdurman

Head of State

Farouk I of Egypt-Sudan (1936-1957), Fuad II of Egypt-Sudan (1957-1958), Abd al-Rahman al-Mahdi (1958-1959), Sadiq al-Mahdi (1959-1965), Siddig al-Fadil al-Mahdi, Iskandar I (from 1965)

Ruling Party

Young Egypt (1949-1957), Free Officers Movement from 1957 in coalition with the Umma Party and breakaway elements of the Unionist Party

Head of Government

Sir George Stewart Symes (1934-1941), Prince Amedeo, Duke of Aosta (1941-1943), Ismail al-Azhari (1943-1957), Kamal el-Din Hussein (1957-1958), Muhammad Naguib (1958-1967), Abdel Hakim Amer (from 1967)

History[]

The Kingdom of Sudan established with the support of Lebanon and Great Britain as the result of a plot to overthrow King Farouk of Egypt. While the overthrow failed, the rebels managed to establish a breakaway state in Sudan (including the Hala'ib Triangle).

A cabal of young Arab nationalist officers, known as the Free Officers, opposed to the rule of King Farouk and his Italian backers managed to unite disparate Arab-nationalist and supremacist groups, pro-Mahdi forces and others in order to secure the secession of Sudan from the union with Egypt.

The most important political forces in Sudan were the Ansar, supporters of the independent Sudanese leader the Mahdi, and the Khatmiyya, who traditionally favoured unity with Egypt. The Ansar backed the Umma Party, and was dominated by the al-Mahdi family, specifically the Mahdi's grandson Abd al-Rahman al-Mahdi, his son Sadiq al-Mahdi, and his son-in-law Hussan al-Turabi. The Khatmiyya backed the Unionist Party which supported continued union with Egypt and had enjoyed the sponsorship of the Egyptians since the war.

The Free Officers managed to create a coalition, led by Abdullah Khalil, made up of the Umma Party and disaffected Unionist Party supporters (known as People's Party) who broke with their leader Ismail al-Azhari (who continued to support Egypt). Figures like al-Azhari and the military governor of Sudan, Anwar Sadat, fled northwards.

The House of al-Mahdi, headed by Abd al-Rahman al-Mahdi and later by Sadiq al-Mahdi, descendents of the ruler of independent Mahdist State of Sudan, was once again installed as masters of Sudan. The first King was Siddig al-Fadil, installed in late 1965 as an infant, known as Iskandar I.

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