^{page 227 note 1} He dropped the name Aḥmad on assuming the Mahdiship so that his name might correspond precisely with traditional prophecies of the Mahdi' name.

^{page 227 note 2} There are a few anomalous openings dating from the early Mahdia.

^{page 227 note 1} The Mahdi died on 9 Ramaḍān by the Egyptian reckoning. It is not clear when the divergence between the two calendars arose.

^{page 227 note 2} This is stated in a letter from the Khalifah to Muḥammad Khālid, ‘āmil of Darfur, dated 29 Rajab 1301 (25 May 1884) in the Sudan Government Archives, Khartoum; MAHDIA 1/10, 8, 28. An anomalous use of amīr jaish al-mahdīyah in N, f. 56, is probably a copyist' error.

^{page 227 note 3} See Hill, Richard, A biographical dictionary of the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Oxford, 1951, 17.Google Scholar

^{page 228 note 1} Wingate: Mahdiism, 535–49.

^{page 228 note 2} Wingate analyses the contents as containing 99 letters from the Mahdi, 19 from the Khalifah, and 15 from various persons—a total of 133.

^{page 229 note 1} See Hill, Dictionary, 29 (Aḥmad wad ‘Alī).

^{page 229 note 2} See Hill, Dictionary, 275. The date in the MS is 1289—an obvious error.

^{page 229 note 3} i.e. to the Governor-General (Al-Ḥukumdār), MuḤammad Ra’ūf Pasha. See Hill, Dictionary, 270.

^{page 229 note 4} See Hill, Dictionary, 53 (Al-Amīn Muḥammad al-Ḍarīr).

^{page 229 note 5} The head of the Sanīsīyah ţarīqah in Cyrenaica.

^{page 229 note 6} See Hill, Dictionary, 386. The expedition under Al-Shallālī was defeated by the Mahdi at Qadīr on 12 Rajab 1299/30 May 1882. Dated from the copy in M, f. 7.

^{page 229 note 7} Condolence on the death of a son, probably the Mahdist Qāḍī al-Islām, Aḥmad Jubārah, who was killed in the attack on El Obeid (24 Shawwāl 1299). See Hill, Dictionary, 34.

^{page 229 note 8} Shaikh of the Jawāma‘ah tribe of Kordofan. At first an important ally of the Mahdi, he was subsequently degraded and put to death.

^{page 229 note 9} The full date is given in the copy in D, f. 1, which is addressed by name to the tribes of the eastern Sudan.

^{page 230 note 1} i.e. the expedition commanded by Hicks Pasha, which was annihilated by the Mahdi at the battle of Shaikān on 5 Nov. 1883. See Hill, Dictionary, 164–5. Dated from the copy in M, f. 58.

^{page 230 note 2} See Hill, Dictionary, 138–40.

^{page 230 note 3} Described in the margin of the MS as Manshūr Jabal al-Dā’ir. J. al-Dā’ir is an isolated hill-group in Kordofan near the Mahdi's line of march from El Obeid to Khartoum. The term Ahl al-Bawāriq (the People of the Flags) signifies the Mahdist officers.

^{page 230 note 4} Dated in the MS Rajab 1300, but the siege of Khartoum had not then begun.

^{page 230 note 5} Dated from internal evidence.

^{page 230 note 6} The ‘imālah of Muḥammad al-Khair was the former province (mudīrīyah) of Berber. See Hill, Dictionary, 260–1.

^{page 230 note 7} Nos. 3, 4, and 7 relate to hostilities in the north against the Anglo-Egyptian forces. The Ja’liyīn are the principal tribe in the former province of Berber.

^{page 230 note 8} Anṡar: partisans of the Mahdia.

^{page 230 note 9} The Friday sermon preached by the Khalifah during the Mahdi' last illness.

^{page 230 note 10} This proclamation contains a vision confirming the Khalifah's mystical right to succeed the Mahdi.

^{page 230 note 11} ‘Abd al-Mājid was a cousin of Muḥammad al-Khair ‘Abdallah Khūjalī.

^{page 230 note 12} Relating to the suppression of the Prophet ‘Isa conspiracy at Gallabat. See Hill, Dictionary, 181.

^{page 230 note 13} Assuring the Mahdists of success in the invasion of Egypt and dealing with other political developments.

^{page 231 note 1} From the Khalifah.

^{page 231 note 2} i.e. the Mahdi's bodyguard.

^{page 231 note 3} Dated from the copy in M, f. 79.

^{page 231 note 4} See Hill, Dictionary, 7.

^{page 231 note 5} See Hill, Dictionary, 353 (Al-Tāhīr al-Ṭaiyib Qamar al-Dīn al-Majdhūb).

^{page 231 note 6} See Hill, Dictionary, 243. The MS also gives the text of the letter to which this is a reply.

^{page 232 note 1} Date give by lithographed copies of the text in the Sudan Government Archives, Khartoum: MAHDIA 1/56, 14 and 15.

^{page 232 note 2} See Hill, Dictionary, 39 The Amīn Bait alM-l was the head of the Mahdist treasury.

^{page 232 note 3} Bare, the second town of Kordofan, fell to the Mahdists on 25 Ṣafar 1300 (5 Jan. 1883). EI Obied, the provincial capital of Kordofan, fell on 19 Jan. 1883.

^{page 232 note 4} This proclamation wa occasioned by the great amount of booty acquired at the battle of Shakiān.

^{page 232 note 5} Date given by the lithgraphed copy of the text in S.G.A., Khartoum: MAHDIA 1/56, 15, and the copy in M. f. 131.

^{page 232 note 6} Date from the copy in M, f. 149.

^{page 233 note 1} This date is given in the text as that of the battle of Māsah, i.e. the defeat of Al-Shallālī.

^{page 233 note 2} Dated from internal evidence.

^{page 233 note 3} The Gezira (Al-Jazīrah) is the peninsula between the Blue and the White Nile.

^{page 233 note 4} The jubbah was the patched garment which formed the uniform of the Anṡār.

^{page 234 note 1} Dated from internal evidence.

^{page 234 note 2} Date from copy in S.G.A., Khartoum MAHDIA 2/31.

^{page 234 note 3} Date from copy in S.G.A., Khartoum MAHDIA 2/31, 2, 25.

^{page 234 note 4} Date from copy in S.G.A., Khartoum MAHDIA 2/31, 3, 41.

^{page 234 note 5} Date from copy in S.G.A., Khartoum MAHDIA 2/31, 3, 41.

^{page 234 note 6} Date from copy in S.G.A., Khartoum MAHDIA 2/31, 3, 42.

^{page 234 note 7} Date from copy in S.G.A., Khartoum MAHDIA 2/31, 3, 45.

^{page 235 note 1} Great-grandson of the Fulani Muslim reformer, Shehu Usumanu dan Fodio.

^{page 235 note 2} See Hill, Dictionary, 47, where he is wrongly described as Khalīfat al-Mahdī, a title used only by the Khalifah ‘Abdallāhi.

^{page 235 note 3} See Hill, Dictionary, 273. The form ‘Muḥammad al-Sharīf’, used by Hill and others, is not found in the documents and he is wrongly described as Khalīfat al-Mahdī.

^{page 235 note 4} See Hill, Dictionary, 367–8. For a full biography based on English sources, see Jackson, H.C., Osman Digna, London, 1926.Google Scholar

^{page 236 note 1} See Hill, Dictionary, 279.

^{page 236 note 2} In old age Yūsuf Mikhā’īl wrote an account of his life and experiences in the Mahdia. This MS was presented by Mr. Aglen to the Sudan Government Archives in 1954. A photographic copy is in the Library of the School of Oriental and African Studies.

^{page 236 note 3} Exceptions are (a) f. 37: proclamation dated 1299 among material of 130; (b) f. 129: letter dated 25 Ṣafar 1302 among material of.1301.

^{page 237 note 1} Undated in the text. The letter to the Ḥulcumdārīyah.