Omdurman, Sudan
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Omdurman أم درمان |
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Omdurman Market
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 Omdurman
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| Coordinates: 15°39′N 32°29′E / 15.650°N 32.483°ECoordinates: 15°39′N 32°29′E / 15.650°N 32.483°E | |
| Country |
 Sudan
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| State | Khartoum State |
| Elevation | 178 m (584 ft) |
| Population (2008) | |
| • Total | 2,395,159 |
| Time zone | East Africa Time (UTC+3) |
Omdurman (standard Arabic: أم درمان Umm Durmān) is the second largest city in Sudan and Khartoum State, lying on the western banks of the River Nile, opposite the capital, Khartoum. Omdurman has a population of 2,395,159 (2008) and is the national centre of commerce. With Khartoum and Khartoum North or Bahri, it forms the cultural and industrial heart of the nation.
The name Omdurman (Umm Durmān) literally translates as "Mother of Durmān", but who she was or might have been is not known. There are unattested legends of a woman known as Umm Durmān who lived in an area at the confluence of the White and Blue Niles, but her importance remains obscure.
In 1884, Muḥammad Aḥmad, "the Mahdi", made his military headquarters in the village of Omdurman. The conflicts that followed over the next fifteen years have become known as the Mahdist War. Following the defeat of the besieged defenders of Khartoum in 1885, the Mahdi's successor, Khalifa ʻAbdullahi ibn Muḥammad, made Omdurman his capital.
The city, now the location of the tomb of the Mahdi, grew rapidly. However, in the Battle of Omdurman in 1898 (which actually took place in the nearby village of Kerreri), Lord Kitchener decisively defeated the Mahdist forces and killed the Khalifa, ensuring British control over the Sudan.
In September 1898 the British army of twenty thousand of well drilled men equipped with the latest arms, Maxim guns and Martini-Henry rifles under the command of General Herbert Horatio Kitchener invaded Sudan. In the battle Omdurman, the British army faced Sudanese defenders consisting of over 52,000 poorly armed desert tribesmen dervishes . In space of five hours the battle was over. The Sudanese defenders suffered over 93 percent casualty with at least 10,000 killed. By contrast there were fewer than four hundred casualties on the British side with forty-eight British soldiers lost their life. Then, General Kitchener proceeded to order the destruction of the Mahdi's tomb and in Churchill's words " carried off the Mahdi's head in a kerosene can as a trophy".
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