Caption:
Mahdist War (1881-1899). It faced the followers of Sudanese religious leader Muhammad Ahmad bin Abdullah bin Fahal, the self-proclaimed Mahdi, against Egyptian Khedivate troops, who were later joined by British forces. Suakin, Sudan. Egyptian troops carrying out a reconnaissance on the landward side of Suakin. At the time it was Sudan's main port on the Red Sea, which was threatened by the Sudanese warlord Osman Digna (1836-1926). Suakin housed the headquarters of the Anglo-Egyptian troops that were fighting against the Mahdi. Engraving. La Ilustración Española y Americana (The Spanish and American Illustration), February 29, 1884.