The Law of Elephants and the Justice of Monkeys: Two Cases of Anti-Colonialism in the Sudan

So often the English language literature accepts the civilizing mission and even-handed governance of the colonial authorities. My research has shown that such judgments are difficult to support. Since this special commemorative issue of Africa Today is celebrating a quarter century of national independence of the Sudan I have sought to use the case study method to reconstruct something of the perception of colonial rule from the eyes of the colonized rather than colonizer. Although it should go without saying, the British forces arrived in the Sudan as a result of military conquest with battlefields anointed in Sudanese blood. Despite the hardships of the latter days of the Mahdiya, no case can be made for any broad section of the Sudanese population which sought redress of the difficulties in the uninvited imposition of Pax Britannica. Two cases from the colonial period are offered here for your consideration. The first relates the story of the trials and tribulations of Mohammad Amin Hodeib, the second relates the events leading to the birth of the Tuti Island Republic