History of Sudan

A history of Sudan timeline from the prehistoric era, ancient kingdoms, the Ottoman period, the British Colonial period and independence. The history of what is modern-day Sudan can be traced back to prehistoric times, with archaeological evidence indicating human habitation along the Nile Valley tens of thousands of years ago. By the Neolithic period, around 8,000 BCE, settled communities had emerged, practising agriculture, domesticating animals, and developing advanced pottery. These early societies laid the groundwork for the complex civilisations that would later flourish, demonstrating a distinct cultural identity separate from their northern Egyptian neighbours. The Kerma culture emerged around 2500 BCE, establishing the first major indigenous kingdom in the region (below). Its capital, Kerma, was a formidable trading hub, rivalling ancient Egypt.

Kerma Kingdom However, by the New Kingdom period (c. 1550–1070 BCE), Egypt expanded its control southwards, incorporating much of Nubia (ancient Sudan) as a province and leaving a significant cultural imprint. This Egyptian domination was eventually overturned by an indigenous revival. Around 750 BCE, the Kingdom of Kush, centred at Napata, rose to prominence. It's powerful kings, known as the "Black Pharaohs," even conquered Egypt, ruling as the 25th Dynasty for nearly a century before retreating back to their homeland. This Napatan period was characterised by the adoption of many Egyptian customs, from pyramid building to religious practices, while firmly asserting a Sudanese identity.

Later, the Kushite capital shifted further south to Meroe around 300 BCE, marking the beginning of the Meroitic period. This era saw a distinct cultural flowering. Meroe became a major centre for iron smelting, establishing one of the earliest industrial complexes in Africa. The Meroites also developed their own unique writing system, Meroitic script, which remains largely undeciphered, and engaged in extensive trade networks reaching into Roman Egypt and sub-Saharan Africa. The kingdom flourished for centuries before its gradual decline and eventual collapse around 350 CE.

Following the fall of Meroe, the region saw the rise of three independent Christian kingdoms: Nobatia, Makuria, and Alodia. These kingdoms thrived for nearly a thousand years, maintaining strong cultural and diplomatic ties with Byzantine Egypt and the wider Christian world. However, from the 14th century onwards, a gradual process of Islamisation began, largely through Arab migration and intermarriage, rather than military conquest.

By the 16th century, the geopolitical focus shifted with the rise of the Funj Sultanate, an Islamic kingdom that controlled much of central Sudan from its capital, Sennar. Simultaneously, the northern areas felt the distant but significant influence of Egypt, which was itself part of the vast Ottoman Empire. Napoleon’s decisive victory at the Battle of the Pyramids (right) on 21st July 1798 saw a brief French occupation of Egypt and the beginning of the end of Marmeluke rule, which had long been at odds with its overseer, the neighbouring Ottoman Empire. Many defeated Mamluk leaders, most notably Ibrahim Bey and Murad Bey, refused to surrender or submit to French rule. Instead, they led thousands of their remaining troops, families, and retainers southward up the Nile. These fleeing Mamluks crossed the border and established fortified camps in northern Sudanese territory, becoming a disruptive element that challenged local tribal authorities and strained relations between Egypt and the southern kingdoms. This influx of hostile refugees effectively militarised the border region between the two polities.

Beyond the military consequences, the French campaign had an immense, if indirect, effect on European knowledge and perception of the region. Napoleon’s expedition was famously accompanied by hundreds of intellectuals, scientists, engineers, and historians who mapped, studied, and documented Egypt in unprecedented detail. Although their primary research site was the pharaonic monuments to the north, their detailed accounts and geographical understanding of the Nile route sparked a renewed and intense European curiosity about the river’s source and the mysterious inner African kingdoms beyond the first shallow lengths (or whitewater rapids) of the Nile River.

While the French forces were eventually ejected from Egypt in 1801, Napoleon’s intervention was a critical precursor to the 19th-century scramble for Africa. His campaign shattered the existing Mamluk balance of power, forcing Muhammad Ali Pasha, the subsequent Ottoman governor, to consolidate his rule and secure the entire Nile basin. It was Muhammad Ali Pasha, fearing renewed Mamluk threats from the south and seeking resources, who launched a major invasion of Sudan in 1821. This conquest officially initiated the period of Ottoman rule, often referred to as the Turco-Egyptian period, aiming to secure trade routes, collect taxes, and acquire gold and slaves. This era unified disparate regions under a single administration, albeit one often marked by exploitation and harsh governance.

These abuses of the Turco-Egyptian administration fuelled deep resentment, culminating in the rise of the Mahdist movement in the 1880s. Led by Muhammad Ahmad (below, left), who proclaimed himself the Mahdi (the Expected Redeemer), this Islamic revolutionary movement successfully overthrew the dominant power and established the independent indigenous state of Mahdist Sudan or the Sudanese Mahdiyya with its capital in Omdurman on the west bank of the River Nile, opposite and northwest of Khartoum.

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Muhammad Ahmad

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Ahmad died a few months later and was succeeded by Abdallahi ibn Muhammad who continued to run Sudan as an independent Mahdist State for the next fourteen years somewhat unsuccessfully with a series of civil wars until the British became increasingly concerned about their interests in the area given the level of instability in Sudan.

Mahdist War The British therefore decided to reconquer Sudan and sent in the Anglo-Egyptian Nile Expeditionary Force under (Lord) Herbert Kitchener and hostilities mainly ended on on 2nd September 1898 when Anglo-Egyptian troops (right) killed 10,800 Mahdists suffering only 48 deaths themselves. From 1899 until 1955, Sudan then came under joint British-Egyptian rule as Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, with plans as early as 1943 to prepare North Sudan for self-government and the south as a separate entity. This policy was reversed in 1946, much to the consternation of the black African Christians in southern Sudan, who believed they were considered inferior by the Arab Muslim majority in the north, and this sowed the seeds for the ongoing conflict following Sudan's final independence in 1956.

The post-independence history of Sudan was then essentially a story of two separate peoples being forced together with not only no cultural ties nor identity, but a loathing of each other. Even at the time of independence, the first Sudanese Civil War was underway, with the south demanding more autonomy. This period ended in 1972 with the signing of the Addis Ababa Agreement, which granted the south limited self-governing powers in return for the end of the armed conflict.

The second Sudanese War was triggered when President Gaafar Nimeiry (left) who had came to power after a military coup in 1969, decided to modify that agreement, including imposing Islamic law throughout the country, without the consent of the south. This second war saw him ousted from power in 1985 when Suwar-Eldahab, Nimeiry's Chief of Staff, and then Minister of Defence and general commander of the armed forces in 1984, launched a coup, leading to him becoming the Chairman of the Transitional Military Council. Following elections, Suwar-Eldahab surrendered power to Ahmed al-Mirghani in 1986. Al-Mirghani then served as the third President of Sudan from 1986 to 1989, when the democratically elected government was overthrown by a military coup led by Omar al-Bashir.

This ushered in a period of severe human rights violations and rampant corruption until 2019, when a further popular uprising against the 30-year dictatorship saw him deposed in a further coup d'état. His ousting led to a transitional government at first, but in 2021, the two leaders (Hemedti and al-Burhan) conspired to overthrow the transitional government in another coup so that they and their allies could avoid accountability for past offenses, as the transitional government was trying to strengthen anti-corruption mechanisms, increase civic space, and eventually transition to democracy, which Bashir-era elites saw as a direct threat to their interests. However, in 2023, these two leaders and their respective factions turned against each other and started fighting, leading to one of the most devastating civil wars currently active in the world.

Today Sudan faces a humanitarian crisis with millions experiencing hunger, displacement, and violence due to the ongoing conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). For the latest in Sudan's history, check out our Sudan news pages.