2953 x 2215 px | 25 x 18,8 cm | 9,8 x 7,4 inches | 300dpi
Date de la prise de vue:
15 septembre 2005
Lieu:
Suakin, north-east Sudan.
Informations supplémentaires:
On the 20th February 1884, a British force commanded by Major General Graham arrived in Suakin and subsequently moved about 50 miles south with the aim of relieving Tokar. They engaged with and defeated the Mahdi’s Jihadist tribesmen in the battle of El Teb on the 29th February. Suakin (or Sawakin) is a port city in north-eastern Sudan, on the west coast of the Red Sea. It was formerly the region's chief port, but is now secondary to Port Sudan, about 50 kilometres north. Suakin developed into a rich, gated island port. Every building was built with coral and the walls were decorated in detailed wood and stone coverings. During the 19th century it became a hub for the slave trade from east Africa. The British Army was involved at Suakin from 1883-85 in an attempt to counter the rise of Mahdi Muhammad Ahmed’s Islamic forces in the region. There were some bloody battles near the port as the British tried to redeem earlier Egyptian defeats. Several years later, having rebuilt the Egyptian army (including British and many Sudanese troops) and constructed railways and fleets of Nile steamboats to secure the lines of communication across the desert to Khartoum, the British again advanced into the Sudan under General Kitchener. The forces of the Khalifa Abdallahi ibn Muhammad, successor to the Mahdi, were finally bloodily defeated at the Battle of Omdurman in 1898 and Britain established control over the Sudan. As the slave trade diminished, Suakin became increasingly obsolete and by the 1920s it was falling into complete disrepair. Shallow waters and rough coral had pushed most trade north to Port Sudan.
