Sudan (jan 1, 1884 – jan 1, 1903)

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1884 Britain sends a force to the Sudan to supervise an Egyptian withdrawal from Khartoum, and the force takes charge of 2,500 women, children, sick and wounded. Muhammad Ahmad's force surrounds them. The British government's rejects a request for military help from a Sudanese slave trader and warlord.

1885 After ten months, Muhammad Ahmad overruns the British force in Khartoum. Its leader, Charles Gordon, is killed.

1885 With help from the British, who are involved in neighboring Sudan, Italy takes from the Egyptians control over what today is Eritrea.

1896 The British are alarmed by the spread of French influence in southern Sudan. Britain's military leader, Horatio Kitchener, leads an army into the Sudan.

1898 A force of 8,200 British and 17,600 Sudanese troops under British command win against more numerous Dervish warriors at the Battle of Omdurman in the Sudan, near Khartoum. The British lose 48 dead. An estimated 5,000 Dervish are taken prisoner and 10,000 are killed.

1903 Jul 7 Britain expands its rule in Africa by taking over the Fulani Empire, a Muslim theocracy in the Western Sudan.

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