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Abstract

This thesis studies the establishment and development of administration in the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, from the signing of the Condominium Agreement in January 1899, until the end of Wingate's governor-generalship in December 1916. The role of the governor-general and of his principal assistants is examined in the introduction and in the first three chapters. Kitchener, who was governor-general in 1899, formulated some of the policies of the new administration but had neither the time nor the patience to implement them. During the next seventeen years Wingate served as governor-general of the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan. With the collaboration of Slatin, and a handful of British officials, Wingate determined and implemented administrative policies with little interference by the British or Egyptian governments. The only effective control over the Sudan administration was that of the British consuls-general in Egypt. After Cromer's resignation in 1907, even this supervision tended to diminish and reached its lowest ebb under Kitchener and McMahon in 1911-1916. The predominant role of the British administrators is clearly demonstrated in chapters four and five, which analyse the structure of the new administration and of its personnel. The remaining five chapters examine and evaluate the most important aspects of administrative policy in the Sudan. The government's religious policy developed upon separate lines in the northern and southern regions of the Sudan. In the Muslim north the dominant position of Islam was preserved, wheress in the pagan south an anti-Islamic policy was pursued from 1910, and government support was extended to missionary societies. The administration of justice and tribal policy aimed at pacifying the country and at establishing a religious and tribal leadership associated with the government. While achieving a large measure of success with regard to religious leadership, the government's tribal policy undermined the authority of tribal leaders, which had already been weakened during the Mahdia, and in consequence had to be revised. The last two chapters examine spheres of policy which were largely connected with the economic stability of the Sudan. The system of land settlement and the insistence on a low rate of taxation, enabled the small landowners to cultivate their lands while avoiding the hazards of land alienation. The toleration of domestic and agricultural slavery, combined with the organization of labour, enabled the government to undertake the development of the country's economy and communications without disrupting its socio-economic structure.