Battle of Toski

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Battle of Toski
Part of the Mahdist War (War of the Sudan)
Date August 3 1889 Location Southern Egypt Result Egyptian/British Victory
Combatants
Great Britain, Egypt	Mahdist Sudan
Commanders
Sir Francis Grenfell	Wad el Nujumi†

Battles of the Mahdist War
El Obeid – El Teb – Khartoum – Abu Klea – Toski – Battle of Atbara – Omdurman – Umm Diwaykarat

The battle of Toski(Tushkah) took place in Egypt between the Anglo-Egyptian forces and the mahdist Sudanese.

The British, since 1882 had taken over the government of Egypt and found themselves involved in the Sudan war. For this reason, they decided to reform and rearm the Egyptian Army. A British general, sir Francis Grenfell was appointed Sirdar(commander-in-chief) and British officers trained the newly-formed units.

The Sudanese, on the other hand had not renounced their ambition of spreading the mahdist faith to Egypt. In 1889, the Khalifa Abdallahi ibn Muhammad sent the emir Wad-el-Nujumi and an army several thousand strong into Egypt for this purpose. The mahdists avoided Wadi Halfa where most of the Egyptian troops were garisoned, and camped at Toski by the Nile, 76 km within the Egyptian border. Here they were attacked by the Egyptians, who completely annihilated them, the emir being killed trying to rally his men. Apart from the officers commanding the Egyptian units, the only British troops participating were a squadron of the 20th hussars.

This battle effectively ended the mahdist threat to Egypt.

[edit] External links

• The Political Martyr: General Gordon and the Fall of Kartum by S Monick-Military History Journal Vol 6 No 6