A Map of the Nile from the Equatorial Lakes to the Mediterranean

Case map of the Nile River to Lake Victoria showing the seat of the current Anglo-Sudan War.

This map was issued in 1884 by Edward Stanford, a prominent London publisher whose company, Stanford Ltd., is still in operation today. It shows Northeast Africa including Egypt, the Red Sea and parts of the Arabian Peninsula. Although the image looks like it could be promoting the latest exploration through the harsh African interior, it instead reflects the dark underbelly of British imperialism – civil unrest.

Just a few years prior to publication, Britain formalized its presence in Egypt by supporting the established pasha against a nationalist uprising that threatened his rule and stability in the region. Although still nominally an Ottoman protectorate, the British maintained forces along the Suez and exercised nearly unchecked political influence in the region. The threat of nationalism didn’t dissipate, and instead grew south of Egypt, in the Sudan (which was nominally a tributary region of Egypt). An Islamic uprising there had been threatening British influence with its protectorate since as early as 1881, and in 1884 Muslim forces besieged Khartoum, to the surprise of many. The city was still under siege at the time of publication and would hold out until early January of the following year, when it fell a mere two days before a relief force arrived.