Map of the Nile published during the Mahdist crisis

A map of the Nile south to Lake Victoria, published during the revolt of Sudan against Egyptian control, which had started in 1881. Britain became embroiled in the conflict as Egypt was a protectorate. The revolt began when Muhammad Ahmad bin Abd Allah (1845-85) declared himself the 'Mahdi' (a messianic redeemer of the Islamic faith). Although the 'Ulema' (the Orthodox religious authorities) ridiculed his claims, he gathered an army of 40,000 and soon much of Sudan was in his control. Britian wanted to withdraw from the area, and General Charles George Gordon was despatched to Khartoum evacuate Europeans and Egyptian loyalists. He arrived in Egypt in January 1884, but by March was beseiged in Khartoum. The city, at the centre of this map, was still invested when this map was published in December; the city fell and Gordon killed on January 26th, two days before a relief force arrived.

Also of interest is the section of the Congo and its tributary, the Lualaba, as mapped by Henry Morton Stanley in 1877. The cararacts that separate the two rivers are called here the Stanley Falls, but are now the Boyoma Falls.