#8271 Dervish Warriors

Dated: February 06, 2011

The warriors commonly called "Dervishes" by British and Egyptian troops were more properly the Ansar, the followers of Muhammad Ahmad, who proclaimed himself the Mahdi in 1881. Their uprising began as a revolt against Egyptian rule in the Sudan and rapidly grew into a powerful religious and political movement. Early Mahdist forces were drawn from many tribal groups and were far from uniform, but their determination and mobility allowed them to defeat several Egyptian armies, capture Khartoum in 1885 and establish an independent Mahdist state that survived until the Anglo-Egyptian reconquest of 1898.

Box Art

Their appearance varied greatly. In the early campaigns many warriors fought in traditional tribal dress, while later the patched jibbeh became increasingly associated with the Mahdist army. Headgear ranged from skullcaps and turbans to regional styles, and weapons included spears, swords, shields and, increasingly, captured rifles. Large numbers of Remington rifles entered Mahdist service after being taken from defeated Egyptian forces.

Line drawing

This set contains 32 figures in eight poses, including spearmen, swordsmen and riflemen. The set deliberately represents several different types of Mahdist warrior rather than a single uniformed unit. Some figures are suitable for the later Ansar in jibbehs, while others reflect the more varied tribal dress seen during the earlier campaigns around Khartoum. Two particularly distinctive figures represent Beja warriors, whose elaborate hair led British soldiers to nickname them "Fuzzy-Wuzzies." Shields, bandoliers, rifles and edged weapons add further variety to the set.

The Dervish warriors can be used alongside both the Taaishi Camelry and Hadendowah Camelry. They all represent different elements of the wider Mahdist forces. The Dervish Warriors are best treated as general Ansar infantry, followers of the Mahdi drawn from many Sudanese peoples and equipped with spears, swords, shields and firearms. European accounts commonly called Mahdist soldiers "dervishes," although Ansar is the better historical term. The Hadendowah and Taaisha were distinct regional groups who joined that same movement.

So on the tabletop:
- Dervish Warriors, the main infantry body
- Hadendowah Camelry, eastern Sudanese Beja scouts, raiders and mounted transport, associated especially with Osman Digna
- Taaishi Camelry, western Sudanese/Baggara troops closely associated with Khalifa Abdallahi
- They could all appear together in a larger Mahdist army, especially in later campaigns when the Mahdist state drew forces from many regions. They would not necessarily have belonged to the same regiment or looked identical, but combining the sets is historically reasonable and visually useful.

Sprue

Area of operations

Comparison of early and late warrior

Painted figures by Thomas Willers

Painted figures by Peter B.

Painted figures by K. Kucharski