Battle of Shaykan
Shaykan woods, near Kashgil, close to El Obeid, North Kordofan, Sudan
What happened
The army of Muhammad Ahmad, who called himself the Mahdi, fought an Egyptian army led by the British officer William Hicks. The Mahdi had led a rising against Egyptian rule in Sudan and taken the city of El Obeid. An Egyptian army of poorly trained soldiers under Hicks was sent to defeat him. Led astray by its guides in dry country, the army was surrounded in the woods of Shaykan and destroyed; Hicks did not survive.
Why it matters
Why it matters: It was a major victory for the Mahdi's movement, which used El Obeid as its base. It encouraged more people to join the rising, which went on to take Khartoum.
What came next
The Mahdists went on to take Khartoum.
Did you know?
Winston Churchill later called Hicks's force 'perhaps the worst army that has ever marched to war'.
Timeline
- September 1882The Mahdists capture El Obeid.
- 3-5 November 1883The Mahdists win at Shaykan.