ORDER OF BATTLE // March 13, 1884
Siege of Khartoum
Estimated force strength by side, with confidence labels per surviving record.
Forces engaged
2 sides catalogued · combined 37,000 estimated
Mahdist State
30,000
Medium-confidence figure
Khedivate of Egypt
7,000
Medium-confidence figure
Battle context
The siege of Khartoum lasted from March 1884 to January 1885, ending with Mahdist forces under Muhammad Ahmad capturing the city from Charles Gordon's Egyptian garrison. The fall of Khartoum delivered control of the whole of Turco-Egyptian Sudan to the Mahdist State, representing the decisive territorial consolidation of the Mahdist movement in the region. The Egyptian garrison of roughly 7,000 was entirely lost. The outcome effectively ended Egyptian administrative authority over Sudan and marked the Mahdist State's emergence as the dominant power across the territory, a position it would hold for over a decade until the later stages of the Mahdist War.
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