and three soldiers were killed, as were six of the attackers, and Ashwol escaped. The chief, by now somewhat of a hero, called on all the Dinka tribes to rise in rebellion, and throw off the yoke of foreign government. Encouraged and emboldened by the seditious preaching of Ashwol’s brother Dar, and by Ashwol’s own groups of travelling Dinka ‘magicians’ (also known as witch doctors), who prophesied the early demise of the government, virtually the whole of the Dinka nation rose in rebellion.
In an attempt to find a peaceful solution, the Government Inspector in the Bahr-el-Ghazal Province, Kaimakam H. R. Headlam, made approaches to the rebels but his advances were rebuffed by the Chief and the rebellion spread. Before long police patrols were being attacked, and rest houses destroyed. Headlam, far too short of resources to take action on his own, was forced to ask Khartoum for help.
A small patrol comprising of 160 officers and men was assembled in Khartoum, and left for Wau on 16 January 1910. On arrival it was re-enforced by the 150 or so troops already stationed there. This combined force was under the command of El Kaimakam W. J. St. J. Harvey Bey, of the Black Watch. In February, the patrol swept through the Atwot country, which was about 2,400 square miles in area, fighting a few minor skirmishes here and there, and confiscating large quantities of cattle. Harvey also took over 100 warriors prisoner. Most of the operations centred on the country around Gnopp, southeast of Rumbek, between Yirrol and Amadi. In early March the revolt gradually petered out and in April, chief Ashwol himself finally surrendered.
The chief was put under house arrest in Khartoum, and the government replaced him with a wealthy Dinka by the name of Diu. This imposed leader, having no personally earned authority, was duly ignored by the Dinka. When Diu was unable to get ‘his’ people back to clearing the roads and providing carriers for the government, he was himself replaced in 1913 by none other than the wily Ashwol who, while incarcerated under house arrest in Khartoum, managed to persuade the government that his newly discovered loyalty to the administration was really genuine. An uneasy sort of peace descended over the Bahr-el-Ghazal province. However, over the years Ashwol’s stature, which had been bolstered and strengthened by his leadership of the rebellion and subsequent imprisonment in Khartoum, slowly declined in the light of his new found loyalty to the government. The young Dinka warriors, to whom raiding, fighting and cattle rustling were a manly way of life could not be restrained for long, and in 1917, by now under the sway of more influential leaders, they again rose in rebellion, this time with far more devastating effects.
South Kordofan 1910
The Rahad Patrol (10-19 November 1910) and the Dilling Patrol (27 November to 19 December 1910) 13 clasps awarded to British officers.
1910 also saw the government trying to pacify inter-tribal rivalries in the Moro Hills, where the Meks (Kings) Jaili of Tagali and Zeibag of Rashad were complaining to the Governor of Kordofan about the Mek of Tagoi, who they said had been raiding them for years. The Governor of Kordofan, Kaimakam R. V. Savile Bey, thought the complaints simply an attempt to discredit the Mek of Tagoi, so summoned all three Meks, to a great conference at neutral Tendik where all the rivalries were to be resolved. However, Mek Gedeil of the Jebel Tagoi refused to attend and sent an insulting reply to Vickery’s invitation. To encourage the Mek to attend, Savile despatched a company of the Xth Sudanese and some 30 police to help change his mind. The small force met much stronger opposition than was expected, so it was withdrawn, and instead a fine of 50 rifles and 5 Egyptian pounds imposed on the Mek, to be paid by a set date. This must have been wishful thinking on Sevile’s part, as not only did the Mek refuse to pay the fine, he added insult to injury by offering sanctuary and protection to anyone who wanted to oppose the government.
Wingate decided that it was time to act, if only to demonstrate authority and power. A force consisting of 46 officers and 1,047 N.C.Os and men, comprising a half squadron each of Cavalry and Mounted Infantry, two field guns and a Maxim section, three Companies of Camel Corps and detachments from the Xth and XIIth Sudanese, was assembled at Rahad, under the Command of El Lewa J. Asser Pasha, and left for the Nuba Hills on 10 November. Asser decided to split his force into two, with himself in command of the column leaving from Kosti, and Kaimakam Heath, D.S.O., the second, which was to set out from El Obeid. The columns converged on Jebel Tagoi, a fortified massif in the centre of a range some 15 miles long, and up to 1500 feet high. Unfortunately the Tagoi Nuba chose to fight. After a fierce fire fight Jebel Tagoi was cleared, but Gedeil had escaped, going to ground at Jebel Kimla, in the Daier Hills, south of Rahad, a massif nearly 2000 feet high. A claimant to the Mekship of Jebel Tagoi, Idris Wad Karbus, was appointed the new Mek of Tagoi.
The following February Gedeil emerged from hiding, returned to Jebel Tagoi, shot dead Mek Idris, beat off an attack by the Mek of Turjok, who had come to the aid of Idris, and fled back to Jebel Kimla. The government opened discussion with the Jebel Kimla Nuba who agreed to pay a fine of 60 rifles for harbouring Gedeil, who had already escaped into the Daier Hills. As 53 of the 60 rifle fine was paid on 30 March, no military action was required against Jebel Kimla, so all efforts could now centre on capturing Gedeil. To flush him out the Camel Corps were sent to occupy Hawzama Firik and Kimla, the only sources of water in the hills, and then sat back to wait. On 5 April, with both his access to water and escape route cut off, Gedeil, after eight days without water, finally gave himself up. He was summarily tried for the murder of Mek Idris, who was actually his cousin, found guilty, and hanged from a tree in the market square at Tagale on 11 April 1911. Apparently he went to his death bravely, but he was not an easy man to despatch, with the rope breaking on the first attempt! The onlookers began to whisper that he must be a Fiki (Holy man), but the repaired rope soon sent him on his way. Afterwards the Sudanese, who have a lively sense of humour, thought it hilarious that he had to be hanged twice for his crimes.
Hearing about Mek Gedeil’s attitude to government demands, the Nuba tribe of Jebel Katla, in Dilling District, also decided that they no longer needed to pay their taxes, nor the subsequent fine levied on them for non-payment. Advantage was therefore taken of the presence of the government troops still available after the attack on the Jebel Tagoi, to send a patrol, under the command of El Kaimakam Conry Bey, into the Katla hills. The main hill, Katla Kurun was assaulted on 2 December, and two days later the town of Tima was occupied. Operations were concluded on the 19th, and with the exception of a section of Camel Corps left at Dilling, the force returned to El Obeid.
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