During the thirteen years of his reign Abdullah tried nearly every device by which Oriental rulers have sought to fortify their perilous sovereignty.  He shrank from nothing.  Self-preservation was the guiding principle of his policy, his first object and his only excuse.  Among many wicked and ingenious expedients three main methods are remarkable.  First, he removed or rendered innocuous all real or potential rivals.  Secondly, he pursued what Sir Alfred Milner has called ’a well-considered policy of military concentration.’  Thirdly, he maintained among the desert and riverain people a balance of power on the side of his own tribe.  All these three methods merit some attention or illustration.

The general massacre of all possible claimants usually follows the accession of a usurper to an Oriental throne.  The Khalifa was able to avoid this extreme measure.  Nevertheless he took precautions.  Availing himself of the grief and terror that had followed Mohammed Ahmed’s death, he had extorted the oath of allegiance from the two other Khalifas and from the ‘Ashraf’ or relations of the Prophet. [The Madhi had superseded the original Mohammed as ‘the Prophet.’  His relations consequently became ‘Ashraf.’] But these complaisant men soon repented of their submission.  Each Khalifa boasted his independence.  Each marched attended by a numerous retinue.  Each asserted his right to beat his own great copper drum.  Both the unsuccessful Khalifas combined against Abdullah.  But while they had been busy with the beating of war-drums and the preparation of pageants, that sagacious ruler had secured the loyalty of the Baggara tribe, to a section of which he belonged, and of a considerable force of black riflemen.  At length matters reached climax.  Both parties prepared for war.  Abdullah drew up his array without the city, and challenged his rivals to the utmost proof.  The combined forces of the ousted Khalifas were the more numerous.  But the fierce Baggara waved their swords, and the Soudanese riflemen were famous for their valour.  For some hours a bloody struggle appeared imminent.  Then the confederacy broke up.  The Khalifa Ali-Wad-Helu, a prudent man, talked of compromise and amity.  The Khalif Sherif, thus seriously weakened, hastened to make peace while time remained.  Eventually both bowed to the superior force of the ruler and the superior courage of his followers.  Once they had submitted, their power was gone.  Abdullah reduced their forces to a personal escort of fifty men each, deprived them of their flags and their war-drums—­ the emblems of royalty—­and they became for the future the useful supporters of a Government they were unable to subvert.