1844 – 1885 Mahdi State Sudan

Amīr Tāj al-Sir (1960-, Sudan) – Tawatturāt al-Qubṭī (‘The Copt’s worries’, 2009). This novel’s protagonist is Mīkhāʾīl, a Copt living in the village of al-Sūr in Sudan at the end of the 19^th century during a tumultuous period that resembles that of the Mehdi revolution against the Ottoman rulers (reference). Mīkhāʾīl, who lost his beloved fiancé and his job with the siege of the city by the revolutionaries, is forced to reinvent himself as the Muslim Saʿad al-Mabrūk, the character through which the events of the revolution and the changes it brings to the village are narrated (reference) (also in R: Religion and Sectarianism: Christians and Christianity: Coptic).

Ḥammūr Ziyādah (1979-, Sudan) – Shawq al-Darwīsh (2014, English trans. Longing of the Dervish, 2014). This novel, set in the 19^th century in Sudan, right after the fall of the Mahdist state, follows the story of Bakhāt Mandīl, who has just been released as a slave of European masters and seeks revenge for his imprisonment and the murder of his lover, the Christian missionary Thayūdūrā (reference). The novel also explores the social conflict between white Christian and Islamic Sufi cultures in Sudan, this latter of which determined the religious and intellectual vision of the Mahdist state (1844 – 1885) (reference) (also in H: Historical Novels: Historical Novels on Slavery and L: Love, Lust, and Relationships: Inter-religious and ethnic (romantic) relationships: Between Muslims and Christians).

Refrences:

In order of appearance

Aḥmad al-Sharīqī. 2011. “‘Tawatturāt al-Qubṭī’ … al-Thawrah wa Intāj al-Takhalluf.” www.aljazeera.net, 26 December 2023, https://www.aljazeera.net/culture/2011/12/26/%D8%AA%D9%88%D8%AA%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%82%D8%A8%D8%B7%D9%8A-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AB%D9%88%D8%B1%D8%A9-%D9%88%D8%A5%D9%86%D8%AA%D8%A7%D8%AC-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AA%D8%AE%D9%84%D9%81 (last accessed 22 November 2023)
ʿIzz al-Dīn Mīrghanī. 2011. “‘Tawatturāt al-Qubṭī’ Muḥākimat al-Tārīkh wa Mawqiʿa al-Ruʾyah fī Riwāyat Amīr Tāj al-Sir”. www.sundaress.com, 13 September 2023, https://www.sudaress.com/alsahafa/33801 (last accessed 22 November 2023)
Muḥammad Najīb Muḥammad ʿAlī. 2014. “Shawq al-Sarwīsh .. Bayn al-Maḥkī wa al-Maskūt ʿAnhu.” www.ajnet.me, 30 October 2014, https://www.ajnet.me/culture/2014/10/30/%D8%B4%D9%88%D9%82-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AF%D8%B1%D9%88%D9%8A%D8%B4-%D8%A8%D9%8A%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%AD%D9%83%D9%8A-%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%B3%D9%83%D9%88%D8%AA-%D8%B9%D9%86%D9%87 (last accessed 23 March 2024).