Call Number:

Ms. Coll. 1483

Repository:

University of Pennsylvania: Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts

Extent:

.33 linear feet (1 box)

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

"Sudan" photograph album documenting the period of the Anglo-Egyptian occupation, circa 1925-1930, Ms. Coll. 1483, Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts, University of Pennsylvania

Date:

circa 1925-1930 (inclusive)

Form:

Photograph albums and Photographs

Abstract:

This photograph album consists of thirty-one original black and white photographs documenting Sudanese culture and the changes the British brought to the country during the period of Anglo-Egyptian occupation. Included are views of Halfa, Kassala, Sennar, Khartoum (including government buildings, Gordon College, Kitchener Memorial Medical School, the Grand Hotel Khartoum, and Khartoum Palace), Omdurman, Suakin, and Port Sudan, all of which are situated along the Sudan government railways. There are also several images documenting the Gezira scheme, the Sennar irrigation dam, and indigenous peoples harvesting wheat and cotton.

In the 1920s, Sudan was a condominium of the United Kingdom and Egypt. Although theoretically, the United Kingdom and Egypt shared equal sovereignty of Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, the United Kingdom maintained significant control through the railways, the army, and communications.

This photograph album was probably created by a British individual. It is unclear if the individual was a tourist or one of the many "clerks, technicians, teachers, and medics who handled the day-to-day tasks of colonialism," (Ertsen, page 203). The photographs contained within the scrapbook are all numbered and captioned, possibly indicating that these photographs were professionally produced and possibly sold as a set.

There are numerous photographs of the Gezira Scheme, the Sennar Dam, and the railway systems. "In the first half of the 20th century, roughly between 1910 and 1950, British colonial rulers, a British firm, and Sudanese farmer changed the Gezira Plain—the triangle of land south of Khartoum between the Blue and White Nile in Sudan—into the Gezira Scheme, a large scale irrigation system producing huge amounts of cotton," (Ertsen, page 203). The Sennar Dam was completed in 1925 and its main purpose "was to store and divert water for irrigation in the adjacent Gezira scheme, and for securing drinking water supply during the dry season," (IHA). In 1926, a British writer for Nature celebrated "the idea of rendering this sterile tract cultivatable," (Nature, page 200), but in the 1990s, an anthropologist saw the scheme as "as an instrument and symbol of colonial oppression of Sudanese farmers," (Ertsen, page 208). Much of the cotton grown in the Gezira was sent to England for production into fabrics. The impact of these projects is still present in modern day Sudan, which was declared an independent state on January 1, 1956.

Sources:

Ertsen, M. 2016. "A matter of relationships: Actor-networks of colonial rule in the Gezira irrigation system, Sudan." Water Alternatives 9(2): 203-221 (www.water-alternatives.org), accessed 2022 October 3.

International Hydropower Association (IHA) (https://www.hydropower.org/sediment-management-case-studies/sudan-sennar), accessed 2022 October 3

Unknown author. "The Sennar Dam and the Gezira Irrigation Project," Nature, No. 2936, Volume 117, 1926 February 2a6, pages 200-201.

This photograph album consists of thirty-one original black and white photographs documenting Sudanese culture and the changes the British brought to the country during the period of Anglo-Egyptian occupation. The front cover is embossed with the title "Sudan." Included are views of Halfa, Kassala, Sennar, Khartoum (including government buildings, Gordon College, Kitchener Memorial Medical School, the Grand Hotel Khartoum, and Khartoum Palace), Omdurman, Suakin, and Port Sudan, all of which are situated along the Sudan government railways. There are also several images documenting the Gezira scheme, the Sennar irrigation dam, and indigenous peoples harvesting wheat and cotton.

While there is certainly focus on the British occupation of the country, there is documentation of the indigenous peoples and their culture, including representation of the Grain Market in Omdurman, "Arab Houses," in Suakin, "A Hadendoa," indigenous peoples in Kassala, a boat and canoes near Taufikia, "Azande on Trek," "A Shilluk," and individuals grinding Telebun.

There are a number of photographs documenting the importance of the railroads, including a map of existing and proposed Sudan Government railway routes and an express train. In addition, many of the photographs of places are situated along the railway routes.

The photographs contained within the scrapbook are all numbered and captioned, possibly indicating that these photographs were professionally produced and possibly sold as a set.

Photographs are described in the container list by the captions which have been transcribed directly from the album and reflect the time and culture in which the album was created.