Download or read book The Formation of the Sudanese Mahdist State written by Kim Searcy and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2010-12-17 with total page 175 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is the first analysis of the Sudanese Mahdiyya from a socio-political perspective that treats how relationships of authority were enunciated through symbol and ceremony. The book focuses on how the Mahdi and his second-in-command and ultimate successor, the Khalifa Abdallahi, used symbols, ceremony and ritual to articulate their power, authority and legitimacy first within the context of resistance to the imperial Turco-Egyptian forces, and then within the context of establishing an Islamic state.