A Different Shade of Colonialism

"Eve Troutt Powell examines a relatively overlooked aspect of colonialism in Africa, and that is Egyptian, rather than European, colonialism in the 19th and 20th centuries. She looks at Egypt’s relationship with Sudan and how Egypt came to view Sudan as its own dominion. Confronted with the power and technological prowess of Europe, the notion was that, to be equal, Egypt should have its own empire and it should civilise other people. Mohammad Ali, the founder of modern Egypt, and his successors looked south, to the ‘Land of the Blacks’. Sudan was the first African colony to gain independence but the Egyptians opposed it because they felt Sudan should be theirs. “Confronted with the power and technological prowess of Europe, the notion was that, to be equal, Egypt should have its own empire” It’s not written in a popular style, but it is readable and very interesting. She has a lot of juicy details culled from real research, including blackface performances by Egyptian actors lampooning the Sudanese. An Egyptian officer held hostage by the Mahdi complains that he is deprived of his slaves while the Mahdi’s European captives are allowed to keep theirs. In a great opening scene, the speaker of the Egyptian parliament is put on trial by the British-dominated government for buying slaves, and it becomes a nationalist cause."