Ali Abd al-Latif (; ) was a prominent

Sudan Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...

ese nationalist who served as a key member of the

White Flag League The White Flag League (also known as the White Flag Association, White Flag Society, or the White Brigade Movement) was an organized nationalist resistance movement of Sudanese military officers, formed in 1923, which made a substantial early atte ...

and played a prominent role in the 1924 Khartoum revolt.

Early life and family

Latif was born in 1896 in the northern Sudanese border town of

Wadi Halfa (, , ":wikt:esparto, Esparto Valley") is a city in the Northern (state), Northern state of Sudan on the shores of Lake Nasser, Lake Nubia near the Egypt–Sudan border, border with Egypt. It is the terminus of a rail transport in Sudan, rail lin ...

. His father, Abd al-Latif Ahmad, was a

Nuba The Nuba people are indigenous inhabitants of southern Sudan. The Nuba are made up of 50 various indigenous ethnic groups who inhabit the Nuba Mountains of South Kordofan, South Kordofan state in Sudan, encompassing multiple distinct people that ...

and a former slave and soldier from the Nuba Mountains. His mother, al-Sabr hailed from the

Dinka The Dinka people () are a Nilotic ethnic group native to South Sudan. The Dinka mostly live along the Nile, from Mangalla-Bor to Renk, in the region of Bahr el Ghazal, Upper Nile (two out of three provinces that were formerly part of southern ...

Bahr El Ghazal Bahr el-Ghazal (, also transliterated ''Bahr al-Ghazal'', ''Baḥr al-Ghazāl'', ''Bahr el-Gazel'', or versions of these without the hyphen) may refer to two distinct places, both named after ephemeral or dry rivers. Chad * Bahr el-Ghazal (wadi in ...

and had formerly been a slave in al-Khandaq before marrying his father. She was thought to have had a huge influence to young Ahmad. Ahmad too had originally been a household slave in al-Khanadaq, then a center of commerce. He was later acquired by Mahdist forces under Wad el Nujumi to serve in the Mahdists 1889 invasion of Egypt. Ahmad either deserted or was taken prisoner by Anglo-Egyptian forces following the

Battle of Toski The Battle of Toski (''Tushkah'') was part of the Mahdist War. It took place on August 3, 1889, in southern Egypt between the Anglo-Egyptian forces and the Mahdist forces of the Sudan. Since 1882, the British had taken control of Egypt and found ...

, and ended up enlisted in the

Egyptian Army The Egyptian Army (), officially the Egyptian Ground Forces (), is the land warfare branch (and largest service branch) of the Egyptian Armed Forces. Until the declaration of the Republic and the abolishment of the monarchy on 18 June 1953, it w ...

Military service

Like many Sudanese of slave origins, Latif joined the military, as it offered one of the few means of social mobility. Whilst his father had served in the Egyptian Army, it was actually largely due to his mother than Latif was able to rise into the emerging

middle class The middle class refers to a class of people in the middle of a social hierarchy, often defined by occupation, income, education, or social status. The term has historically been associated with modernity, capitalism and political debate. C ...

, commonly referred to as the effendiyya. When Latif moved from Ed Dueim to Khartoum c.1900, he was able to find support from his maternal uncle, Rihan Abd Allah, who his mother had connected him with. Abd Allah may not have actually been Latif's biological uncle, but instead the term may have just arisen from Abd Allah sharing Latif's mothers Dinka and Bahr el Ghazal roots. Regardless, Abd Allah was an influential Sudanese Dinka officer, and was able to secure Latif a place at a

Khalwa Khalwa () – in Arabic – is to be alone with a thing, with it, or to it. It can also mean: * Khalwa (Sufism), a Sufism concept for solitude * Khalwa (structure), a place of seclusion * Khalwa (school), a Quranic school in Sudan * Khalwa, Madhya P ...

, and also later at the

Gordon Memorial College Gordon Memorial College was an educational institution in Anglo-Egyptian Sudan. It was built between 1899 and 1902 as part of Lord Kitchener's wide-ranging educational reforms. Named for General Charles George Gordon of the British army, who wa ...

, from where Latif went on to graduate from the Khartoum Military School. Latif graduated from the Khartoum Military School in 1913, and was awarded the Sirdar's Medal for best cadet of the year, and was commissioned as a Mulazim Tani in the Sudanese XI Battalion. During his serving as an officer in the Egyptian Army he went on to fight in the numerous punitive campaigns fought by the Egyptian Army in southern Sudan. After several years in the Egyptian Army, during which he rose to the rank of Lieutenant, Latif was dismissed for political reasons.

Political career

In 1921 Latif founded the United Tribes Society; an organisation that called for an independent Sudan in which power would be shared by tribal and religious leaders. Latif gained prominence in 1922, after he wrote an article for the al-Hadarah newspaper supporting the cause of sedition and Sudanese nationalism. In the article, titled "Claim of the Sudanese Nation," Latif pressed for Sudanese self-determination, more education, an end to the sugar monopoly, and higher posts for Sudanese in the Anglo-Egyptian administration. Whilst the article was ultimately not published due to objections by the editor, Latif was arrested, tried, and sentenced to a year imprisonment. The trial however gained significant publicity and coverage in the Egyptian press, and Latif would emerge from prison significantly more popular than he had been when he went in. Latif's background, as both a soldier and a member of Sudan's black African community, meant he was able to reach out, through personal contacts, with a massive swath of the population, particularly the segments needed to for a political struggle. His military background meant he was able to spread his message of anti-colonialism to officers and soldiers, whilst his black African background meant he could politicize the de-tribalised and growing urban black community in the

Khartoum Khartoum or Khartum is the capital city of Sudan as well as Khartoum State. With an estimated population of 7.1 million people, Greater Khartoum is the largest urban area in Sudan. Khartoum is located at the confluence of the White Nile – flo ...

Khartoum North Khartoum North, or Khartoum Bahri or simply Bahri (), is a city in Khartoum State, lying to the north of Khartoum city, the capital of Sudan. It has a population of 1,012,211 people, making it the third-largest city proper in Sudan, behind the ...

Omdurman Omdurman () is a major city in Sudan. It is the second most populous city in the country, located in the State of Khartoum. Omdurman lies on the west bank of the River Nile, opposite and northwest of the capital city of Khartoum. The city acts ...

area. This section of the population; the newly urbanised and de-triblaised southern Sudanese black community, had been seen by the British administration as a segment as especially vulnerable to politicization. Latif's movement, reconstituted as the

, organized demonstrations in Khartoum that took advantage of the unrest that followed Stack's assassination. Latif's arrest and subsequent exile in Egypt sparked a mutiny by a Sudanese army battalion, the suppression of which succeeded in temporarily crippling the nationalist movement.

Later life and death

For his part in the 1924 Khartoum revolt Latif was sentenced to 7 years imprisonment. Following the completion of his sentence he was not released, but transferred to a mental hospital in Cairo, where he died years later in 1948.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Latif, Ali Abd al- 1896 births 1948 deaths Egyptian military officers Sudanese nationalists Khalwa (school) alumni Gordon Memorial College alumni Dinka