Saras or Sarras was a 19th-century village in

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 ...

along the

Nile River The Nile (also known as the Nile River or River Nile) is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa. It has historically been considered the longest river i ...

in the present

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

of Northern Sudan. It was briefly important as the southern terminus of

Isma'il Pasha Isma'il Pasha ( ; 25 November 1830 or 31 December 1830 – 2 March 1895), also known as Ismail the Magnificent, was the Khedive of Egypt and ruler of Sudan from 1863 to 1879, when he was removed at the behest of Great Britain and France. Shari ...

's abortive railway into Sudan constructed in 1877.Budge, Ernest A.W. ''The Egyptian Sudan: Its History and Monuments'', Vol. II
pp. 461 ff
. 1907 reprinted by Cosimo Classics (New York), 2010. Accessed 13 Feb 2014.Sudan Railways Corporation.

". 2008. Accessed 13 Feb 2014. The line was destroyed by the Sudanese during the early phases of the Mahdi War and then reconstructed by the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

to supply the 1896

Dongola Expedition The Mahdist War (; 1881–1899) was fought between the Mahdist State, Mahdist Sudanese, led by Muhammad Ahmad, Muhammad Ahmad bin Abdullah, who had proclaimed himself the "Mahdi" of Islam (the "Guided One"), and the forces of the Khedivate of E ...

. The line was badly sited and (in its reconstruction) hastily put together and was abandoned in 1904.Gleichen, Edward ed.
The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan: A Compendium Prepared by Officers of the Sudan Government
', Vol. 1, p. 99. Harrison & Sons (London), 1905. Accessed 13 Feb 2014. The present site is scarcely populated but sometimes divided into Saras East and Saras West according to the settlements' position relative to the Nile.

References

Populated places on the Nile Populated places in Northern State (Sudan) Villages in Sudan {{Sudan-geo-stub