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Zangaki Brothers Very little biographical detail is available for George and Constantine Zangaki, beyond the fact that they were Greek (same say Turkish) brothers who were originally associated with the French photographer Hippolyte Arnoux. Even their dates are unknown. They were active from the 1860s to the 1880s, principally in Egypt and Palestine, and they appear to have been based in Cairo, possibly with a branch in Port Said. 350 - 400,- Euro 27 cm x 21 cm "Day by day, as in the story of 'Blue Beard,' we turn our eyes towards the horizont, hoping to see the steamers carrying the troops so much wanted. But nothing appears, and we cannot imagine what is the cause of delay, for the English authorities at Cairo must be fully aware of our situation and that of the beleaguered garnisons. " Through much of "Three Months in the Soudan", it is hard to decide whether Ernestine Sartorius controls her feelings behind the stiffest of British stiff upper lips, or lacks sensibility! But in comments like the one above, an authentic voice breaks through. Mrs. Sartorius joined her husband, Colonel George Conrad Sartorius, during a period of great unrest in the Soudan, when the British government was in a state of indecision over its involvement in the area. The situation in the Soudan was complicated in the extreme, and some background is useful to put the events of her book in context. In 1820, Northern Sudan came under Egyptian rule when Mehemet Ali, the Ottoman viceroy of Egypt, sent armies led by his son Ismail Pasha and Mahommed Bey to conquer eastern Sudan. The Egyptians developed Sudan's trade in ivory and slaves. In 1869 the Suez Canal opened, and to Britain sought a greater role in Egyptian affairs. Ismail Pasha, khedive of Egypt from 1863-1879, appointed British officer Charles George Gordon as Governor-General of the Sudan in 1877. Gordon acted to end the slave trade, with disastrous effects on the Egyptian economy. In 1877, Britain and France forced Khedive Ismail to abdicate in favor of his son Tewfik, resulting in a period of great political turmoil. By 1880, Gordon had resigned, and Tewfik Pasha's position was that of a titular ruler, while French and British agents such as Sir Evelyn Baring managed the country. By 1881, Muhammad ibn Abdalla had proclaimed himself the Mahdi (Messiah), leading a nationalist jihad against Egyptian/British rule, supported both by slave traders and local tribal leaders. As conditions deteriorated, the British Government became less and less willing to involve itself in the political turmoil it had helped to create. Ernestine Sartorius and her step-daughter arrived in Cairo, Egypt, on the 28th of November, 1883. They were met by disastrous news: An Egyptian army under General William Hicks had been destroyed by the Mahdi near El Obeid on November 5, 1883. A Mahdist leader, Osman Digma, was threatening the port of Suakim on the Red Sea, and had besieged Egyptian garrisons in the towns of Sinkat and Tokar. Colonel [later Acting Major General] Sartorius was deeply involved in preparations for war. "My husband ... by way of greeting, informed us that he was off to the Soudan the next day, and that if we wanted to see anything of him we must go with him to Suakim." The situation at Suakim was confusing and frustrating. Reports from the field begged for decisive, immediate action to relieve the garrisons of Sinkat and Tokar. Concrete government support for such action was totally lacking. Requested supplies of food, munitions, and men were not provided; the Egyptian "army" consisted largely of untrained conscripts, unwilling to fight; and the chain of command was poorly defined. Mrs. Sartorius' account suggests a schizophrenic disjunction in daily experience, between the reality of bored officers passing the time in idle amusements, and the possibility of imminent attack: "There was only just time to take tea on board the Woodlark before we were off again to see the proposed lawn tennis ground. The site chosen gave a clear view all round, so that the enemy could not come on us unawares."
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photo: tribalartforum.com/ zangaki.556.jpg Unknown to Mrs. Sartorius, higher level British policy was moving towards complete abandonment of the Sudan. "At last a steamer has arrived with ... disastrous news, namely, that the English Government have determined that Egypt shall give up the whole of the Soudan. If they had only kept the news to themselves for a time it would not have been so bad, but we are all in despair as to the probable effects the publicity of the same will cause ... " Her fears were well-founded. On February 4th,1884, Osman Digma wiped out a force of Egyptians which had marched out from Suakim under the command of General Baker. In spite of the efforts of Baker, Sartorius, and other officers, Baker's levies broke, ran, and were massacred. Mrs. Sartorius estimates that 2,332 of their men were killed. Suakim was now considered too dangerous a place for Mrs. Sartorius to remain. She and her step-daughter sailed out of the harbour on February 16th. Her husband remained behind for a short time, until British troops under Major-General Graham were finally sent to replace the Egyptian forces. In the meantime, the garrison of Sinkat was wiped out, and Tokar surrendered. Major-General Graham defeated the forces of Osman Digma at El Teb on February 29th, but was hard hit two weeks later at Tamai, and eventually withdrew. Colonel Sartorius survived the dangers of battle, but not those of political reorganization. He and his wife returned to a previous post in Bombay. They were lucky. In February 1884, their more famous contemporary, General Gordon, was ordered to Khartoum to organize a withdrawal of the Egyptian garrisons there. As hostilities in the area increased, he was cut off. Public pressure to intervene on his behalf was barely too late to prevent the fall of Khartoum and Gordon's death in 1885. The Madhi's revolt was successful: Egypt and the British abandoned Sudan, resulting in a theocratic state. Britain would not recover the Sudan from the Mahdists until 1899.
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