View source for Omdurman

==History==
[[File:The story of the greatest nations; a comprehensive history, extending from the earliest times to the present, founded on the most modern authorities, and including chronological summaries and (14596551060).jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|The [[Battle of Omdurman]] in 1898]]
[[File:Map Sudan Ohmdurman.png|thumb|200px|A sketch map of Omdurman with [[Khartoum]] and [[Khartoum North|Bahri]]. The [[White Nile]] flowing from the south is joined by the [[Blue Nile]] flowing from the east.]]
[[File:Omdurman,old-bridge.jpg|thumb|300px|Bridge over the [[White Nile]] which connects the city to [[Khartoum]]]]
After the [[siege of Khartoum]], followed by the building of the tomb of [[Muhammad Ahmad|the Mahdi]] after his death from [[typhus]], the city grew rapidly. However, in the [[Battle of Omdurman]] in 1898 (which actually took place in the nearby village of Kerreri), [[Horatio Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener of Khartoum|Lord Kitchener]] decisively defeated the [[Ansar (Sudan)|Mahdist forces]]. The following year British forces defeated [[Abdallahi ibn Muhammad]], the [[Khalifa]], as the [[Battle of Umm Diwaykarat]]; ensuring [[United Kingdom|British]] control over the Sudan.

In September 1898, the British army of twenty thousand well drilled men equipped with the latest arms, [[Maxim gun]]s and [[Martini-Henry rifle]]s under the command of General Horatio Herbert Kitchener [[Anglo-Egyptian invasion of Sudan|invaded Sudan]]. In the battle of Omdurman, the British Army faced Sudanese defenders consisting of over 52,000 poorly armed desert tribesmen dervishes; in the space of five hours the battle was over. The Sudanese defenders suffered many casualties, with at least 10,000 killed. By contrast there were fewer than four hundred casualties on the British side with forty-eight British soldiers losing their lives. Then, General Kitchener proceeded to order the desecration of [[the Mahdi's tomb]] and in the words of [[Winston Churchill]], "carried off the Mahdi's head in a kerosene can as a trophy".<ref>{{Cite book|title = EMPIRE, How Britain Made the Modern World|last = Ferguson|first = Niall|publisher = Penguin Books|year = 2003|isbn = 978-0-141-00754-0|location = London England|pages = 267–272}}</ref>

Kitchener restored Khartoum as the capital and, from 1899 until 1956 Sudan was jointly governed by Great Britain and Egypt. Although most of the city was destroyed in the battle, [[the Mahdi's tomb]] was restored and refurbished.

On 10 May 2008, the [[Darfur]] rebel group of the [[Justice and Equality Movement]] moved into the city where they engaged in heavy [[2008 attack on Omdurman and Khartoum|fighting]] with Sudanese government forces. Their goal was to topple [[Omar Hassan al-Bashir]]'s government.<ref>[http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article27076 Curfew in capital as Sudanese army clash near Khartoum with Darfur rebels] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191104081817/http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article27076 |date=4 November 2019 }} - Sudan Tribune 2008-05-10</ref><ref>[https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7394033.stm  Sudanese rebels 'reach Khartoum']  - BBC News 2008-05-10</ref><ref>[http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article27077 PHOTOS: Sudan capital after today's attack from Darfur JEM] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160416090457/http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article27077 |date=16 April 2016 }} - Sudan Tribune 2008-05-10</ref>

During the [[Sudanese civil war (2023–present)|Sudanese civil war]], the [[Battle of Omdurman (2023)|city was occupied]] by the [[Rapid Support Forces]] between April 2023 and May 2025.<ref>{{Cite journal |journal=[[RTÉ |Raidió Teilifís Éireann]] | date=2023-06-05 |title=Further clashes between military factions in Khartoum |url=https://www.rte.ie/news/world/2023/0605/1387548-sudan-clashes/ |language=en}}</ref>