MAD MULLAH, term applied to Moham med Ali, the Mandi, or Moslem Messiah: b. Somaliland, 1843; d. Omdurman, 22 June 1885. In his youth Mohammed was initiated into the mysteries of the occult sciences and sorcery. A study of the Koran and the Arab writings followed in the Marabout school. When quite young the future Mullah was taken with the idea of making the pilgrimage to Mecca, and not content with one journey made the sacred visit three or four times. After his last pil grimage Mohammed returned to Berbera, but net with small success. Establishing himself in a powerful inland tribe, his ascetic practices and bold demeanor gained for him a reputation for sanctity and spiritual gifts. In 1880 he proclaimed himself Mandi ("the guide," i.e., in the way of salvation), and in 1881 he pro claimed a Jehad or holy war against the infidel and speedily aroused all the latent fanaticism of the fierce Sudanese tribesmen. From 1881-83
he destroyed nearly every force sent against him; and so threatening did his power become that the evacuation of the Sudan was ordered by the Egyptian government, Wolscley's ex pedition for the relief of Khartum was too late to effect its purpose, the city was stormed in January 1885 and General Gordon murdered. His death is said to have occurred through poison administered at the hands of a woman he had outraged. His successor, Abd-Allah, carried on the struggle, until the power of Mandism was finally broken at the battle of Omdurman in 1898. Consult Darmesteter, (The Mandi) (London 1885) ; Hoffmann, 'Mandi thum> (Kiel 1899) Muller, E., 'Beitrage zur Mandilehre des Islams> (Heidelberg 1901) ; Wingate, 'Mandism and the Sudan' (London 1901).