Battle of Toski

The battle of Toski (Tushkah) took place on August 3rd, 1889 in Egypt between the Anglo-Egyptian forces and the Mahdist Sudanese.

Since 1882, the British had taken control of Egypt and found themselves involved in the Sudan war. For this reason, they decided to reform and rearm the Egyptian Army. A British general, Sir Francis Grenfell was appointed Sirdar (commander-in-chief) and British officers trained the newly formed units.

The Sudanese, on the other hand had not renounced their ambition of spreading the Mahdist faith to Egypt. In 1889, the Khalifa Abdallahi ibn Muhammad sent the Emir Wad-el-Nujumi and an army 6,000 strong into Egypt for this purpose. The Mahdists avoided Wadi Halfa where most of the Egyptian troops were garrisoned, and camped at Toski by the Nile, 76 km within the Egyptian border. Here they were attacked by the Egyptians, who completely annihilated them after a five-hour fight, the Emir being killed trying to rally his men. Apart from the officers commanding the Egyptian units, the only British troops participating were a squadron of the 20th Hussars.

This battle effectively ended the Mahdist threat to Egypt.