Sudan is the largest country in Africa, located in Northern Africa, bordering the Red Sea, between Egypt and Eritrea. It has a total area of 2,505,810 sq km and is bordered by Central African Republic, Chad, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Libya, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda. Approximately 40% of the country’s population consists of Arabs who live mostly in the north. Various black African ethnic groups comprise 52% of the total population, which is found mainly in the south. This is largely Christian with a small proportion adhering to traditional beliefs.

Religion, particularly Islam, which is the predominant religion of approximately 70% of the Sudanese population, has played a key role in Sudan’s history and present state. Although Christianity has a long history in Sudan beginning with the arrival of Coptic Christians during the 4th century and Melkite missionaries in 543, it was dominated and extinguished by Islam in the 14th century. Roman Catholic missionaries arrived in 1861, but their mission was largely destroyed during the 1881 insurrection. However, in 1898, the Roman Catholic Church was re-established, with Anglican Church soon following suit. 

1.0       Early History
Sudan has a long history that can be traced back to Biblical times when it was known as “Cush”. Present day northern Sudan was also referred to as Ethiopia (up to 654BC, the names ‘Ethiopia/Ehiopians/Cushites’ had been used in general to refer to dark skinned Sudanese people) by Egyptians and other people of the Mediterranean. However within Africa, northern Sudan was called Nubia. One reference to Sudan (then Cush/Ethiopia) is found in the Bible, in the Book of 2 Chronicles Chapter 14 verses 9 –10 which reports an military expedition by a Sudanese general with his army of a million troops:

“Zerah the Cushite marched out against them with an army of a thousand thousands and three hundred chariots and came out as far as Mareshah. Asa went out to meet him and they took up battle positions in the Valley of Zephathah near Mareshah.” [2 Chronicles 14:9-10 New International Version & King James Version]

According to the SPLM website, the period from 750 - 654 BC was a time of famous Sudanese kings, such as "Piankhy" and his son, "Tirhakah" and their sprawling dynasties. Father and son were affectionately named the "powerful jet black rulers" by their subjects and were greatly respected for their fairness and justice as well as their valor in military expeditions. During this period, the Sudanese dynasties competed with Egypt economically, politically and militarily to the extent that during the late period of ancient Egyptian history, some Sudanese kings conquered Egypt and ruled as the pharaohs of the 25th Dynasty. It was during this time that the Nubian pyramids were built.   

Pyramids built by the Cushite Kingdoms.

Initially, in 450 AD, Christianity spread into northern Sudan, resulting in the establishment of Christian kingdoms in Nubia. These kingdoms known as Merowe, Mekuria, Soba and Alwa flourished for about 1,000 years. Around 700AD, the Egyptian governor attempted a futile invasion of northern Sudan. However, as of 970 AD, Arab miners and traders began gradually moving into the area between the Nile and the Red Sea for gold and emeralds. This was the beginning of the steady spread of Islam and Arab influences in northern Sudan.

Pyramid tombs of ancient Sudan

By the 16th century, north Sudan was firmly under Islamic and Arabic influence from Egypt. Christian kingdoms had by 1505 AD, been superseded by Sudanese Islamic kingdoms such as the Kingdom of Sennar ruled by Funj sultans, and the Darfur Sultanate established in the west. Sudan’s economy was at that time a feudal system with the ruling Jellaba class consisting of Arab merchants who had come to Sudan with Islam. As the Jellaba established a flourishing slave trade targeting black southern Sudanese as merchandise, Islam was largely shunned in south Sudan, preventing its spread in that region.

1.2       The 19th Century
In 1820, an Egyptian-Ottoman force conquered north Sudan forming a new government called the Turkiyah/Turkish regime. Despite the new government’s attempts to spread its regime to south Sudan, the pestilent swamps of the Sudd discouraged further expansion deeper into the south. However, the Turkiyah combined forces with northern Sudanese Arab traders and began conducting raids into south Sudan for “black gold” (slaves), “white gold”(ivory) and “yellow gold” (gold). The slave expeditions continued up to 1881. By this time, British missionaries had begun to travel from modern day Kenya to the Sudd, converting southern Sudanese tribes to Christianity.

In 1881, a religious leader named Muhammad ibn Abdalla, declaring himself the Mahdi (Messiah), led a rebellion against the Turkiyah. His religious crusade that led to the death of a British General - General Gordon – and the capture of Khartoum resulted in the founding of an Islamic state in 1885. (His religious group has been associated with the single largest political party in Sudan - the Umma Party).

1.3       European Colonisation
In 1892, portions of southern Sudan were claimed by a Belgian expedition, becoming official parts of Belgian Congo. These were named the Lado Enclave. However, an 1896 agreement between Britain and Belgium saw the Lado Enclave turned over to the British. The French too claimed several parts of the south – Bahr el Ghazal and the Western Upper Nile. Despite plans to annex these regions to their colony in West Africa, an international conflict between France and Britain saw the areas surrendered to Britain.  

General Gordon’s death coupled by the rampant slave trade that was still thriving in south Sudan obligated the British and Egyptians to send a combined force to re-conquer Sudan. The British-Egyptian force led by Lord Kitchner overthrew the Mahdist Islamic state. They then established a condominium rule called the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan in 1898.
 
Since 1898, Britain and Egypt administered all of present day Sudan, with the north and south being administered as separate colonies. In early 1920s the British passed the Closed Districts Ordinances which stipulated that passports were required for travellers shuttling between the two zones. The southern zone were comprised of Southern Sudan, Nuba Mountains of Southern Kordofan and the Fung areas of Southern Blue Nile. As the British were determined to close off these areas from the north to protect southern indigenous populations from the cruelty of the Arab slave traders, they put into effect another stipulation, which required north Sudanese to obtain permits for business operations in the south. While north Sudan was ruled by Egyptian powers along Islamic and Arabic influences, south Sudan was ruled as an African colonial territory where African culture and languages were allowed to flourish and Islam was discouraged. As per the Language policy enacted in 1928, African languages - Dinka, Bari, Nuer, Latuko, Shilluk, Azande and English – formed the official languages of the south, while Arabic and English were used as official languages in the north. The cumulative effect of the immigration, trade laws as well as the language policy was to maintain south Sudan as a separate entity from the north. In an attempt to continue consolidating their authority in the north, the British played a key role in the establishment of administrative and political structures as well as supporting the reign of the ruling Egyptian powers.

In 1946, the British Colonial powers reversed its policies on the north/south divide and decided to integrate the two regions under one government. This move was not supported by south Sudanese for a number of reasons: Firstly, the language of the new government was Arabic, while southern Sudanese bureaucrats and politicians had for the most part been trained in English; secondly, of the 800 new governmental positions vacated by the Bristish in 1953, only 4 were given to south Sudanese; thirdly, as the political structure in the south was not as organised as the northern one, political groupings and parties in the south were often not represented at the various conferences and talks that led to the establishment of the modern state of Sudan.

1.4       Independence and the First Civil War
In February 1953, Britain and Egypt prepared an agreement on Sudanese self-government. This paved the way for Independence on 1st January 1956. However, in 1955, the Arab led Khartoum government went back on their promises to the south to allow it self-determination and self- governance. Once the south learned of the impending independence of Sudan as one country under northern rule, a mutiny arose by south Sudanese army officers that sparked 17 years of civil war. The Southern Sudan Liberation Movement (SSLM) and its military wing, the “Anyanaya” guerilla army led the first civil war, from 1955 to 1972, for the Independence of southern Sudan, They felt that Sudan’s independence was a shift from one set of colonial masters to another, the current one being the Arab led Khartoum government. 

During the early period of this war, hundreds of northern bureaucrats, teachers and other officials working in the south were massacred. The National Unionist Party (NUP), which formed the first cabinet, was replaced by a coalition of conservative political forces. In 1958, following a period of economic difficulties and political maneuvering, Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Ibrahim Abboud overthrew the parliamentary regime in a bloodless coup. Towards the end of 1964, as General Abboud  did not keep his promise to retun Sudan to civilian rule, popular resentment against army rule led to a wave of riots and strikes.This resulted in the military relinquishing power to a provisional government until parliamentary elections in April 1965 that saw the reign of a coalition government (the Umma and National Unionist Parties) under Prime Minister Muhammad Ahmad Mahjoub. The Umma/NUP proposed 1968 constitution was arguably Sudan’s first Islamic-oriented constitution.

The period between 1966 and 1969, saw a series of Sudanese governments that proved unable to either agree on a permanent constitution or to cope with problems of factionalism, economic stagnation, and ethnic dissidence. Furthermore, the succession of early post-independence governments was dominated by Arab Muslims who viewed Sudan as a Muslim Arab state.  Dissatisfaction led to a second military coup in May 1969, led by Col. Gaafar Nimeiry. As the new prime minister, Nimeiry’s new regime abolished parliament and outlawed all political parties. In 1972, the Addis Ababa Agreement, mediated by Emperor Haille Selassie of Ethiopia, the All African Council of Churches and 6 African countries, led to a cessation of the north-south civil war and a degree of self-rule. This resulted in 10 years of relative peace (1972 – 1982). 

 1.5       Second Civil War
The Addis Ababa Agreement failed to meet all the aspirations of southern Sudanese in terms of self-determination as well as being equally in the center of power with the north. Following the government’s continued move to spread Islam and Arabic control into the south, a new Islamic policy that instituted Islamic law (Sharia) as the supreme law of the Land was established in 1983. Furthermore, President Numeiry began a move to annex newly discovered oil fields in the south to the north.

The second civil war broke out in 1983. The Sudanese Army attacked one of its own units of the former Anyanya guerrillas absorbed in the national army. These were Battalions 105 and 104 that were stationed in Bor and Ayod respectively on the accusation that they had rebelled or were about to rebel. This incident produced the formation of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement and Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLM/SPLA). The units took to the bush and were subsequently joined by students, intellectuals, government officials and civilians.  Since 1983 to date, the SPLM/SPLA has been leading south Sudan’s struggle for self-governance.  

President Nimeiry was overthrown in 1985 and in 1986 Sadiq al Mahdi formed a coalition government with northern parties – Umma, DUP (Democratic Unionist Party), NIF - and 4 southern parties. Despite the coalition, this regime was characterized by party factionalism, corruption, personal rivalries, scandals, and political instability. The government had failed to replace Sharia, devise a scheme to attract remittances from Sudanese expatriates and most importantly, end the civil war in the south.

1.6       Peace Initiatives
Several peace initiatives were instigated from 1985 following the coming to power of Sadiq al Mahdi’s government.

1.6.1   The Koka Dam Declaration of 1986

All Sudanese political parties with the exception of NIF and DUP, sent representatives to national constitutional conference which was held in the town of Koka-Dam, Ethiopia. Main issues discussed were the inevitable need for a secular and democratic Sudan. However, this declaration was eventually not implemented by the Prime Minister Sadiq al Mahdi on the basis that persons who had signed the agreement on behalf of his party were not authorized to do so.

1.6.2    1988 Sudan Peace Agreement
The Sudan Peace Agreement was basically a modification of the Koka Dam Declaration, meant to draw absentee parties at the Koka Dam conference – the DUP - on board the main resolutions reached. Featuring strongly in this Peace Agreement was the specification to freeze President Nimeiry’s Sharia Laws. However, the principal partner in the coalition government – UMMA- opposed this agreement and voted it down in December 1988. This resulted in DUP resigning from the government and ultimately the collapse of Sadiq’s government.
           
Once DUP resigned from the northern led government, they joined southern opposition forces. Meanwhile, Sadiq al Mahdi formed yet another coalition government in 1989, made up of UMMA and the NIF. However, spurred by general dissent, the public and SPLA began to pressure Prime Minister Sadiq’s second coalition government to accept the 1988 DUP/SPLM Peace Agreement. Due to mounting tension and pressure, the Prime Minister yielded and accepted the 1988 Peace Agreement. This angered the NIF party who resigned from the government, leading to its collapse.

Prime Minister Sadiq once again formed a coalition government, the third in his reign. In this one, the DUP were a major political party to the effect that the Deputy Prime Minister Sid Ahmed Hussein was from their party. Sid Ahmed Hussein was also the head of a Ministerial governmental delegation established to negotiate with the SPLM/SPLA on the National Constitutional Conference. Negotiations with SPLM/SPLA proved to be positive. Plans were set to endorse the peace agreement in Cabinet as well as hold the National Constitutional Conference later in the year. It was hoped that this would usher in an era of peace and development in the whole of Sudan.

However, the NIF staged a coup on the 30th June 1989, the same date that Sadiq’s cabinet was to endorse the Peace Agreement.  The aim of the coup (which was named the National Salvation Revolution) was to prevent peace terms under the Koka Dam Agreement and eh DUP/SPLM Peace Agreement. According to the NIF General, General Beshir, the coup was “to save the country from being taken over by the infidels and preserve the Islamic Arab identity of the Sudan”.  

1.6.3  Jimmy Carter Nairobi Peace Talks, Abuja I, Abuja II and IGADD Peace Process (1989 – 1993)
During the NIF 7 years reign, the SPLM/SPLA continued dialogue with their regime, the first one being held 2 months after the NIF had seized power. Subsequent talks included the Jimmy Carter talks in Nairobi, Kenya in 1989, the Abuja I talks of 1992, the Abuja II talks of 1993 and the IGADD peace process of 1994. There have also been initiates by external countries such as the Friends of IGADD, which comprises of six European countries, the United States and Canada, the Barcelona I and Barcelona II Hague Peace Process.

1.6.5    The 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement
As highlighted above, since 1989, the ruling regime has been a mixture of military junta - the Sudanese People’s Liberation Army (SPLA), which controls the south - and a fundamentalist Islamic government based in Khartoum. War has continued to rage in Sudan, resulting in the displacement of more than 4 million Sudanese and the deaths of approximately 2 million people over a period of two decades. In 2003 Islamic extremists attacked black Sudanese in the western Darfur region where thousands died and more than a million more displaced in a humanitarian disaster that continued through 2004.

 The signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in January 2005 has resulted in substantial peace and development initiatives in Sudan although random skirmishes in parts of the south have been reported. Under the CPA, southern Sudan will enjoy 6 years of autonomy, to be followed by a referendum on independence. In addition, oil revenues are to be divided equally between the government and the SPLA during this 6 year interim period.