Ansar (Sudan)

The Ansar (Arabic: أنصار) are a Sufi religious movement in the Sudan whose followers are disciples of Muhammad Ahmad (12 August 1844 – 22 June 1885), a Sudanese religious leader based on Aba Island who proclaimed himself Mahdi on 29 June 1881. His followers won a series of victories against the Egyptians, culminating in the capture of Khartoum in January 1885.

When Muhammed Ahmad died a few months later, his successor, Abdallahi ibn Muhammad, maintained the independence of the Mahdist State until 1898, when an Anglo-Egyptian force re-conquered the area. The Mahdi's eldest surviving son, Abd al-Rahman al-Mahdi, was the religious and political leader of the Ansar throughout most of the colonial era of Anglo-Egyptian Sudan (1898–1955) and for a few years after the Sudan gained independence in January 1956. His descendants have led the movement since then.