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Sudan

FIRST STAMPS USED Egypt 1867.
FIRST STAMPS ISSUED March 1897.
As independent republic 15 September 1956.

CURRENCY
1897, Egyptian.
1956, 1,000 milliemes = 100 piastres = £1
Sudanese.

The dynasty in Egypt laid claim to territories to the south as far as they were explored, appointing governors-general in Khartoum and later also in Equatoria. Their Sudanese armies penetrated as far as Uganda and Harar, and in 1875 even landed an expedition near Kismayu on the east coast of Africa until warned off by strong British opposition. The rise of Sudanese resistance under the Mahdi put an end to Egyptian dreams in the south. After the reoccupation in 1898, the Sudan became an Anglo-Egyptian condominium. After an interim period of self-government from 1954, on 1 January 1956 the country became the independent republic of Sudan.

Postal History
Egyptian POs were set up in Suakim and Kassala c. 1867; in Wadi Haifa, Khartoum, Berber and Dongola by 1873, and probably elsewhere by 1877. The system made use of camel post and Nile steamer.

General Gordon extended the postal runner system to the farthest points of his Equatorial province but kept his posts offical and free of payment, so that no stamps were needed south of Khartoum. Letters from Gordon and others from Equatoria are known franked at and forwarded from Khartoum. Services were curtailed between 1882 and 1884 by the Mahdist War until the reconquest (1897-8). The postal service was run by the military (but with civil cancellation) until 1903. The characteristic 'retta' oblit. was used on mail collected from rural agencies. TPOs (steamer and railway) have continued to be a feature of the service.

Egypt and Sudan pre 1900
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