Chapter 317: The "East-Egypt" Boundary Demarcation Agreement
March 14, 1871.
On the same day that Ernst visited Sweden, East Africa and Egypt officially signed the "Agreement on Demarcating the Border Between the East African Kingdom and Egypt," confirming their shared boundary.
Starting in 1870, people in Egyptian Sudan began noticing a sudden increase in the number of East Africans in the inland areas. Even earlier, in Khartoum, there had been news from the exiled Grand Prince of Buganda: he told them that Buganda had been destroyed by East Africa.
Around 1868, after East Africa finished integrating the former Kingdom of Buganda, it began exploring downstream along the Nile River in the Upper Nile Basin. The Upper Nile Basin is crisscrossed with a dense network of rivers, allowing East Africans traveling in small boats to sail unimpeded along the main flow of the White Nile all the way to the Gezira Plain in Sudan.
Back then, East Africa was still a colony, and its main goal was to survey and chart Sudan's river networks. But during the Third Conquest War, East Africa took the opportunity to occupy the entire upper Nile Basin, connecting the Azande Highlands with the Ethiopian Highlands.
Essentially, it secured what in another era became the entire territory of South Sudan. Conquering South Sudan went even more smoothly than East Africa had expected. From Turkana Province and North Great Lakes Province, they could simply sail downstream—taking only a dozen days or so for East Africa to traverse all of South Sudan.
At that point, East Africa formally bordered Egypt. The sudden appearance of East African troops gave Egypt an unforeseen and shocking surprise.
Faced with East Africa's abrupt arrival, Egypt naturally felt on edge—especially in the Khartoum region, the core of Sudan. South of Khartoum lies the Gezira Plain, between the Blue Nile and White Nile. It stretches nearly 250 kilometers in length and over 120 kilometers in width. The land is flat, sloping gently from southeast to northwest, with rich, deep soil and irrigation farming. It is the most important agricultural zone in Sudan.
If the Gezira Plain were lost, Egypt's rule in Sudan would collapse. The other territories may be larger, but like the deserts flanking the Nile in Egypt itself, they are essentially unproductive lands with almost no real value.
Thus, the Egyptian government urgently sent diplomats to the areas under East African control, hoping to halt the East African Kingdom's northward push through negotiations. While Egypt might not necessarily be weaker than East Africa, facing Europeans always made Egypt uneasy. Moreover, Egypt was already in conflict with the Abyssinian Empire to the south, and it could not afford a two-front war. So Egypt had no choice but to lower its stance and negotiate with East Africa.
When Egypt took the initiative to negotiate, East Africa seized the chance to extract a steep price. Ernst spent an entire day studying the map of the two countries' border areas, then presented a proposition that he believed to be "quite fair."
Negotiations were held within Egyptian territory, in Kusti—the southernmost port city on the Nile. Located on the left bank of the White Nile, some 260 kilometers from Khartoum, Kusti is a trading hub for cotton, gum arabic, livestock, fish, and cereals. It is a key transport center for both water and land routes, and a vital port on the White Nile, connecting Khartoum, El Obeid, and Juba.
Egypt's top official in the Khartoum region, Rahman, handled the signing on Egypt's side, while the East African Kingdom's temporary envoy to Egypt—a man named Miles—represented East Africa. He was also the kingdom's very first ambassador to Egypt.
Kusti.
Miles said, "Mr. Rahman, this is our East African Kingdom's final proposal for determining the two nations' boundary. If Egypt still can't accept it, we'll have to express our regret."
Rahman: "?!!!"
Rahman felt threatened, but for Egypt's sake, he swallowed his anger and took the map that Miles held out.
"Miles, I should clarify one thing beforehand: the Sultanate of Darfur is an independent country, not under our control," Rahman said, sounding resigned.
He was astounded at how casually the East Africans drew their lines without even clarifying which lands truly belonged to Egypt.
Miles: "Ah! I assumed the Darfur region was also ruled by you. Did you say the Sultanate of Darfur?"
Rahman: "Yes, Mr. Miles. The Sultanate of Darfur has always been an independent state. Although they conduct trade with us and are nominally our vassal, they are so far away that we Egyptians can't really dictate Darfur's affairs."
Miles nodded. "So that's how it is. Then, what about Kordofan?"
Rahman: "Kordofan was, in fact, another kingdom founded by the Fur people. If you're interested in Kordofan, we could work together: the southern part can go to you, while the northern part remains with Egypt."
Unlike the strongly independent Sultanate of Darfur, Kordofan was essentially a minor ally of Sudan. Back when Sudan was still an independent kingdom, it had long competed with the Abyssinian Empire and the Kingdom of Kordofan for territory.
Miles: "You mean the Kingdom of Kordofan is also a vassal of yours?"
Rahman: "In theory, yes. However, the Fur people of Kordofan have been resisting us fiercely, so we only occupy part of their kingdom."
Particularly the southern part, the Nuba Mountains, inhabited by the Nuba people who resist Sudan with all their might.
Miles had no idea about that detail. He had assumed all the land north of East Africa was Sudanese territory, which clearly indicated misinformation from his own kingdom's sources. Ernst also carried some responsibility for this oversight.
Miles said, "Well, if that's the case, those two countries are nominally your vassals. So you do have some right to deal with them. You can unilaterally cede them to us, and we in East Africa will handle the rest."
Rahman: "So according to this map?"
Miles: "That's right."
Rahman: "Alright, but we can only transfer the suzerain rights in Egypt's name. After that, you'll have to sort things out with them on your own."
Rahman didn't care in the slightest about the fate of the Sultanate of Darfur or the Kingdom of Kordofan—he was simply giving away other people's property. But next, he intended to give the East African Kingdom a hard time.
Rahman: "We don't mind you taking those two countries, but including the southern Gezira Plain within your borders is going too far! That's been Egypt's territory since ancient times."
Miles: "But when our East African troops moved north, there were no residents there, nor any military forces to stop us, and we saw no markers stating it was Egyptian land."
Rahman: "The southern Gezira Plain has always been recognized by all sides as belonging to Egypt. It's true we don't have troops stationed there, but even the Abyssinian Empire never dared claim that land."
Miles: "I see. Well, East Africa is new to the area and doesn't know the details. But that's not on us. If you Egyptians had placed a few signposts there, this misunderstanding could have been avoided."
Of course, there was no "misunderstanding." East Africa had deliberately occupied the southern Gezira Plain to force concessions from Egypt elsewhere.
The Gezira Plain is to Sudan what the Nile Valley farmland is to Egypt: the region's economic lifeline.
Rahman: "If that's how it is, then now that we've cleared up the misunderstanding, can your country withdraw from the southern Gezira Plain?"
Miles: "Certainly. But to ensure the safety of river traffic on the Nile, we must retain part of the land on the western side."
Rahman: "That…"
Miles: "We're not asking much—just the area along the White Nile. We're not greedy about the Blue Nile."
Then Miles took out a pen and, right before Rahman's eyes, drew a north-south line through the southern Gezira Plain.
Miles: "Most of the eastern region will still be yours; we only want this small portion on the west."
Seeing that Miles wanted only that sliver, Rahman breathed a sigh of relief. "Alright. I suppose that's reasonable."
Miles: "Then let's sign. From now on, there won't be any conflict of interest between us."
Hence, Rahman wrote his name on the agreement, unaware that in doing so he effectively renounced almost all of Sudan's oil resources for Egypt. About ninety-nine percent of the oil fields ended up within East Africa's territory, leaving Egypt only a few scraps in the future.
Under the terms of the agreement, the Nuba Mountains in southern Ubayyid (El Obeid) would form the dividing line. Everything south of the Nuba Mountains, including that range itself, would belong to East Africa; the land to the north would belong to Egypt.
Specifically, the southern part of the Kordofan Plateau, sections of the Darfur Highlands in the south, and part of the southwestern Gezira Plain became East African territory.
In what we know as the future, that includes South Kordofan State, East Darfur State, and South Darfur State, plus part of the southwestern area of Blue Nile State—these all fall under East African control.
Outside of the southwestern Gezira Plain, which truly belonged to Egypt, most of the other lands were under the Sultanate of Darfur or the Kingdom of Kordofan. East Africa still needed to conquer those two states.
But by removing the area's strongest player—Egypt—from the equation, East Africa would have no trouble dealing with Darfur and Kordofan.
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