“Surviving the Clashes: Historical Republican Palace in Sudan Shows Traces of Destruction”

Sudan

After it was the scene of clashes between the army and the Rapid Support Forces, the Republican Palace in Sudan occupied people for the past two days, following frequent reports of its destruction by missiles, after it withstood the storms that passed through Sudan, since its construction at the hands of the Ottoman Turks nearly two hundred years ago.

The Sudanese breathed a sigh of relief after the spread of recent aerial photos taken by photographer Abdel Mohamen Sayed of the buildings of the old and new Republican Palace on Wednesday morning, showing that the unique historical and archaeological building was not destroyed, but it shows traces of destruction and fires on the northern and western sides of the new palace.

And it appears in the video clip, the extent of the destruction of the 3-storey palace. The effects of the devastation are also visible on it as a result of the armed clashes between the two parties to the conflict in the country, while smoke rises in the sky of the region.

seat of government

The Republican Palace in Khartoum is considered the seat of government in Sudan for long historical periods, and it has been associated with the memory of different generations of Sudanese as a symbol of the sovereignty of the Sudanese state since time immemorial.

As the palace witnessed historical events at different times, on the staircase of the stone staircase to the palace, the English General Gordon Pasha, “Hakdar in Sudan,” was killed at the hands of the supporters of Imam al-Mahdi in 1885 AD. He also witnessed the raising of the national flag for the first time on January 1, 1956, on the mast of the palace, marking the independence of Sudan. Inside it, former Sudanese President Jaafar Nimeiri was imprisoned for three days following a military coup in July 1971. Today, the “Sudan military” has been fighting over it since the two generals’ war broke out on April 15th.

The Ottoman Turks, the cornerstone and remnants of the ancient Kingdom of Soba!

The Ottoman Turks laid the foundation stone of the palace in 1825 AD at the hands of Al-Hakamdar “Maho Bey Orfali” after their invasion of Sudan in 1821 AD. The Ottoman Turks moved the capital from Sennar, “the capital of the Funj Kingdom,” to the city of Madani in central Sudan, and then to Khartoum four years later. The palace, built of green bricks (muddin), was allocated for the residence of the ruler of Sudan at the time, and it was called the Hekmdariya Saray.

Two decades later, the rulers of Sudan at the time rebuilt the palace buildings with red bricks, this time using the remains of the ruins of the ancient Soba kingdom located on the eastern bank of the Blue Nile River.

On January 26, 1885 AD, the palace witnessed a pivotal event with the killing of the English general Gordon Pasha on the stone stairs of the palace at the hands of one of the supporters of Imam al-Mahdi.

For the palace to suffer abandonment and oblivion after that for a long time, as the supporters of Imam al-Mahdi chose the city of Omdurman as the capital of Sudan at the time. However, the English general, “Kittenshar Pasha,” the first British ruler of Sudan, rebuilt the palace after the fall of the Mahdist state in 1899 AD. As Katshar Pasha planned to establish a modern city on the European style, and in particular the British style, which was evident in the planning of streets in the style of the British flag and the architecture of new buildings in the lavish Victorian style. At that time, the palace was called the Governor-General’s Saray, and it continued to do so, until Sudan’s independence and renamed it the Republican Palace.

The year 2015 AD witnessed a new modernization at the hands of the Chinese government, this time, by adding the presidential palace building with a design similar to the old palace, and close to it inside the palace courtyard.

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