With less of a grasp on the instruments of power, Egyptian officials in the Sudan had a more difficult time trying to shape Sudanese political identities. In addition to nationalist volunteers previously mentioned in British intel- ligence reports, several local committees, made up of Egyptian army officers and bureaucrats, tried by means of a pamphlet campaign to inspire the Sudanese to support Sa`d Zaghlül and join them in destabilizing the British- led government. This met with some success, but pamphlets took time to spread through the population, and then reached only a small fraction of Sudanese. There were also Egyptian efforts to participate in the burgeon- ing press of the northern Sudan, such as the weekly Rä´id al-südän, which began publication in 1913. This Arabic journal sponsored poetry competi- tions and asked readers to elaborate on works by well-known Egyptian nationalist poets like Hafiz Ibrahïm,Ahmad Shawqï, and Mahmüd Samï al- Barüdï. As Heather Sharkey points out, this journal offered a platform on which northern Sudanese contributors could argue that "pagan, supersti- tious, or otherwise 'un-Islamic' customs were thwarting hopes for new Arab glory in Sudan." Thus, cultural links with Egypt apparently were prized as a way of reinforcing those elements of Sudanese culture that were not "African."

Eve M. Troutt Powell, A Different Shade of Coloni…, loc. 840