To counter these pressures, Wingate retreated from the strong, anti-Mahdist stance he had maintained for decades and sought a rapprochement with the Mahdï's leading supporters, the Ansar, and the Sufi religious orders that continued to attract young Sudanese. He focused his attention on the Mahdï's posthumous son, Sayyid Abd al-Rahmän al-Mahdï, and on his rival, Sir Alï al-Mirghänï.

Eve M. Troutt Powell, A Different Shade of Coloni…, loc. 1018