Chapter 317 "Agreement on the Delimitation of the East-Egypt Boundary"
March 14, 1871.
On the same day that Ernst visited Sweden, East Africa and Egypt formally signed the "Agreement on the Delimitation of the Border between the Kingdom of East Africa and Egypt", which defined the border between the two countries.
Beginning in 1870, the Sudanese region of Egypt began to discover that the number of East Africans in the inland areas increased suddenly. Khartoum had learned from the Buganda prince who had fled to Sudan that the Buganda Kingdom had been wiped out by East Africa. .
However, around 1868, after the integration of the original Buganda Kingdom in East Africa, they began to explore the Upper Nile Basin along the Nile River. Along the main stream of the White Nile all the way to the Gezila Plain in Sudan.
At this time, East Africa was still in the colonial period, and it mainly surveyed and counted the rivers of Sudan. However, during the third war of conquest, East Africa took advantage of the opportunity to occupy the entire upper Nile basin, which was used to connect the land of the Azande Plateau and the Ethiopian Plateau.
It is almost the entire territory of South Sudan in the previous life. The conquest of South Sudan is easier than expected in East Africa. Both Turkana Province and North Great Lakes Province can be sailed down. It only took more than ten days to open up East Africa. All of South Sudan.
Then East Africa officially bordered Egypt, and the sudden arrival of the East African army gave Egypt a surprise.
Egypt is naturally very nervous about the sudden arrival of East Africa, especially the Khartoum area, which is the core area of Sudan. The Gezira Plain south of Khartoum is located between the Blue Nile and the White Nile. It is nearly 250 kilometers long and 120 kilometers wide. The terrain is flat and slopes slightly from southeast to northwest. The soil is deep and fertile. It is the most important irrigated agricultural area in Sudan.
If the Gezira Plain is lost, then Egypt’s rule in Sudan will be completely abolished. Although other regions have larger land areas, they are invalid land just like the deserts on both sides of the Nile River in Egypt, and have almost no use value.
Therefore, the Egyptian government urgently dispatched diplomats to the East African-controlled area to prevent the Kingdom of East Africa from going north through negotiations. Although Egypt may not lose to East Africa in terms of strength, Egypt is naturally short of breath when facing Europeans. In addition, Egypt is in the south and Abyss There was a conflict in the Xinian Empire. In order to avoid two-front warfare, Egypt also had to negotiate with East Africa in a low voice.
Facing Egypt’s request for active negotiation, East Africa naturally wanted to make a big deal. Ernst spent a whole day studying the map of the border between the two countries, and finally offered a very sincere price.
The negotiation site is in Egypt, in Kusti, the southernmost river port city of the Nile. Kusti is on the left bank of the White Nile, 260 kilometers away from Khartoum. It is a distribution center for cotton, gum arabic, livestock, fish, and grains. It is a water and land transportation hub, an important port on the White Nile River, and material exchanges between Khartoum, Obaid and Juba all pass through here.
The person in charge of signing the contract was Rahman, a senior official in the Khartoum region of Egypt, and the East African Kingdom temporarily set up a minister in Egypt. The first minister in Egypt was named Miles.
Kusti.
Myers: "Mr. Rahman, this is our East African Kingdom's final resolution on the border between the two countries. If the Egyptian side cannot accept it, then we can only express regret."
Rahman: "?!!"
Rahman felt threatened, but for the benefit of Egypt, he resisted the urge to take the blueprint in Miles' hand and looked at it.
"Mr. Myers, I want to explain in advance that the Sultanate of Darfur is an independent country, and it is not under the control of our Egypt." Rahman said to Myers speechlessly.
Even without knowing the land of Egypt, these East Africans draw lines casually, which is really weird.
Myers: "Ah! I thought the Darfur region was also in charge of you! You just said the Darfur Sultanate, right?"
Rahman: "Yes, Your Excellency Miles, the Sultanate of Darfur has always been an independent country, that is, it has some trade relations with us. It can be regarded as a vassal state in our name, but it is too far away from us, so we Egypt can The idea of the Sultanate of Darfur cannot be done."
Myers nodded and said: "So that's the case, what about the Kordofan area?"
Rahman: "The Kingdom of Kordofan is actually a country founded by the Furs. If you are interested in Kordofan, we can cooperate. The south belongs to you, but the north belongs to Egypt."
Unlike the independent Sultanate of Darfur, the Kingdom of Kordofan is really the younger brother of the Sudan. In fact, when Sudan was still an independent country, the Sudan conspired against Kordofan. The Bicynian Empire and the Kordofan Kingdom fought.
Miles: "You mean that this Kordofan Kingdom is your vassal state?"
Rahman: "In theory, this is the case, but the Fur people in Kordofan have relatively strong resistance to us, so we only occupied part of the territory of Kordofan Kingdom."
Myers didn’t know this. He always thought that the northern part of the East African Kingdom was all the territory of Sudan. It seemed that he was delayed by the information provided by the Kingdom, and Ernst was inseparably responsible for this matter.
Myers said: "In this case, these two countries are vassal states of your Egypt anyway, so you still have some rights. You unilaterally sold them to us, and we in East Africa will solve the rest by ourselves."
Rahman: "Is it according to the map?"
Miles: "Exactly."
Rahman: "Okay, but we can only hand over the suzerain power of the two regions to you in the name of Egypt, and you will have to settle it with them yourself."
Rahman doesn't care about the life and death of the Darfur Sultanate and the Kordofan Kingdom, is he generous to others! But then Rahman will have a good fight with the East African Kingdom.
Rahman: "Your Excellency, we don't care about the above two countries, but it is too much for you to include the southern part of the Gezira Plain into your own territory! This is our territory since ancient times in Egypt."
Myers: "But when our East African army went north, there were no residents here, and we didn't see your army blocking it. At the same time, there were no signs to indicate that this is Egyptian territory."
Rahman: "The southern part of the Gezira Plain has always been the default Egyptian territory of all parties. Although we have no troops stationed there, even the Abyssinian Empire dare not swear sovereignty over this place at will."
Miles: "So that's the case, but we don't understand East Africa after all, and it's not our responsibility. If you in Egypt count the street signs there, you won't have this misunderstanding."
Misunderstandings do not exist. The Kingdom of East Africa forced Egypt to make concessions in other areas by occupying the southern part of the Gezira Plain.
The importance of the Gezira Plain to the Sudan region is equivalent to the importance of the land along the Nile River to Egypt.
Rahman: "Since this is the case, the misunderstanding between our two sides has now been resolved. Can your country withdraw from the southern part of the Gezira Plain?"
Myers: "Of course, but in order to ensure the safety of the Nile River waterway, we must retain part of the land in the western region."
Rahman: "This..."
Myers: "We don't ask much, mainly along the White Nile, and we are not greedy for the Blue Nile."
Then Miles took out a pen and drew a north-south line in the southern part of the original Gezira Plain in front of Rahman.
Myers: "Most of the eastern area still belongs to you, we only need this small piece of the west."
Seeing that Miles only wanted a small area, Rahman finally breathed a sigh of relief: "Well, this is reasonable."
Myers: "Then sign it! There will be no conflict of interest between the two parties in the future."
So, Rahman signed his name on the agreement, but he didn't know that this agreement also completely announced that the oil resources in the Sudan area almost bid farewell to Egypt.
Almost ninety-nine percent of the oil fields were included in the East African Kingdom area, which really left only a drop of soup for Egypt in the future.
According to the content of the agreement: the Nuba Mountains in the south of the Sudanese city of Ubaid (Obaid) is the boundary. The area to the south, including the Nuba Mountains, was assigned to East Africa, and the area to the north was assigned to Egypt.
According to the agreement, the southern part of the Kordofan Plateau, the southern part of the Darfur Plateau, and the southwestern part of the Gezira Plain were included in the Kingdom of East Africa.
That is, the former North Sudan’s South Kordofan State, East Darfur State, and South Darfur State were all included in East Africa, and the southwestern part of Blue Nile State was included in East Africa.
Except for the southwestern part of the Gezira Plain that really belongs to Egypt, the rest of the above areas are in the hands of the Darfur Sultanate and the Kordofan Kingdom. East Africa has to conquer these two countries.
But put Egypt, the strongest in the region, out of the way ahead of time. Without Egyptian intervention, it is not difficult for East Africa to beat the Darfur Sultanate and the Kordofan Kingdom.
(end of this chapter)