Mongalla, South Sudan
Encyclopedia
Mongalla or Mangalla is a community in Central Equatoria
state in South Sudan
, on the east side of the Bahr al Jebel or White Nile
river. It lies about 75 miles (120.7 km) by road northeast of Juba. The towns of Terekeka
and Bor lie downstream, north of Mongalla.
During the colonial era, Mongalla was capital of Mongalla Province, which reached south to Uganda and east towards Ethiopia. On 7 December 1917 the last of the northern Sudanese troops were withdrawn from Mongalla, replaced by Equatorial troops. These southern and at least nominally Christian troops remained the only permanent garrison of the town and province until their mutiny in August 1955. Mongalla and the surrounding province was then absorbed into Equatoria Province in 1956. The town was taken and retaken more than once during the Second Sudanese Civil War
(1983–2005).
An experimental station was established to grow sugar at Mongalla in the 1950s, and there were plans to establish commercial operations. However, after independence in 1956 the Khartoum government shifted the sugar project to the north, where it is grown under much less favorable conditions with heavy irrigation. A sugar, clothing, and a weaving factory was established in Mongalla in the 1970s but operations failed to get beyond their trial phase and diminished as conflict grew in the region in the early 1980s. In April 2006 the President of Southern Sudan, Salva Kiir Mayardit
, named Mongalla as one of the Nile ports to be the first to be rehabilitated.
Mongalla is an important center for gauging the flow of the Nile, with measurements taken regularly from 1905 until 1983, and since 2004.
After the final defeat of the Caliphate
(Khalifa) by the British under General Herbert Kitchener
in 1898, the Nile up to the Uganda
border became part of the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan
. An expedition upriver from Omdurman
(Ondurman) arrived in December 1900. The post that had been established at Kiro
was transferred to Mongalla in April 1901 since Kiro was claimed to be in Belgian territory.
During 1904 posts were established where needed in the Mongalla districts to suppress the activities of "Abyssinian brigands who infested the country".
Until 1906 Mongalla province was part of the Upper Nile province, after which it became a separate administration.
The first governor was Angus Cameron
, appointed in January 1906.
A party from the Anglican Church Missionary Society (CMS) arrived the same month, but decided it was not suitable for a base and instead located the mission downstream at Bor.
The colonial administration opposed efforts by the CMS to convert the Bari people
of Mongalla. The missionaries interpreted this as due to the influence of Islam in weakening the spiritual ideals of the officials.Cameron desired to avoid friction with the Muslims who had undertaken most of the work of building and servicing the new provincial capital.
In 1910 Theodore Roosevelt
visited the province. Before his arrival, Governor R.C.R. Owen informed Governor General Sir Reginald Wingate that everything would be done for the former president of the United States
, but also pointed out that his troops had not even one donkey.
Roosevelt's expedition reached Mongalla at the end of February, coming from the Belgian Congo
via the Lado Enclave
. He was impressed by the Egyptian and Sudanese troops, but when visiting a native dance he commented on the lack of middle-aged men, a result of the Mahdist wars that had ended over ten years ago.
In June 1910 the British Sudanese forces took over the Lado Enclave from the Belgians, becoming part of the province of Mongalla. The Anglican and Roman Catholic missionaries requested that Sunday be retained as a sabbath at Lado, as it had been under the Belgians, rather than changed to Friday as it had in the rest of the Sudan. However, Governor Owen opposed retaining Sunday; he felt that the more "bigoted" Muslims in the army would object to working on Friday, and noted that all recruits to the army were instructed in the Muslim religion.
A few months later, however, Owen proposed creation of an Equatorial battalion composed entirely of southerners. This force would be taught to follow English commands and the Christian faith, which would, over time, unite with Uganda and would prevent spread of the Muslim faith farther south. He was against Islam on the basis that it "may at any time break out into a wave of fanaticism". Owen's plan was approved by Wingate.
Wingate said "...we must remember that the bulk of the inhabitants ... are not Moslems (Muslims) at all, that the whole of Uganda has accepted Chritianity almost without a murmur, and that furthermore English is a very much easier language to learn than Arabic...".
In 1913, the government increased restrictions on private travel and immigrants, which meant anybody arriving in Mongalla and wishing to go north from the Uganda
or the Belgian Congo
could be examined for sleeping sickness by a medical officer. The maximum punishment for any breach of the new regulations was a £10 fine or a 6 month prison sentence.
On 7 December 1917 the last of the northern Sudanese troops were withdrawn from Mongalla, replaced by Equatorial troops. These southern and at least nominally Christian troops remained the only permanent garrison of the town and province until their mutiny in August 1955.
When Hasan Sharif, son of Khalifa Muhammad Sahif, was exiled to Mongalla in 1915 after taking place in a conspiracy in Omdurman, Governor Owen said "...I told him he is lucky to come and see this part of Sudan for nothing, when tourists pay hundreds of pounds ... I fear he doesn't see the joke...".
Owen retired in 1918.
Major Cecil Stephen Northcote
succeeded him as Governor of Mongala from 1918 to 1919, then moved on to become Governor of the Nuba Mountains province.
The Sudan was very lightly administered. As late as 1919 there were just 17 British administrators in the Bahr al-Ghazal and Mongalla provinces, with a combined area twice that of Britain
.
In the early years, British officials depended on native officials for advice and to act as interpreters. However, they had to be careful about ethnic rivalries. Thus Fadl el-Mula, a Dinka who had been a police quartermaster, greatly impressed the Governor of Mongalla and was appointed assistant superintendent of the Twic Dinka in 1909. He was credited with keeping the peace between the Dinka and the Nuer people, two groups with a history of fighting and cattle raiding. However, Fadl el-Mula was so strongly biased towards the Dinka that his police were attacked by angry Nuer and he had to be removed from his post.
The Arabic language and the Muslim religion continued to be spread in South Sudan by merchants and administrators from the North, and even by British officials who preferred to speak Arabic rather than learn the local language.
A rising by the Aliab Dinka
in 1919 was suppressed harshly in 1920. That year the Nuer were attacking both the Dinka and the Burun people on the border with Ethiopia. The governor of Mongalla in 1920, V.R. Woodland
, said that Mongalla at the time was "in such a muck-up state he doesn't know where to start".
Woodland called for a decision; either South Sudan should be separated from the north and administered as a territory in the same way as Uganda, or the British should encourage development by the Arabs within the structure of the North Sudan. Nothing was done.
during World War I. CSM caused high mortality for a six year period as it spread from one family to another. A less devastating CSM epidemic started in 1926, causing 335 deaths in 1928, 446 in 1929 and 335 in the first three months of 1930 before rapidly dying out.
Dr. Alexander Cruikshank of the Sudan Medical Services attributed the epidemic in part to poor housing conditions. The Azande people of the western part of the province avoided the disease. They had a better diet and less crowded quarters than the Dinka and Nuer people in the centre of the province.
Airplanes began being used in the Sudan in the 1920s, with revolutionary effect on military and civilian administration. Flying was hazardous, however. On 4 July 1929 a Fokker FViib/3m owned by the Belgian financier Albert Lowenstein crashed at Mongalla. There were no deaths, but the plane was severely damaged.
A Singapore flying boat built by Short Brothers
made a flight around Africa in 1929. Starting from Benghazi
, the plane flew to Aboukir Bay
, then up the Nile to Mongalla, which was reached at the end of January, and onward to Entebbe
on Lake Victoria
.
During the 1920s the British steadily expanded control over the South Sudan. The Deputy governor of Mongalla, Major R.G.C. Brock
, estimated that he had added 50,000 Toposa and related people to the eastern half of his province, a somewhat inflated figure.
By establishing strong central control, the British eroded whatever authority the traditional rulers may have had. In 1929 the British governor of Mongalla province said "the government support which can be given to the chiefs is not worth their while to have".
In 1925 Major G.D. Gould was denied a license to prospect for gold and oil in the east of Mongalla province beyond the Didinga Hills
.
Travel in the Toposa country was dangerous without a large armed escort, and if the Ethiopians had got word of the survey they would have tried to occupy that part of the country.
The British began to follow an "Africanization" policy.
A directive issued on 25 January 1930 by the Civil Secretary of Sudan to the governors of Upper Nile, Bahr al-Ghazal and Mongalla said: "The policy of the government in the southern Sudan is to build up series of self-contained racial or tribal units with structures and organization based to whatever extent the requirement of equity and good government permits, upon indigenous customs, traditional usage and beliefs".
In 1930 the capital of Equatoria (southern Sudan) was transferred from Mongalla to Juba
, further upstream to the south.
The governor of Mongalla province from 1930 until 1936 was Leonard Fielding Nalder
, formerly governor of Fung province from 1927 to 1930.
In 1935 Nalder reported after a survey of his province that there was a general lack of tribal cohesion. Governor-General Sir Stewart Symes at Khartoum had little interest in development of the south of Sudan and he advised the local officials that chiefs should have territorial rather than ethnic authority. In 1936 Mongalla and the Bahr al-Ghazal provinces were incorporated into the Equatoria province, with headquarters at Juba, with parts of Upper Nile province detached.
(1955-1972).
After the Addis Ababa Agreement (1972) the Jieng Bor and Murle people lived in relative peace, sharing grazing areas, especially Gok Bor.
In mid 1981 this harmony broke down when Murle bandits attacked Jieng Bor cattle camps in several locations around Mongalla. The police were called in by the commissioner of Mongalla, and turned against the Bor Dinka.
The SPLM/A exploited this hostility to the Bor Dinka by some Equatorian tribes to gain recruits from the Dinka.
Peace broke down and the civil war resumed in 1983.
Early in 1985 the Southern Axis of the SPLA under Major Arok Thon Arok
challenged government forces in Southern Upper Nile, Eastern Equatoria and Central Equatoria
. The Southern Axis captured Owiny-ki-Bul and Mongalla without difficulty, then crossed the Nile, captured Terekeka
and beseiged Juba.
Later in 1985 the forces of the Sudan People's Liberation Army
(SPLA) received a setback at the village of Gut-Makur near Mongalla when they were confronted by well-armed Mandari people. Although willing to fight the Sudan army, the Mandari were not willing to do so under Dinka leadership.
In March 1989 Alternate Commander Jok Reng of the SPLA Mainstream recaptured Mongalla with a relatively small force.
In the last half of 1989 the SPLA consolidated in towns like Mongalla that surrounded Juba.
In late 1991, Mongalla was the scene of clashes between two arms of the SPLA.
Riek Machar
of the SPLM/A Nasir was pushing south towards Torit
, while the SPLM/A Mainstream commander for Equatoria Kuol Manyang Juuk
wanted to push Riek's forces back to Nuerland.
Due to disunity among the southerners, between 1991 and 1994 the NIR was able to recapture many places in South Sudan including Mongalla and also Ayod
, Leer
, Akobo, Pochalla, Pibor
, Waat
, Nasir, Kit, Palotaka
, Yirol
, Bor, Torit, Kapoeta
, Parjok
and Magwi
.
Government forces coming from Bor took Mongalla in June 1992 and then turned east toward Torit.
finally ended in January 2005. By this time, Mongalla had suffered considerable physical neglect and damage, and population loss. In April 2006 the President of Southern Sudan, Salva Kiir Mayardit
, named Mongalla as one of the Nile ports to be the first to be rehabilitated. He warned that demands for reconstruction spending would be much greater than available funding, so work had to be prioritized.
Clearance of the Mongalla minefield was complete in July 2009.
Mongalla is an important center for gauging the flow of the Nile, with measurements taken regularly from 1905 until 1983.
During most of the Second Sudanese Civil War
(1983-2005) the gauging stopped, resuming in 2004.
in Central Equatoria
state at an altitude of 1455 feet (443.5 m).
Rainfall is relatively low between November and February, then increasing with two peaks in June and August. Annual precipitation is about 40 inches (1,016 mm).
Winds are northerly in the dry season and southerly in the rainy season.
Based on observations taken between April 1903 and December 1905, the mean temperature was 79.5 °F (26.4 °C), with mean maximum 92.6 °F (33.7 °C) and mean minimum 69.7 °F (20.9 °C). Mean relative humidity was 74%.
The river flowing past Mongalla combines seasonal torrential runoff in the rainy season with the more constant discharge from Lake Victoria, influenced by evaporation and by the damping and storage effects of Lake Albert, Lake Edward
and Lake Kyoga
.
The Sudd
, a vast area of swampland, stretches downriver from Mongalla to near the point where the Sobat River
joins the White Nile just upstream from Malakal
.
Due to evaporation, only half the water that enters the Sudd at Mongalla emerges from the northern end of the swamps.
The much smaller Badigeru Swamp
lies about 20 miles (32.2 km) to the east, separated from Mongalla by a region of open grassland.
The belt along the Nile about 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) wide and 146 kilometres (90.7 mi) long from Mongalla to Bor is inhabited by the Mundari
and Dinka peoples.
at Mongalla in the 1920s and 1930s, but the price paid for Mongalla cotton fell from 50 piastres per kantar in 1929-30 to 18 piastres in 1931 and the industry failed to develop as planned.The "Southern Scales", which defined the rates of pay for officials and workers in the southern provinces of Sudan, were extremely low, making it impossible for the administrators to undertake any development such as a school, hospital or economic projects. Use of money was restricted, and even in 1945 taxes were still being paid in kind.
In 1937 J.C. Myers was commissioned to undertake a botanical survey of Mongalla province, later extended to all of Equatoria.
In contrast to the pessimistic view of the south taken by the Khartoum administration, he was enthusiastic about the wealth and diversity of plants. He noted that the people had adapted to cultivating non-native plants such as cassava
, maize
, sweet potato
and groundnuts. He also noted that the government was restricting commercial development of sugarcane
, tobacco
and coffee
, which grew wild, and thus preventing economic development.
In 1938 Governor Symes made a tour of Equatoria and left with "contempt intensified". He consistently rejected schemes for development.
An experimental station was established to grow sugar at Mongalla in the 1950s, and there were plans to establish commercial operations. However, after independence in 1956 the Khartoum government shifted the sugar project to the north, where it is grown under much less favorable conditions with heavy irrigation. After the First Sudanese Civil War
ended in 1972, there were plans to revive sugar production at Mongalla, and although Mongalla Sugar Processing Factory operated on a low-scale in the 1970s, it ceased production when civil war broke out again in 1983.A clothing mill also operated in the 1970s but was deactivated due to the unrest in the early 1980s. A paper mill was also planned at Mongalla, to be fed by eucalyptus
species planted in a 70,000 feddan area.Equipment was supplied from Denmark between 1975 and 1976 for use in an agro-industrial complex at Mongalla. This would include a power station and pump station to support an abbatoir, poultry project, fish-receiving plant and wood-working factory. The equipment arrived but was not installed, and eventually rusted away. A project funded by Khartoum also established six textile-manufacturing units in Sudan, one at Mongalla, and the other five factories located in the north at Ed Duiem, Kadugli, Kosti
, Nyala
, and Shendi
. An agreement was made with a Belgian firm to supply the weaving factory of 256 looms and at one point it was estimated to produce around 9 million meters of grey fabric per annum, but it failed to get past the trial phase due to lack of raw materials, capital, and transportation facilities.
Central Equatoria
-Government:Executive*Governor - Maj. Gen. Clement Wani Konga*Deputy Governor and Minister of Education, Science and Technology - Mr. Manase Lomole Waya *Minister of Education - Lokulenge Lole Lokule...
state in South Sudan
South Sudan
South Sudan , officially the Republic of South Sudan, is a landlocked country located in the Sahel region of northeastern Africa. It is also part of the North Africa UN sub-region. Its current capital is Juba, which is also its largest city; the capital city is planned to be moved to the more...
, on the east side of the Bahr al Jebel or White Nile
White Nile
The White Nile is a river of Africa, one of the two main tributaries of the Nile from Egypt, the other being the Blue Nile. In the strict meaning, "White Nile" refers to the river formed at Lake No at the confluence of the Bahr al Jabal and Bahr el Ghazal rivers...
river. It lies about 75 miles (120.7 km) by road northeast of Juba. The towns of Terekeka
Terekeka
Terekeka is a community in Central Equatoria state, South Sudan. It is the headquarters of Terekeka County.Terekeka town lies on the western bank of the Nile, 53 miles north of Juba town....
and Bor lie downstream, north of Mongalla.
During the colonial era, Mongalla was capital of Mongalla Province, which reached south to Uganda and east towards Ethiopia. On 7 December 1917 the last of the northern Sudanese troops were withdrawn from Mongalla, replaced by Equatorial troops. These southern and at least nominally Christian troops remained the only permanent garrison of the town and province until their mutiny in August 1955. Mongalla and the surrounding province was then absorbed into Equatoria Province in 1956. The town was taken and retaken more than once during the Second Sudanese Civil War
Second Sudanese Civil War
The Second Sudanese Civil War started in 1983, although it was largely a continuation of the First Sudanese Civil War of 1955 to 1972. Although it originated in southern Sudan, the civil war spread to the Nuba mountains and Blue Nile by the end of the 1980s....
(1983–2005).
An experimental station was established to grow sugar at Mongalla in the 1950s, and there were plans to establish commercial operations. However, after independence in 1956 the Khartoum government shifted the sugar project to the north, where it is grown under much less favorable conditions with heavy irrigation. A sugar, clothing, and a weaving factory was established in Mongalla in the 1970s but operations failed to get beyond their trial phase and diminished as conflict grew in the region in the early 1980s. In April 2006 the President of Southern Sudan, Salva Kiir Mayardit
Salva Kiir Mayardit
Salva Kiir Mayardit is the first President of the Republic of South Sudan.-Sudanese civil wars:In the late 1960s, Kiir joined the Anyanya in the First Sudanese Civil War. By the time of the 1972 Addis Ababa Agreement, he was a low-ranking officer...
, named Mongalla as one of the Nile ports to be the first to be rehabilitated.
Mongalla is an important center for gauging the flow of the Nile, with measurements taken regularly from 1905 until 1983, and since 2004.
Early colonial period
Caliphate
The term caliphate, "dominion of a caliph " , refers to the first system of government established in Islam and represented the political unity of the Muslim Ummah...
(Khalifa) by the British under General Herbert Kitchener
Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener
Field Marshal Horatio Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener KG, KP, GCB, OM, GCSI, GCMG, GCIE, ADC, PC , was an Irish-born British Field Marshal and proconsul who won fame for his imperial campaigns and later played a central role in the early part of the First World War, although he died halfway...
in 1898, the Nile up to the Uganda
Uganda
Uganda , officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. Uganda is also known as the "Pearl of Africa". It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by South Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by...
border became part of the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan
Anglo-Egyptian Sudan
Anglo-Egyptian Sudan referred to the manner by which Sudan was administered between 1899 and 1956, when it was a condominium of Egypt and the United Kingdom.-Union with Egypt:...
. An expedition upriver from Omdurman
Omdurman
Omdurman is the second largest city in Sudan and Khartoum State, lying on the western banks of the River Nile, opposite the capital, Khartoum. Omdurman has a population of 2,395,159 and is the national centre of commerce...
(Ondurman) arrived in December 1900. The post that had been established at Kiro
Kiro
Kiro was a colonial post in what is now the Central Equatoria province of South Sudan on the west side of the Bahr al Jebel or White Nile river...
was transferred to Mongalla in April 1901 since Kiro was claimed to be in Belgian territory.
During 1904 posts were established where needed in the Mongalla districts to suppress the activities of "Abyssinian brigands who infested the country".
Until 1906 Mongalla province was part of the Upper Nile province, after which it became a separate administration.
The first governor was Angus Cameron
Angus Cameron (Governor of Mongalla)
Angus Cameron was a British military officer and colonial administrator, the first governor of Mongalla Province in the south of the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan between 1906 and 1908 and later governor of Kassala and Sennar provinces.-Early life:...
, appointed in January 1906.
A party from the Anglican Church Missionary Society (CMS) arrived the same month, but decided it was not suitable for a base and instead located the mission downstream at Bor.
The colonial administration opposed efforts by the CMS to convert the Bari people
Bari people
The Bari ethnic groups in South Sudan occupy the Savanna lands of the White Nile Valley. They speak a language which is also called Bari. The name "Bari of the Nile Valley" would be fitting because the river Nile runs through the heart of the Bari land...
of Mongalla. The missionaries interpreted this as due to the influence of Islam in weakening the spiritual ideals of the officials.Cameron desired to avoid friction with the Muslims who had undertaken most of the work of building and servicing the new provincial capital.
In 1910 Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States . He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity...
visited the province. Before his arrival, Governor R.C.R. Owen informed Governor General Sir Reginald Wingate that everything would be done for the former president of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, but also pointed out that his troops had not even one donkey.
Roosevelt's expedition reached Mongalla at the end of February, coming from the Belgian Congo
Belgian Congo
The Belgian Congo was the formal title of present-day Democratic Republic of the Congo between King Leopold II's formal relinquishment of his personal control over the state to Belgium on 15 November 1908, and Congolese independence on 30 June 1960.-Congo Free State, 1884–1908:Until the latter...
via the Lado Enclave
Lado Enclave
The Lado Enclave was an exclave of the Congo Free State that existed from 1894 until 1910, situated on the west bank of the Upper Nile in what is now South Sudan and northwest Uganda.-History:...
. He was impressed by the Egyptian and Sudanese troops, but when visiting a native dance he commented on the lack of middle-aged men, a result of the Mahdist wars that had ended over ten years ago.
In June 1910 the British Sudanese forces took over the Lado Enclave from the Belgians, becoming part of the province of Mongalla. The Anglican and Roman Catholic missionaries requested that Sunday be retained as a sabbath at Lado, as it had been under the Belgians, rather than changed to Friday as it had in the rest of the Sudan. However, Governor Owen opposed retaining Sunday; he felt that the more "bigoted" Muslims in the army would object to working on Friday, and noted that all recruits to the army were instructed in the Muslim religion.
Wingate said "...we must remember that the bulk of the inhabitants ... are not Moslems (Muslims) at all, that the whole of Uganda has accepted Chritianity almost without a murmur, and that furthermore English is a very much easier language to learn than Arabic...".
In 1913, the government increased restrictions on private travel and immigrants, which meant anybody arriving in Mongalla and wishing to go north from the Uganda
Uganda
Uganda , officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. Uganda is also known as the "Pearl of Africa". It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by South Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by...
or the Belgian Congo
Belgian Congo
The Belgian Congo was the formal title of present-day Democratic Republic of the Congo between King Leopold II's formal relinquishment of his personal control over the state to Belgium on 15 November 1908, and Congolese independence on 30 June 1960.-Congo Free State, 1884–1908:Until the latter...
could be examined for sleeping sickness by a medical officer. The maximum punishment for any breach of the new regulations was a £10 fine or a 6 month prison sentence.
On 7 December 1917 the last of the northern Sudanese troops were withdrawn from Mongalla, replaced by Equatorial troops. These southern and at least nominally Christian troops remained the only permanent garrison of the town and province until their mutiny in August 1955.
When Hasan Sharif, son of Khalifa Muhammad Sahif, was exiled to Mongalla in 1915 after taking place in a conspiracy in Omdurman, Governor Owen said "...I told him he is lucky to come and see this part of Sudan for nothing, when tourists pay hundreds of pounds ... I fear he doesn't see the joke...".
Owen retired in 1918.
Major Cecil Stephen Northcote
Cecil Stephen Northcote
Major Cecil Stephen Northcote CBE was a British military officer who was governor of Mongalla Province in the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan from 1918 to 1919, and then of the Nuba Mountains province from 1919 to 1927....
succeeded him as Governor of Mongala from 1918 to 1919, then moved on to become Governor of the Nuba Mountains province.
The Sudan was very lightly administered. As late as 1919 there were just 17 British administrators in the Bahr al-Ghazal and Mongalla provinces, with a combined area twice that of Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
.
In the early years, British officials depended on native officials for advice and to act as interpreters. However, they had to be careful about ethnic rivalries. Thus Fadl el-Mula, a Dinka who had been a police quartermaster, greatly impressed the Governor of Mongalla and was appointed assistant superintendent of the Twic Dinka in 1909. He was credited with keeping the peace between the Dinka and the Nuer people, two groups with a history of fighting and cattle raiding. However, Fadl el-Mula was so strongly biased towards the Dinka that his police were attacked by angry Nuer and he had to be removed from his post.
The Arabic language and the Muslim religion continued to be spread in South Sudan by merchants and administrators from the North, and even by British officials who preferred to speak Arabic rather than learn the local language.
A rising by the Aliab Dinka
Aliab Dinka
The Aliab Dinka are a subdivision of the Dinka people of South Sudan. They traditionally lived in an area west of the upper White Nile river.The name is also used to refer to a breed of cattle maintained by the Aliab Dinka people and widespread in the region....
in 1919 was suppressed harshly in 1920. That year the Nuer were attacking both the Dinka and the Burun people on the border with Ethiopia. The governor of Mongalla in 1920, V.R. Woodland
Vincent Reynolds Woodland
Vincent Reynolds Woodland was a British colonial administrator who was governor of Mongalla Province of the southern Anglo-Egyptian Sudan from 1920 to 1924....
, said that Mongalla at the time was "in such a muck-up state he doesn't know where to start".
Woodland called for a decision; either South Sudan should be separated from the north and administered as a territory in the same way as Uganda, or the British should encourage development by the Arabs within the structure of the North Sudan. Nothing was done.
Later colonial period (1920-1956)
The Mongalla region suffered an outbreak of cerebrospinal meningitis (CSM) between 1918 and 1924, apparently introduced by Ugandan porters who had served in German East AfricaGerman East Africa
German East Africa was a German colony in East Africa, which included what are now :Burundi, :Rwanda and Tanganyika . Its area was , nearly three times the size of Germany today....
during World War I. CSM caused high mortality for a six year period as it spread from one family to another. A less devastating CSM epidemic started in 1926, causing 335 deaths in 1928, 446 in 1929 and 335 in the first three months of 1930 before rapidly dying out.
Dr. Alexander Cruikshank of the Sudan Medical Services attributed the epidemic in part to poor housing conditions. The Azande people of the western part of the province avoided the disease. They had a better diet and less crowded quarters than the Dinka and Nuer people in the centre of the province.
Airplanes began being used in the Sudan in the 1920s, with revolutionary effect on military and civilian administration. Flying was hazardous, however. On 4 July 1929 a Fokker FViib/3m owned by the Belgian financier Albert Lowenstein crashed at Mongalla. There were no deaths, but the plane was severely damaged.
A Singapore flying boat built by Short Brothers
Short Brothers
Short Brothers plc is a British aerospace company, usually referred to simply as Shorts, that is now based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Founded in 1908, Shorts was the first company in the world to make production aircraft and was a manufacturer of flying boats during the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s...
made a flight around Africa in 1929. Starting from Benghazi
Benghazi
Benghazi is the second largest city in Libya, the main city of the Cyrenaica region , and the former provisional capital of the National Transitional Council. The wider metropolitan area is also a district of Libya...
, the plane flew to Aboukir Bay
Abu Qir Bay
The Abū Qīr Bay is a spacious bay on the Mediterranean Sea in Egypt, lying between Abu Qir and the Rosetta mouth of the Nile. It contains a natural gas field, discovered in the 1970s.On August 1, 1798, Horatio Nelson fought the Battle of the Nile, often referred to as the "Battle of Aboukir Bay"...
, then up the Nile to Mongalla, which was reached at the end of January, and onward to Entebbe
Entebbe
Entebbe is a major town in Central Uganda. Located on a Lake Victoria peninsula, the town was at one time, the seat of government for the Protectorate of Uganda, prior to Independence in 1962...
on Lake Victoria
Lake Victoria
Lake Victoria is one of the African Great Lakes. The lake was named for Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, by John Hanning Speke, the first European to discover this lake....
.
During the 1920s the British steadily expanded control over the South Sudan. The Deputy governor of Mongalla, Major R.G.C. Brock
Roy Gerard Corcor Brock
Major Roy Gerard Corcor Brock was a British army officer and a colonial administrator in the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan who was appointed governor of Bahr el Ghazal Province.-Early career:Brock was born on 22 February, 1884...
, estimated that he had added 50,000 Toposa and related people to the eastern half of his province, a somewhat inflated figure.
By establishing strong central control, the British eroded whatever authority the traditional rulers may have had. In 1929 the British governor of Mongalla province said "the government support which can be given to the chiefs is not worth their while to have".
In 1925 Major G.D. Gould was denied a license to prospect for gold and oil in the east of Mongalla province beyond the Didinga Hills
Didinga Hills
The Didinga Hills are an upland area in Eastern Equatoria state of South Sudan, lying mainly within Budi County. They are named for the Didinga people who live in the region....
.
Travel in the Toposa country was dangerous without a large armed escort, and if the Ethiopians had got word of the survey they would have tried to occupy that part of the country.
The British began to follow an "Africanization" policy.
A directive issued on 25 January 1930 by the Civil Secretary of Sudan to the governors of Upper Nile, Bahr al-Ghazal and Mongalla said: "The policy of the government in the southern Sudan is to build up series of self-contained racial or tribal units with structures and organization based to whatever extent the requirement of equity and good government permits, upon indigenous customs, traditional usage and beliefs".
In 1930 the capital of Equatoria (southern Sudan) was transferred from Mongalla to Juba
Juba
- Locations :* Juba, the capital of South Sudan* Juba, Estonia, a village in Võru Parish, Võru County, Estonia- People :* Juba I of Numidia * Juba II of Numidia * Juba of Mauretania...
, further upstream to the south.
The governor of Mongalla province from 1930 until 1936 was Leonard Fielding Nalder
Leonard Fielding Nalder
Leonard Fielding Nalder was a British colonial administrator who was Governor in turn of Fung Province and Mongalla province in the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan....
, formerly governor of Fung province from 1927 to 1930.
In 1935 Nalder reported after a survey of his province that there was a general lack of tribal cohesion. Governor-General Sir Stewart Symes at Khartoum had little interest in development of the south of Sudan and he advised the local officials that chiefs should have territorial rather than ethnic authority. In 1936 Mongalla and the Bahr al-Ghazal provinces were incorporated into the Equatoria province, with headquarters at Juba, with parts of Upper Nile province detached.
Civil war
Sudan became independent in 1956, after the outbreak of the First Sudanese Civil WarFirst Sudanese Civil War
The First Sudanese Civil War was a conflict from 1955 to 1972 between the northern part of Sudan and the southern Sudan region that demanded representation and more regional autonomy...
(1955-1972).
After the Addis Ababa Agreement (1972) the Jieng Bor and Murle people lived in relative peace, sharing grazing areas, especially Gok Bor.
In mid 1981 this harmony broke down when Murle bandits attacked Jieng Bor cattle camps in several locations around Mongalla. The police were called in by the commissioner of Mongalla, and turned against the Bor Dinka.
The SPLM/A exploited this hostility to the Bor Dinka by some Equatorian tribes to gain recruits from the Dinka.
Peace broke down and the civil war resumed in 1983.
Early in 1985 the Southern Axis of the SPLA under Major Arok Thon Arok
Arok Thon Arok
Arok Thon Arok was a politician from Southern Sudan. He first served in the Sudanese military before he joined the Sudan People's Liberation Army in 1983. He joined the Sudan government after his satisfaction with Sudan People Liberation Army...
challenged government forces in Southern Upper Nile, Eastern Equatoria and Central Equatoria
Central Equatoria
-Government:Executive*Governor - Maj. Gen. Clement Wani Konga*Deputy Governor and Minister of Education, Science and Technology - Mr. Manase Lomole Waya *Minister of Education - Lokulenge Lole Lokule...
. The Southern Axis captured Owiny-ki-Bul and Mongalla without difficulty, then crossed the Nile, captured Terekeka
Terekeka
Terekeka is a community in Central Equatoria state, South Sudan. It is the headquarters of Terekeka County.Terekeka town lies on the western bank of the Nile, 53 miles north of Juba town....
and beseiged Juba.
Later in 1985 the forces of the Sudan People's Liberation Army
Sudan People's Liberation Army
The Sudan People's Liberation Movement is a political party in South Sudan. It was initially founded as a rebel political movement with a military wing known as the Sudan People's Liberation Army estimated at 180,000 soldiers. The SPLM fought in the Second Sudanese Civil War against the Sudanese...
(SPLA) received a setback at the village of Gut-Makur near Mongalla when they were confronted by well-armed Mandari people. Although willing to fight the Sudan army, the Mandari were not willing to do so under Dinka leadership.
In March 1989 Alternate Commander Jok Reng of the SPLA Mainstream recaptured Mongalla with a relatively small force.
In the last half of 1989 the SPLA consolidated in towns like Mongalla that surrounded Juba.
In late 1991, Mongalla was the scene of clashes between two arms of the SPLA.
Riek Machar
Riek Machar
Riek Machar Teny Dhurgon , is the first vice-president of the independent Republic of South Sudan.Riek Machar obtained a PhD in mechanical engineering in 1984 and then joined the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army during the Second Sudanese Civil War...
of the SPLM/A Nasir was pushing south towards Torit
Torit
-Location:The town is located in Torit County, Eastern Equatoria State, in the southeastern part of South Sudan, close to the International border with the Republic of Uganda. Its location lies approximately , by road, east of Juba, the capital and largest city in that country...
, while the SPLM/A Mainstream commander for Equatoria Kuol Manyang Juuk
Kuol Manyang Juuk
Kuol Manyang is a southern Sudanese politician. He is a member of the SPLM. He became governor of Jonglei state on 15 December 2007, following the first former governor, Philip Thon Leek from Dinka Nyarweng of Duk county, to curb cattle raiding and abduction of children in the region.- Biography...
wanted to push Riek's forces back to Nuerland.
Due to disunity among the southerners, between 1991 and 1994 the NIR was able to recapture many places in South Sudan including Mongalla and also Ayod
Ayod
Ayod is a community in Jonglei state, South Sudan, headquarters of Ayod County.The Nuer people are the main inhabitants.Riek Machar, first vice-president of South Sudan, is the 26th son of the chief of both Ayod and Leer....
, Leer
Leer, South Sudan
Leer is a small town in Unity State in South Sudan. It is the headquarters of Leer County.-Location:Leer is in Dok Nuer territory.It is located in Block 5A, an important oil-producing area in the north of South Sudan....
, Akobo, Pochalla, Pibor
Pibor
-Location:Pibor Post is located in Pibor County, Jonglei State, in eastern South Sudan, near the border with Ethiopia. It lies approximately , by road, northeast of Juba, the capital and largest city in that country...
, Waat
Waat
Waat is a village in South Sudan. It is located in Akobo County, Jonglei State, in the northeastern part of South Sudan. It is connected by road to Faddoi just to the southeast...
, Nasir, Kit, Palotaka
Palotaka
Palotaka is a community in Magwi County of Eastern Equatoria state in South Sudan. It is about southeast of Magwi.At one time Palotaka was a thriving town....
, Yirol
Yirol
-Location:It is located in Yirol West County, Lakes State, in central South Sudan. Its location lies approximately , by road, northwest of Juba, the largest city in South Sudan and the capital of that country. The coordinates of Yirol are: 6° 33' 36.00"N, 30° 30' 36.00"E .-Overview:Yirol is a small...
, Bor, Torit, Kapoeta
Kapoeta
Kapoeta is a town in South Sudan. It is located in Kapoeta South County, in Eastern Equatoria State, in southeastern South Sudan.-Location:The town lies on the east bank of the Singaita River...
, Parjok
Parjok
Parjok is a community in Eastern Equatoria state of South Sudan. It is in the southern part of Magwi County, south of Magwi, near the border with Uganda....
and Magwi
Magwi
Magwi County, also Magwe County, is a county in South Sudan.-Location:The county is located in Eastern Equatoria State, in southern South Sudan. It is bordered to the west and north by Juba County, by Torit County to the north east, by Ikotos County to the southeast and by the Republic of Uganda to...
.
Government forces coming from Bor took Mongalla in June 1992 and then turned east toward Torit.
Mongalla today
The Second Sudanese Civil WarSecond Sudanese Civil War
The Second Sudanese Civil War started in 1983, although it was largely a continuation of the First Sudanese Civil War of 1955 to 1972. Although it originated in southern Sudan, the civil war spread to the Nuba mountains and Blue Nile by the end of the 1980s....
finally ended in January 2005. By this time, Mongalla had suffered considerable physical neglect and damage, and population loss. In April 2006 the President of Southern Sudan, Salva Kiir Mayardit
Salva Kiir Mayardit
Salva Kiir Mayardit is the first President of the Republic of South Sudan.-Sudanese civil wars:In the late 1960s, Kiir joined the Anyanya in the First Sudanese Civil War. By the time of the 1972 Addis Ababa Agreement, he was a low-ranking officer...
, named Mongalla as one of the Nile ports to be the first to be rehabilitated. He warned that demands for reconstruction spending would be much greater than available funding, so work had to be prioritized.
Clearance of the Mongalla minefield was complete in July 2009.
Mongalla is an important center for gauging the flow of the Nile, with measurements taken regularly from 1905 until 1983.
During most of the Second Sudanese Civil War
Second Sudanese Civil War
The Second Sudanese Civil War started in 1983, although it was largely a continuation of the First Sudanese Civil War of 1955 to 1972. Although it originated in southern Sudan, the civil war spread to the Nuba mountains and Blue Nile by the end of the 1980s....
(1983-2005) the gauging stopped, resuming in 2004.
Geography and climate
Mongalla lies about 75 kilometres (46.6 mi) by road northeast of Juba on the road to Bor in the north, but nearer 50 kilometres (31.1 mi) as the crow flies. Mongalla is situated on the east bank of the White NileWhite Nile
The White Nile is a river of Africa, one of the two main tributaries of the Nile from Egypt, the other being the Blue Nile. In the strict meaning, "White Nile" refers to the river formed at Lake No at the confluence of the Bahr al Jabal and Bahr el Ghazal rivers...
in Central Equatoria
Central Equatoria
-Government:Executive*Governor - Maj. Gen. Clement Wani Konga*Deputy Governor and Minister of Education, Science and Technology - Mr. Manase Lomole Waya *Minister of Education - Lokulenge Lole Lokule...
state at an altitude of 1455 feet (443.5 m).
Rainfall is relatively low between November and February, then increasing with two peaks in June and August. Annual precipitation is about 40 inches (1,016 mm).
Winds are northerly in the dry season and southerly in the rainy season.
Based on observations taken between April 1903 and December 1905, the mean temperature was 79.5 °F (26.4 °C), with mean maximum 92.6 °F (33.7 °C) and mean minimum 69.7 °F (20.9 °C). Mean relative humidity was 74%.
The river flowing past Mongalla combines seasonal torrential runoff in the rainy season with the more constant discharge from Lake Victoria, influenced by evaporation and by the damping and storage effects of Lake Albert, Lake Edward
Lake Edward
Lake Edward or Edward Nyanza is the smallest of the African Great Lakes. It is located in the western Great Rift Valley, on the border between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda, with its northern shore a few kilometres south of the Equator...
and Lake Kyoga
Lake Kyoga
Lake Kyoga is a large shallow lake complex of Uganda, about in area and at an elevation of 914 m. The Victoria Nile flows through the lake on its way from Lake Victoria to Lake Albert. The main inflow from Lake Victoria is regulated by the Nalubaale Power Station in Jinja. Another source of water...
.
The Sudd
Sudd
The Sudd , also known as the Bahr al Jabal, As Sudd or Al Sudd, is a vast swamp in South Sudan, formed by the White Nile. The word “sudd” is derived from the Arabic word “sadd”, meaning “block.” The term has come to refer to any large solid floating vegetation island or mat...
, a vast area of swampland, stretches downriver from Mongalla to near the point where the Sobat River
Sobat River
The Sobat River is a river in South Sudan, Africa. The most southerly of the great eastern tributaries of the Nile, the Sobat enters the White Nile at Doleib Hill, near the city of Malakal in the Upper Nile state of South Sudan...
joins the White Nile just upstream from Malakal
Malakal
-Location:The city of Malakal is located in Malakal County, Upper Nile State, in the northeast of South Sudan, close to the International borders with the Republic of Sudan and with Ethiopia...
.
Due to evaporation, only half the water that enters the Sudd at Mongalla emerges from the northern end of the swamps.
The much smaller Badigeru Swamp
Badigeru Swamp
The Badigeru swamp swamp lies in South Sudan, in the Central Equatoria and Eastern Equatoria states between Terekeka and Lafon....
lies about 20 miles (32.2 km) to the east, separated from Mongalla by a region of open grassland.
The belt along the Nile about 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) wide and 146 kilometres (90.7 mi) long from Mongalla to Bor is inhabited by the Mundari
Mundari people
The Mundari are a small ethnic group of South Sudan and one of the Nilotic peoples.The group is composed of cattle-herders and agriculturalists and are part of Karo people which also includes Bari, Pojulu, Kakwa, Kuku and Nyangwara...
and Dinka peoples.
Economic development
The district commissioners initiated the development of cottonCotton
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective capsule, around the seeds of cotton plants of the genus Gossypium. The fiber is almost pure cellulose. The botanical purpose of cotton fiber is to aid in seed dispersal....
at Mongalla in the 1920s and 1930s, but the price paid for Mongalla cotton fell from 50 piastres per kantar in 1929-30 to 18 piastres in 1931 and the industry failed to develop as planned.The "Southern Scales", which defined the rates of pay for officials and workers in the southern provinces of Sudan, were extremely low, making it impossible for the administrators to undertake any development such as a school, hospital or economic projects. Use of money was restricted, and even in 1945 taxes were still being paid in kind.
In 1937 J.C. Myers was commissioned to undertake a botanical survey of Mongalla province, later extended to all of Equatoria.
In contrast to the pessimistic view of the south taken by the Khartoum administration, he was enthusiastic about the wealth and diversity of plants. He noted that the people had adapted to cultivating non-native plants such as cassava
Cassava
Cassava , also called yuca or manioc, a woody shrub of the Euphorbiaceae native to South America, is extensively cultivated as an annual crop in tropical and subtropical regions for its edible starchy tuberous root, a major source of carbohydrates...
, maize
Maize
Maize known in many English-speaking countries as corn or mielie/mealie, is a grain domesticated by indigenous peoples in Mesoamerica in prehistoric times. The leafy stalk produces ears which contain seeds called kernels. Though technically a grain, maize kernels are used in cooking as a vegetable...
, sweet potato
Sweet potato
The sweet potato is a dicotyledonous plant that belongs to the family Convolvulaceae. Its large, starchy, sweet-tasting, tuberous roots are an important root vegetable. The young leaves and shoots are sometimes eaten as greens. Of the approximately 50 genera and more than 1,000 species of...
and groundnuts. He also noted that the government was restricting commercial development of sugarcane
Sugarcane
Sugarcane refers to any of six to 37 species of tall perennial grasses of the genus Saccharum . Native to the warm temperate to tropical regions of South Asia, they have stout, jointed, fibrous stalks that are rich in sugar, and measure two to six metres tall...
, tobacco
Tobacco
Tobacco is an agricultural product processed from the leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as a pesticide and, in the form of nicotine tartrate, used in some medicines...
and coffee
Coffee
Coffee is a brewed beverage with a dark,init brooo acidic flavor prepared from the roasted seeds of the coffee plant, colloquially called coffee beans. The beans are found in coffee cherries, which grow on trees cultivated in over 70 countries, primarily in equatorial Latin America, Southeast Asia,...
, which grew wild, and thus preventing economic development.
In 1938 Governor Symes made a tour of Equatoria and left with "contempt intensified". He consistently rejected schemes for development.
An experimental station was established to grow sugar at Mongalla in the 1950s, and there were plans to establish commercial operations. However, after independence in 1956 the Khartoum government shifted the sugar project to the north, where it is grown under much less favorable conditions with heavy irrigation. After the First Sudanese Civil War
First Sudanese Civil War
The First Sudanese Civil War was a conflict from 1955 to 1972 between the northern part of Sudan and the southern Sudan region that demanded representation and more regional autonomy...
ended in 1972, there were plans to revive sugar production at Mongalla, and although Mongalla Sugar Processing Factory operated on a low-scale in the 1970s, it ceased production when civil war broke out again in 1983.A clothing mill also operated in the 1970s but was deactivated due to the unrest in the early 1980s. A paper mill was also planned at Mongalla, to be fed by eucalyptus
Eucalyptus
Eucalyptus is a diverse genus of flowering trees in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. Members of the genus dominate the tree flora of Australia...
species planted in a 70,000 feddan area.Equipment was supplied from Denmark between 1975 and 1976 for use in an agro-industrial complex at Mongalla. This would include a power station and pump station to support an abbatoir, poultry project, fish-receiving plant and wood-working factory. The equipment arrived but was not installed, and eventually rusted away. A project funded by Khartoum also established six textile-manufacturing units in Sudan, one at Mongalla, and the other five factories located in the north at Ed Duiem, Kadugli, Kosti
Kosti
Kosti is a major city in Sudan that lies south of Khartoum and stands on the western bank of the White Nile river, opposite Rabak, where there is a bridge...
, Nyala
Nyala
The Nyala is a Southern African antelope. It is a spiral-horned dense-forest antelope that is uncomfortable in open spaces and is most often seen at water holes. Nyalas live alone or in small family groups of up to 10 individuals.The male stands up to 110 cm , the female is up to 90 cm ...
, and Shendi
Shendi
Shendi or Shandi is a town in northern Sudan, situated on the east bank of the Nile 150 km northeast of Khartoum. Shandi is also about 45 km southwest of the ancient city of Meroe. Located in the River Nile wilayah, Shandi is the center of the Ja'aliin tribe and an important historic...
. An agreement was made with a Belgian firm to supply the weaving factory of 256 looms and at one point it was estimated to produce around 9 million meters of grey fabric per annum, but it failed to get past the trial phase due to lack of raw materials, capital, and transportation facilities.