Mihera Bint Abboud

Mihera Bint Abboud (Arabic: مهيرة بت عبود; 1780 – 1840)^[1] was a 19th-century Sudanese female poet and warrior, celebrated as a heroine for her attitude of resistance to the Turco-Egyptian invasion of Sudan.^[2]

Mihera Bint Abboud was the daughter of the leader of the Shaigiya people in Northern Sudan.^[3] After Muhammad Ali Pasha's troops had invaded Sudan in 1820, rumors of their power made the Shaigiya men reluctant to fight the invaders. Mihera is said to have mounted her camel, dressed in men's clothes and carrying a sword, and declared to the men: "Here we are; our clothes are for you". After her performance had roused the men to battle, Mihera composed this verse to celebrate their courage:^[2]

  Today our men all on their horses
  In front of them their commander
  On his beautiful horse struts.
  Our men are like lions when they roar
  Oh, fool Pasha, just let your chickens go away.

Shaigiya swords and lances were no match for Egyptian firearms, and the Egyptian troops continued their conquest of the Sudan.^[4]

However, as a heroine from Sudanese history, the example of Mihera Bint Abboud has been an inspiration to women participating in anti-colonial politics in the Sudan,^[5] as well as in the 2019–2020 Sudanese protests.^[6][7]

See also

• History of Turkish Sudan

References

1. Knowles, F.; Vollrath, L.; Meurling, P. (2019-12-24). "[Cytology and neuroendocrine relations of the pituitary of the dogfish, Scyliorhinus canicula]. - PubMed - NCBI". Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences. 191 (1105): 507–525. doi:10.1098/rspb.1975.0141. PMID 1780. Archived from the original on 2019-12-24. Retrieved 2023-06-08.
2. Baqie Badawi Muhammad (2013). "Mihera bint Abboud". In Robert S. Kramer; Richard Andrew Lobban; Carolyn Fluehr-Lobban (eds.). Historical Dictionary of the Sudan. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 294. ISBN 978-0-8108-6180-0.
3. Mawahib Ahmed Bakr, 'From a Concealed Face to Parliament Member: A question into History of Gender and Meaning of Feminism in Sudan', Journal of Academic Perspectives, Vol. 2017, No. 1.
4. McGregor, Andrew James (30 May 2006). A Military History of Modern Egypt: From the Ottoman Conquest to the Ramadan War. Praeger. ISBN 978-0275986018.
5. Carolyn Fluehr-Lobban (2013). Islamic Law and Society in the Sudan. Routledge. p. 86. ISBN 978-1-134-54035-8.
6. Moya Crockett, Understanding the debate around that viral photo of a woman protesting in Sudan, Stylist Magazine, 11 April 2019. Accessed 5 January 2021.
7. Women of Sudan’s diaspora channel ancient mothers to keep the fires of revolution burning, Ark Republic, 15 July 2019. Accessed 5 January 2021.