RARE SUDANESE BATTLE STANDARD, ALAM. MAHDIST WAR PERIOD, C.1885

Iron head of trident form, decorated overall in thuluth script and pierced with an inverted cross, a desecration of the holiest of Christian symbols. Tapered socket and cylindrical bolster flanked by spherical expansions. On its black japanned pole. 81 ¾” overall. Originally commemorating the martyrdom of Imam Husain who died at the Battle of Karbala in 680, these were used in the Anglo-Sudanese War (Mahdist War) of 1885 as a religious focus and inspiration as well as to direct military activity in the field.