| Abstract
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This thesis is a study of the city of Umm Durman during the period of the Sudanese Mahdiyya (1302/1844-1316/1898). The primary objective is the reconstruction, description, and analysis of the city's architecture, organization, spatial characteristics, and infrastructural systems. Descriptive and analytical sections are provided for main architectural features such as Qubbat al-Mahdi the residential complex of the khalifa 'Abd Allah, the jami' mosque, and the Masjid al-Hadid. The institutions of bayt al-mal, bayt al-amana, the suq, the main prison, and the military infrastructure are considered in detail. The popular residential areas, and their organization, architecture, and social structures, are described and analyzed. An attempt is made to consider the form and development of Unn Durman within the context of the evolving framework of the religious and ideological requirements of the Sudanese Mahdiyya movement. The various general and constantly changing social, economic, military, tribal, and religious-political forces which helped to determine the manner in which the Mahdist capital developed are considered. The relationships which existed between the physical and spatial characteristics of Umm Durman, and the evolving ideological perceptions of the khalifa 'Abd Allah towards the Mahdiyya movement in general, and his own religious and political self-identity in particular, are described and analyzed. General bibliographical, historical, and urban background sections are provided, emphasizing points and issues which are relevant to the study of the development and form of Mahdist Umm Durman.
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