showing el-Obeid ("Ibeit") as intermediary station between the Nile and the
Darfur Sultanate, 1799. El-Obeid, known as the 'bride of the sands', was founded by the
pashas of
Ottoman Egypt in 1821 and served as an important trading hub throughout Sudanese history, historically considered a meeting point between the country's North, South, and West. Due to this historical significance, the city encompasses a wide-range of tribal groups and ethnicities, including many of the Northern riverain tribes, classified as the jallaba, who migrated for trade and to escape the brutal oppression of the
Turko-Egyptian authorities of the North. It was considered an important point of control in the various conquests for Sudan, with its capture by the
Mahdists in September 1882, being considered a crucial turning point for the movement. It was rebuilt on a modern plan in 1898, following the fall of the Mahdist state. In 2008, its population was 340,940. It is an important transportation hub: the terminus of a
rail line, the junction of various national roads and
camel caravan routes, and the end of a
pilgrim route from
Nigeria. As regional commercial centre, it is known for products such as
gum arabic,
millet, oilseeds, and livestock. The population of El-Obeid today is majority Muslim, with a small Christian presence. The town is the site of an
airport and an oil refinery. El-Obeid is home to the
University of Kordofan, one of the largest universities in
Sudan, established in 1990. Since 1989, the city also has been home to a French Association (
Alliance française) that serves as a Sudanese-French cultural centre in cooperation with the university's French language department. The
United Nations Mission in Sudan established its Logistics Base there. Due to the repair and paving of asphalt roads and the emergence of several private bus companies, transport became easier between the town and the Sudanese capital Khartoum. The journey takes about nine hours by tourist coach, and another three hours from El-Obeid to
Um Kadada in
Darfur. El-Obeid was a site of an
massacre during the
Sudanese revolution which lead to 6 deaths on over 60 injuries. During the
Sudanese civil war, the
city has been under siege. In early September 2023, the
Sudanese Army recaptured the city. Tensions remain high at the grand market. ==Geography==