When Hakki Pasha died in 1873, Emin went back to Neisse with the pasha's widow and children, where he passed them off as his own family, but left suddenly in September 1875, reappearing in
Cairo and then departing for
Khartoum, where he arrived in December. At this point he took the name "Mehemet Emin" (Arabic
Muhammad al-Amin), started a medical practice, and began collecting specimens of
plants,
animals, and
birds, many of which he sent to
museums in
Europe. Although some regarded him as a
Muslim, it is not clear if he ever actually converted.
Charles George Gordon (‘Gordon of Khartoum’), then governor of
Egyptian Equatoria, heard of Emin's presence and invited him to be the chief medical officer of the province; Emin assented and arrived there in May 1876. Gordon immediately sent Emin on diplomatic missions to
Bunyoro and to
Muteesa I of Buganda to the south, where Emin's modest style and fluency in
Luganda were quite popular. After 1876, Emin made
Lado his base for collecting expeditions throughout the region.
Governor of Equatoria In 1878, the
Khedive of Egypt appointed governor of Equatoria, giving him the title of
Bey. Despite the grand title, there was little for Emin to do; his military force consisted of a few thousand soldiers who controlled no more than a mile's radius around each of their outposts, and the government in Khartoum was indifferent to his proposals for development. He showed himself to be a bitter foe of
slavery. In 1879 General Gordon gave
Frank Lupton command of a flotilla of river steamers to relieve Emin. When Lupton reached Lado almost two years later, he found that Emin did not want to be relieved. He became Emin's deputy, in charge of the
Latuka district based at Tarangole.
The revolt of Muhammad Ahmad that began in 1881 had cut Equatoria off from the outside world by 1883, and the following year,
Karam Allah marched south to capture Equatoria and Emin. In 1885, Emin and most of his forces withdrew further south, to
Wadelai near
Lake Albert.
Death Emin then entered the service of the
German East Africa Company and accompanied
Dr. Franz Stuhlmann on an expedition to the lakes in the interior, but was killed by two
Arab slave traders at Kinena Station in the
Congo Free State, on 23 or 24 October 1892. == Legacy ==