The so-called Mahdi tunics (jibba), decorated wih appliqué, were worn by the followers of Mohammad Ahmad bin Abd Alla (1844-1885). He was a Sufi sheikh from the Sudan who in 1881 proclaimed himself the Mahdi (messianic redeemer of the Islamic faith). This took place at a time of growing local resentment against the policies of the Ottoman-Egyptian rulers and the growing power of the British.