LAND LAW AND REGISTRATION IN THE SUDAN
| Author | S. Rowton Simpson |
| Date | 01 January 1955 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1002/j.1099-162X.1955.tb00077.x |
| Published date | 01 January 1955 |
LAND
LAW
AND
REGISTRATION
IN
THE
SUDAN
11
and
the political leaders of India and Burma for failing to evolve policies which
had
a final goal clearly in view.
Acknowledgement.
I should like to conclude by acknowledging with thanks
the
help I have
received from Lord Hailey
and
Sir Olaf Caroe,
both
former Governors of Indian
Provinces, in preparing this article.
LAND LAW AND REGISTRATION IN
THE
SUDAN.
By
S. Rowton Simpson, C.B.E.
THE
battle of Omdurman was fought on 2nd September, 1898. This
completed the reconquest of
the
Sudan which
had
been begun in 1896 from
Wadi Halfa on
the
northern frontier by a combined expeditionary force of
British and Egyptian troops under the command of Kitchener.
On the
7th
March 1899 the first number of " The Sudan
Gazette"
appeared.
It
contained the agreement
between"
Her
Britannic Majesty's Government
and
the Government of His Highness the Khedive of Egypt, relative to
the
future administration of the Soudan." This was followed by
the
announce-
ment of the appointment of Kitchener as Governor-General and "Appointments
to the Civil Administration," and lastly there was a notice which read: "Whereas
claims are being made to land in the Sudan which are in many cases conflicting,
and
whereas ordinances will shortly be issued providing for adjudication of
such claims, it is hereby notified to all whom it may concern,
that
pending
such adjudication, no intending vendor of land in
the
Sudan is in a position
to give a good
and
valid title to such land." This policy of protecting
the
un-
sophisticated native from selling his land to speculators thus early begun was,
as will be seen, maintained throughout
the
whole period of British adminis-
tration in the Sudan.
The next number of the Gazette appeared on 27th May 1899 and contained
six
ordinances"
for
the
good government of
the
Sudan." The first of these
was"
an ordinance for settling questions as to lands situated within the towns
of Khartoum, Berber
and
Dongola-which
have been reduced to ruins during
the recent rebellion." Special provisions were made to enable land of an equal
or greater area to be given instead of the exact piece of land in which a claim
was admitted and so, while recognizing any claim which could be proved,
enabled a new planned lay-out to be substituted for the original jumble of
holdings.
The second ordinance was called the Title to Lands Ordinance 1899
and
dealt with the country outside these three towns.
Its
preamble reads:
" Whereas, by Khedivial decree of the 1st day of April 1897 provision has been
made for the settlement of disputes as to
the
ownership of land in the Province
of Dongola,
and
it is expedient
t~
make
si~ilar
pro~sio.n
for
othe:
parts
of
the
Sudan: And whereas the preparation of registers of title
In
connection therewith
provides a basis for improvement in the system of land registration." Ihave
been unable to find a copy of the Khedivial decree referred to,
but
it is clear
that
provision for dealing with land problems was made pari passu with
the
military advance up the Nile and the progressive thinking which these measures
represented can be appreciated from the fact
that
it was not until 1897
that
the
principle of compulsion was applied to registration of title in England
and
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