The political implications of the transfer of the Sanusi centerfrom Jaghbub to Kufra

Abstract

This research deals with the political effects of the transfer of the Senussi center from Jaghbub to Kufra on the surrounding powers. The research shows how the Ottoman authorities were overwhelmed by their situation It was going through a period of weakness that made it vulnerable to the ambitions of foreign countries that were inciting it against the Senussi order, which led it to move its headquarters to Kufra to distance itself from the Ottoman authorities, to limit French advances in the African kingdoms, and to protect the southern Barqa. The research reached a set of results, the most important of which are: the serious step taken by the Ottoman authorities to get closer to Sayyid al-Mahdi by sending the special envoy of Sultan Abdul Hamid II to Kufra laden with gifts in an attempt to appease him, as well as the improvement of the relationship between the Senussi and the African kingdoms, and the flourishing of the caravan trade on the Benghazi-Oueddai road The most important result was the escalation of the Senussi-French dispute, which led to a direct clash with the French in an unequal war that resulted in the Senussi retreating inland