The child Ishraqa Mustafa sat in the 1970s in the town of Kosti, Sudan, located at the crossroads of the north, east, and south of Sudan, pleading with her neighbor in the Zubeir neighborhood, Khamees, to retell for the thousandth time the tale of Princess Mandi, daughter of the Sultan, a story that captured her imagination.
Ishraqa recounts, “Uncle Khamees used to tell me about the mountains, his original homeland, and of course about the warrior princess Mandi, whose courage and boldness shaped my fantasies and mental images of a Sudanese woman that our history overlooked, with premeditation and observation.”
Only a small wall separated Ishraqa’s home from Khamees’s, but it did not deter the slender body of the seven-year-old girl from scaling it and leaping to the other side.
Mustafa was captivated by Princess Mandi and her bravery from an early age, and Mandi became her dream, which came true 30 years after her migration to Vienna, the capital of music and art.
She obtained a doctoral degree in political economy and immediately set out to realize her dream of establishing the “Daughters of Mandi” organization, or “Mandi Organization for Peace Culture,” and promoting and supporting Arab women’s cultural activities among immigrants and within Sudan.
The Inspirational Tale of the Princess
The doctor says that she took over the leadership of the “Mandi for Peace Culture and Diversity Management” organization, based in the Austrian capital Vienna, since its establishment in 2021, and it was accredited as a global organization in January 2022.
The organization holds membership in Austria and Sudan and was selected as one of five active voluntary organizations in Austria.
Dr. Mustafa elaborates, “Mandi’s story inspired me to establish the organization. Mandi is the daughter of Sultan Ajban bin Aroujah bin Saba, the Sultan of the Nubian tribe ‘Nimang’ in the Dalang area (a Sudanese city in South Kordofan state), southwest of Sudan.”
“The legend of Princess Mandi was formed in the bravery, courage, and determination in the early 20th century by resisting British colonialism and immortalizing her heroic feats in a famous military march for the Sudan Defense Forces, drawing inspiration from Mandi’s bravery to raise the morale of soldiers and fighters in the armed forces,” adds the president of the “Mandi for Peace Culture and Diversity Management” organization.
Continuing, she asserts, “In 1908, the English colonizer attacked Sultan Ajban’s army in the ‘Alfus’ battle, and in the face of firearms, the chances of the Nimang army to win dwindled, and signs of defeat appeared, and the news reached the tribe of the impending defeat of her father’s army. Mandi was determined to send reinforcements under her leadership to support her tribe’s army—she tied her infant child behind her back in the style of Nimang tribal women and marched until she reached the Alfus land, fighting with unparalleled bravery.”
Dr. Mustafa passionately continues to describe Mandi, saying, “In addition to her participation in combat, which resulted in the loss of her infant child, she treated the wounded, boosted the morale of the revolutionaries, and cooked for the Nimang army. The battle ended with the capture of Sultan Ajban and his subsequent execution in 1917, and Mandi returned to her tribe as the leader after her father’s captivity.”
Inspiring Immigrants in Vienna
The Sudanese human rights activist describes the achievements of the Mandi organization as significant given its short existence. “‘Our story is not written by someone else’ transformed into a book, ‘The Nun of Exile: The Saga of Women from There,’ which was co-written by writers from Syria, including Zeinab Khawaja, Maria Abbas, Farah Khalil, and from Sudan, Dr. Mariam Waki’ Allah and Shadia Abdel-Monem.”
The workshop also published a book titled “Our Stories Have Wings Beyond Borders” by the Syrian writer Etienne Baklar, and “The Estrangement of the Soul” by the Syrian writer Bashir Magzoub, which was published by Safsafa Publishing House in Cairo, which also published two books by Dr. Mustafa, “Our Grandmothers: The Wealth of Memory” and “You Are Beautiful,” a book that discusses beauty issues and standards.
The organization also released the book “Sudatriats: Coffee in the Memory of Exile” by Eritrean writers Khadija Nour, Fatima Ahmed, and Asmahan Al-Nu’man, and organized two conferences during the COVID-19 pandemic period. The first was “Sudanese Women: Diversity and Peace and Development Issues,” with the participation of 40 women from various countries, exchanging experiences with Canadian and British activists, as well as from many African and Arab countries. The second conference was about creativity and knowledge reproduction, dedicated to the late Sudanese storyteller Issa Al-Hilu, addressing several issues such as intellectual property rights, publication problems, and knowledge reproduction.
According to the organization’s president, the organization also initiated a scholarship called the “Queen of the House Grant for Bread and Roses,” in honor of Sudan’s first female novelist, Professor Malikat Al-Dar Mohammed Abdullah.
The organization has also held three workshops in cooperation with local organizations in Kosti, Damazin, and Port Sudan, which 65 young men and women participated in under the slogan, “Writing for Social Change.”
Accomplishments of “Daughters of Mandi” in Arts
Dr. Mustafa says that the “Mandi” projects have achieved successes and garnered media acclaim, aiming to “highlight the role of immigrants in supporting their countries.”
She concludes by stating, “After the current war explosion in Sudan between the National Army and the Rapid Support Forces, the institution focused on a project it called ‘Peace from Vienna to Sudan,’ where it organized two events funded by Austrian organizations, focusing on the role of the arts in promoting a culture of peace.”
