Egyptian officials lacked the instruments to shape Sudanese political identity as the British could.

Evidence

Egyptian officials in the Sudan had a more difficult time trying to shape Sudanese political identities. In addition to nationalist volunteers previously mentioned in British intelligence reports, several local committees, made up of Egyptian army officers and bureaucrats, tried by means of a pamphlet campaign to inspire the Sudanese to support Sa`d Zaghlül and join them in destabilizing the Britishled government. This met with some success, but pamphlets took time to spread through the population, and then reached only a small fraction of Sudanese. There were also Egyptian efforts to participate in the burgeoning press of the northern Sudan, such as the weekly Rä´id al-südän, which began publication in 1913. This Arabic journal sponsored poetry competitions and asked readers to elaborate on works by well-known Egyptian nationalist poets like Hafiz Ibrahïm,Ahmad Shawqï, and Mahmüd Samï al- Barüdï. — Eve M. Troutt Powell, A Different Shade of Colonialism_…, 840

Categorization

• XREF: Directly serves the comparative thesis: power over identity tools, not cultural affinity, determined who could shape colonial subjectivity.