The Battle of Ferkeh (or Firket) occurred during the Mahdist War when an army of the Mahdist Sudanese was surprised and wiped out by the British and Egyptian forces under Sir Herbert Kitchener on 7 June 1896. In 1896, as part of the Sudan campaign, Kitchener's Anglo-Egyptian force was advancing on Dongola, in Northern Sudan. Ferkeh was a small fortified village on the banks of the Nile. It was the first important Mahdist position they encountered. At the time, it was occupied by 3,000 Mahdist warriors, led by the Emirs Hammuda and Osman Azrak.