The Battle of Khartoum, Siege of Khartoum or Fall of Khartoum was the conquest of Egyptian held Khartoum by the Mahdist forces led by Muhammad Ahmad. Egypt had held the city for some time prior, but the siege that the Mahdists engineered and carried out from March 13, 1884, to January 26, 1885 was enough to wrest control away from the Egyptian administration.