The British influenced the Sudan, and had claimed it as a "Joint Anglo-Egyptian Condominion". In general, the British were behind the rule of the Khedives of the Muhammad Ali Pasha dynasty in Egypt. At the time of the Mahdi, Egypt and the Sudan were ruled jointly by Tewfik Pasha as recognised by the Ottoman Empire, and by the British. Britain's claim to the Sudan led to British forces being sent there after the Mahdi had beaten the forces of the Khedive. The British government appointed General Charles George Gordon ("Gordon pasha") to be Governor General of the Sudan, and that led to his famous death in Khartoum at the hands of the Mahdi's forces.