Anglo-Egyptian Sudan revolt culminated in the fall of Khartoum and the death of the British General Charles George Gordon (Gordon of Khartoum) in 1885. Tewfik's forces and those of the United Kingdom were forced to withdraw from almost all of Sudan with Abdalla establishing a theocratic state. Abdalla's religious government imposed traditional Islamic laws upon Sudan and stressed the need to continue the armed struggle until the British had been completely expelled from the country and all of Egypt and Sudan was under his Mahdiya. Though he died six months after the fall of Khartoum, Abdalla's call was fully echoed by his
HMS Khartoum (F45) screening and patrol duties. "Khartoum" and "Kandahar" detached with other K-class destroyers and for surveillance of Italian warship movements from Massawa on the Red Sea. In June 1940, "Khartoum" deployed in the Red Sea with sloops of the East Indies Squadron and her other sister destroyers and prepared for war service in defense of Red Sea shipping. On 10 June, after the outbreak of war, she deployed for patrol and convoy defense based at Aden. On 21 June she carried out an attack on , a , which was unsuccessful. Then on 23 June she was deployed with "Kandahar", "Kingston"