Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Khartoum its see, the present Sudanese capital, as its southern territory was split off to establish the Apostolic Prefecture of Bahr el-Ghazal, which is now the Diocese of Wau, somewhat approximating the split between Sudan and South Sudan. However it continued to cover Niger, Chad and stretched into modern Nigeria and Cameroon. On 28 April 1914 the Apostolic Prefecture of Adamaua (now the Diocese of Nkongsamba) was formed, taking territory from the Apostolic Vicariate of Khartoum. It lost territories again to establish missionary jurisdictions becoming current dioceses : On 12 December 1974 it was promoted as Metropolitan Archdiocese of Khartoum. In
Siege of Khartoum to the north by the Blue Nile and to the west by the White Nile. To defend the river banks, he created a flotilla of gunboats from nine small paddle-wheel steamers, until then used for communication purposes, which were fitted with guns and protected by metal plates. In the southern part of the town, which faced the open desert, he prepared an elaborate system of trenches, makeshift Fougasse-type land mines, and wire entanglements. Also, the surrounding country was controlled by the Shagia tribe, which was hostile to the Mahdi. By early April 1884, the tribes north of Khartoum rose in