The Hadendoa were traditionally a pastoral people, ruled by a hereditary chief, called a Ma'ahes. One of the best-known chiefs was a Mahdist general named Osman Digna. He led them in the battles, from 1883 to 1898, against the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan- Britain and Egypt were exercising joint sovereignty in Sudan. They fought the British infantry square in many battles, such as in the Battle of Tamai in 1884 and in the Battle of Tofrek in 1885 and earned an enviable reputation for their bravery. After the reconquest of the Egyptian Sudan (1896–98),the Hadendoa accepted the new order without demur.