Peter Lanyon (Letters, 25 January) states that the British should “cough up some funds to sort out the lasting problems” in South Sudan, caused, apparently, by British rule in the last century. He says, “We made enough money out of it as the imperial power.” How much was that? From 1885 to 1898 the Sudan was subject to the “Mad Mahdi” and then the caliph, both of whom maintained a theocratic state on the Sudanese people, characterised by an intolerant, radical Islam. Christianity was persecuted of course, along with Animists and lukewarm Muslims. The administration and economy collapsed (as in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan before 2001), and the population plummeted from about 7-8 million to 2-3 million due to the consequent disorder and disease. In 189