 Then, General Kitchener proceeded to order the destruction of the Mahdi's tomb and in the words of Winston Churchill, "carried off the Mahdi's head in a kerosene can as a trophy".Kitchener restored Khartoum as the capital and, from 1899 until 1956 Sudan was jointly governed by Great Britain and Egypt.Although most of the city was destroyed in the battle, the Mahdi's tomb was restored and refurbished.