Throughout history, various individuals have claimed to be The Mahdī. These have included Muhammad Jaunpuri, founder of the Mahdavia sect; the Báb (Siyyid Ali Muhammad), founder of Bábism; Muhammad Ahmad, who established the Mahdist State in Sudan in the late 19th century; Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, founder of the Ahmadiyya movement; and Riaz Ahmed Gohar Shahi, and, in the early 21st century, we find Dr John Pope-de-Locksley proclaiming himself to be The Mahdī.
