08/17/2024
The Shilluk (Shilluk: Chollo) are a major Luo Nilotic ethnic group of Southern Sudan, living on both banks of the river Nile, in the vicinity of the city of Malakal. Before the Second Sudanese Civil War the Shilluk also lived in a number of settlements on the northern bank of the Sobat River, close to where the Sobat joins the Nile.
The Shilluk are the fourth largest ethnic group of Southern Sudan, after the Azande and their neighbours the Dinka and Nuer.
Their language is called Dhøg Cøllø, dhøg being the Shilluk word for language and mouth. It belongs to the Luo branch of the Western Nilotic subfamily of the Nilotic languages.
The Shilluk are the most northern Nilotic-speaking people in modern Africa. Shilluk country covers approximately 320 kilometers on the west bank of the White Nile, from 10° to 12° N and from 30° to 33° E. Shilluk oral traditions, however, indicate that at some time in the past their country reached to the confluence of the Blue and White Niles, the site of the modern city of Khartoum. At the time of the last official census (1956), the Shilluk were estimated to number 120,000 individuals. Most of Shilluk country is open savanna and free from the annual floods of the White Nile. The Shilluk language is most closely related to Anuak. Together, the two languages comprise a subfamily of the larger classification of Nilotic, which is spoken by different cultural groups throughout eastern Africa.
The Chollo nation comprises of about 100 different ethnic communities and clans: the indigenous people and the Luo conquerors , who double up as the most politically and socially dominant. The other important clans include kwa-Jullo kwa-Jwok (descendants of Ojwok - Nyikango’s cousin), kwa- Oboogo (Oboogo is said to have volunteered to be sacrificed in order to open up the weeds at the confluence of Nile and Bahr el Ghazal to enable the entourage proceed with their journey).
The descendents of the assimilated Otango Dirim include: kwa-nyidwai, kwa-dway, kwa-nyidhiang, kwa-mal, kwa-man, kwa-nyudho, kwa-mang , etc. Latter additions to the kingdom are kwa-mwoy , kwa-jango . These serve as social identity as well as special functions at Pachodo. The clans intermarried among each other without distinction.
However, tradition prohibits the Rath from taking as wife, a girl from among the kwa-Räth or kwa-Jullo. Each clan reproduces its own self and there is no chance for one clan changing to the other in spite of the extensive mixing resulting from marriages. However, a recalcitrant kwa-Räth clan could have its royalty removed in a special raid overseen by the reigning sovereign. They then become ordinary Shilluk .
The Shilluk ascribe to an elaborate traditional system, orally transmitted from generation to the next, in which each and every Shilluk clan, except the royals, has a defined role to play in the kingdom. They participate in the building and repairs of shrines ; the installation of the Räth. Some Shilluk traditions and customs have lost their values or originality. Most archaic traditions have been dropped, while some have lingered on although are transforming under the pressure of modernity.
The Shilluk society has evolved a material and political culture expressed in the institutions of the kingdom and the daily life activities, notwithstanding its oral nature. The kingdom rests on an elaborate system of traditions and practices that go back more than 500years. The royalty are addressed in a separate vocabulary.
The Shilluk are very particular about body cleanliness; the hair is constructed into two structures that give the impression of plates of hair on the head. They wear beads, and other decoration which include cutting dots on forehead and tattooing on the body. The Shilluk have developed music instruments: a kind of guitar (thom), flute made fom the horns of kudu (kang), (adalo), and drum (bul).
The Shilluk control and defence of the Nile channel promoted the evolution of a navy that used dug out canoes. They imported iron from the Nuba Mountains and Funj Kingdom for making spears (tong), axes (doro), knives (paalo) and hoes (kwer). The Shilluk have developed several and different types of dance: bul, thom, amagak, aya, etc., to mark different occasions. Their folklore is rich with fairy tales for children, quizzes, riddles, etc. Neighbours and Foreign Relations and Cooperation The Räth has had a moderating influence on the Shilluk and the cordial relations and mutual respect they have evolved with their neighbours: Salem Arabs in the north, Nuba in the west, Nuer in the south and Dinka and Funj in the east.
Video credit: LordNyikang
