NUER EXPANSION AND DINKA, ANYUAK & BURUN DISPLACEMENT SINCE 1800S.
Part I
At the begining of the eigteen century the Nuer were confined to the area presently occupied by Leek Nuer, Western Jikany Nuer, Jagei Nuer, and Dok Nuer, west of the Bahr el Jebel and north of7*21’ north latitude, cutting a hundren-mile-wide swath through the center of Dinka territory and expelling all but a few pockets of Anyuak from the Baro/Sobat river area. In all, the Nuer increased their territorial domain four-fold, from about ten thousand seven hundred to fifty-five thousand square miles. The bulk of these enormous territorial gain were secured in the short span of sixty years, during the period from 1820 to 1880.
In broad outline, eighteenth-century Nuer expansion may be described in term of two principal movements. The first of these was some sections from Jikany Nuer expansion/occupation and later known Eastern Jikany Nuer that eventuated in the establishment of an enclave on the Baro/Sobat river more than one hundred miles from the Nuer homeland (Bentiu.) This was followed by the second wave of Nuer expansion, spearheaded by the Lou Nuer, Gaawar Nuer, Thiang Nuer and Lak Nuer, that proceeded almost due east through the heart of Central Dinka terrtory to the border of the E. Jikany enclave. These two movements were independent and did not costitute elements of some coordinated strategy. On the other hand, it is evident that the Central Dinka were, in effect, flanked by the E. Jikany Nuer and caught between the two main thrusts of Nuer expanson. This undoubtedly played a role in the radidity of the "NUER CONQUEST."
The Nuer have been much more successful in appropriating the territory of neighborin Dinka, Anyuak and Burun tribes since 1800s. The Bul Nuer displaced Western Dinka Twij from their territory and occupied as theirs up to date. And the Nyuong Nuer pushed some Dinka sections Southward towards Rumbek.
The E. Jikany Nuer expansion/occupation encompassed not nly fighting men, but also woen, children, and large numbers of cattle. Such a group would have been vulnerable to attack and this may explain the roundabout rout taken by the Nuer Warriors. The area along the lower Baro/Sobat river where the E. Jikany Nuer settled was approriated from the Dongjol Dinka and Anyuak respectively, who were pushed northward and upstream from the lower Baro/Sobat river by Nuer Warriors.
The E. Jikany Nuer expansion in the eastern region was rapid and extensiv. The E. Jikany Nuer began to move up the Baro/Sobat river by 1826 and by 1860 occupied and area that extended from the high ground in the north central part of what is presently Lou Nuer territory in the West to the foothils of the Ethiopian escarpment (Gambella region) in the east. Many countless Dinka, Anyuak and Burun were assimilated into Nuer tribe by E. Jikany Nuer. While the initial E. Jikany Nuer "Coquest" was less than comlete in this respect, the extent of the territorial gains secured within a period of about fifty-five years is nevertheless remarkable. The E. Jikany Nuer domain in 1860 was about the same size as the entire Nuer homeland (Bentiu) in 1800s.
The Anyuak occupied part of what is now E. Jikany Nuer country to north of the Baro/Sobat river, part of what is now E. Jikany Nuer and Lou Nuer country to the South of the river, the banks of the Pibor to its junction with the Baro/Sobat river, and the banks of the Baro/Sobat within a few miles of Abwong. And pockets of Nuer who admit their Anyuak origin are to be found along at the mouth of the Nyanding and elsewhere on the Baro/Sobat river.
Part II will mainly focus on how and why the Lak Nuer, Thiang Nuer, Gaawar Nuer and Lou Nuer displaced and/or assimilated the Central Dinka and Anyuak of Akobo and Gilo river respectively. Where they became Jaang-Nuer/Dinka-Nuer. "Ci ka Naath"
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