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}}{{#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=Template:Main other|preview=Page using Template:Infobox ethnic group with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y | caption | flag |flag_alt | flag_border | flag_caption | flag_upright | footnotes | genealogy | group | image |image_alt | image_caption | image_upright | langs | languages | native_name | native_name_lang | pop | pop_embed | pop1 | pop10 | pop11 | pop12 | pop13 | pop14 | pop15 | pop16 | pop17 | pop18 | pop19 | pop2 | pop20 | pop21 | pop22 | pop23 | pop24 | pop25 | pop26 | pop27 | pop28 | pop29 | pop3 | pop30 | pop31 | pop32 | pop33 | pop34 | pop35 | pop36 | pop37 | pop38 | pop39 | pop4 | pop40 | pop41 | pop42 | pop43 | pop44 | pop45 | pop46 | pop47 | pop48 | pop49 | pop5 | pop50 | pop6 | pop7 | pop8 | pop9 | popplace | population | rawimage | ref1 | ref10 | ref11 | ref12 | ref13 | ref14 | ref15 | ref16 | ref17 | ref18 | ref19 | ref2 | ref20 | ref21 | ref22 | ref23 | ref24 | ref25 | ref26 | ref27 | ref28 | ref29 | ref3 | ref30 | ref31 | ref32 | ref33 | ref34 | ref35 | ref36 | ref37 | ref38 | ref39 | ref4 | ref40 | ref41 | ref42 | ref43 | ref44 | ref45 | ref46 | ref47 | ref48 | ref49 | ref5 | ref50 | ref6 | ref7 | ref8 | ref9 | region1 | region10 | region11 | region12 | region13 | region14 | region15 | region16 | region17 | region18 | region19 | region2 | region20 | region21 | region22 | region23 | region24 | region25 | region26 | region27 | region28 | region29 | region3 | region30 | region31 | region32 | region33 | region34 | region35 | region36 | region37 | region38 | region39 | region4 | region40 | region41 | region42 | region43 | region44 | region45 | region46 | region47 | region48 | region49 | region5 | region50 | region6 | region7 | region8 | region9 | regions | related | related_groups | related-c | religions | rels | tablehdr | total | total_ref | total_source | total_year | total1 | total1_ref | total1_source | total1_year | total2 | total2_ref | total2_source | total2_year | total3 | total3_ref | total3_source | total3_year }}Template:Main other The Nilotic peoples are peoples indigenous to South Sudan and the Nile Valley who speak Nilotic languages. They inhabit South Sudan and the Gambela Region of Ethiopia, while also being a large minority in Kenya, Uganda, the north eastern border area of Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Tanzania.Template:Sfn<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The Nilotic peoples consist of the Dinka, the Nuer, the Shilluk, the Luo peoples, the Alur, the Anuak, the Ateker peoples, the Kalenjin people and the Karamojong people also known as the Karamojong or Karimojong,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>, Ngasa people, Datooga, Samburu, and the Maa-speaking peoples.
The Nilotes constitute the majority of the population in South Sudan while constituting a substantial minority in the countries of Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya. South Sudan is the area that is believed to be their original point of dispersal, as they constitute the second-most numerous group of peoples inhabiting the African Great Lakes region around the East African Rift.Template:Sfn They make up a notable part of the population of North eastern Democratic Republic of Congo as well. Nilotic people are believed to numbered 50 million in the 21st century.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
The Nilotic people primarily adhere to Christianity and traditional beliefs, with the majority of them being Christians. A small minority of Nilotes practice the religion of Islam.
NameEdit
The terms "Nilotic" and "Nilote"' were previously used as racial subclassifications, based on anthropological observations of the supposed distinct body morphology of many Nilotic speakers. Twentieth-century social scientists have largely discarded such efforts to classify peoples according to physical characteristics, in favor of using linguistic studies to distinguish among peoples. They formed ethnicities and cultures based on a shared language.Template:Sfn Since the late 20th century, however, social and physical scientists are making use of data from population genetics.Template:SfnTemplate:Verify source
Nilotic and Nilote are now mainly used to refer to the various disparate people who speak languages in the same Nilotic language family. Etymologically, the terms Nilotic and Nilote (singular nilot) derive from the Nile Valley; specifically, the Upper Nile and its tributaries, where most Sudanese Nilo-Saharan-speaking people live.Template:Sfn
Ethnic and linguistic divisionsEdit
LanguagesEdit
{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} Template:Further Linguistically, Nilotic people are divided into three subgroups:
- Eastern Nilotic – Spoken by Nilotic populations in southwestern Ethiopia, eastern South Sudan, northeastern Uganda, western Kenya, and northern Tanzania, it includes languages such as Turkana and Maasai.
- Southern Nilotic – Spoken by Nilotic populations in western Kenya, northern Tanzania, and eastern Uganda, it includes Kalenjin and Datog.
- Western Nilotic – Spoken by Nilotic populations in South Sudan, Sudan, northeastern Congo (DRC), northern Uganda, southwestern Kenya, northern Tanzania, and southwestern Ethiopia, it includes the Dinka-Nuer languages, Luo languages, and the Burun languages.
- Dinka–Nuer-Atwot
- Luo languages
- Burun languages
Ethnic groupsEdit
Nilotic people constitute the bulk of the population of South Sudan. The largest of the Sudanese Nilotic peoples are the Dinka, who have as many as 25 ethnic subdivisions. The next-largest groups are the Nuer, followed by the Shilluk.Template:Sfn
Nilotic people in Uganda includes the Luo peoples (Acholi, Alur, Adhola), the Ateker peoples (Iteso, Kumam, Karamojong, Lango people who despite speaking a mixture of Luo words, have Atekere origins, Sebei, and Kakwa).
In East Africa, the Nilotes are often subdivided into three general groups:
- The Plain Nilotes speak Maa languages and include the Maasai, Samburu, and Turkana peoplesTemplate:Sfn
- The River Lake Nilotes include the Joluo (Kenyan Luo), who are part of the larger Luo groupTemplate:Sfn
- The Highland Nilotes are subdivided into two groups, the Kalenjin and the Datog.
HistoryEdit
Proto-Nilotic foundationsEdit
Archaeological evidence from the Lower Wadi Howar—a now-extinct river system that once flowed west of the Nile—points to the presence of mobile pastoralist communities during the Mid-Holocene (c. 6000–4000 BCE).<ref name="Becker 2011">Becker, E. (2011). The prehistoric inhabitants of the Wadi Howar. Germany: Verlag nicht ermittelbar.</ref><ref name="Dimmendaal 2007">Dimmendaal, G. J. (2007). Eastern Sudanic and the Wadi Howar and Wadi El Milk diaspora. University of Cologne.</ref> Scholars argue that these ancestral populations inhabited the Lower Wadi Howar region.<ref name="Dimmendaal 2007"/> These groups practiced cattle herding, fishing, and limited agriculture, and exhibited strong cultural links with pre-Kerma societies of the Nubian Nile Valley.<ref>Author. (2013). 'I Hope Your Cattle are Well': Archaeological Evidence for Early Cattle-centred Behaviour in the Eastern Sahara of Sudan and Chad. In M. Bollig, M. Schnegg, & H.-P. Wotzka (Eds.), Pastoralism in Africa - Past, Present and Future (pp. 66–103). Berghahn Books.</ref> Artifacts such as herringbone-incised pottery, cattle burials, and signs of long-distance trade suggest their integration into a broader Eastern Sudanic cultural sphere.<ref name="Becker 2011"/><ref name="Dimmendaal 2007"/> As the Sahara underwent increasing aridification after 4000 BCE, these populations gradually migrated eastward and southward into the Nile Valley and White Nile basin, laying early demographic and cultural foundations for what would become the Nilotic-speaking peoples.
OriginsEdit
Template:Further Template:Anchor Template:Anchor The formation of a proto-Nilotic identity—distinct from an earlier, broader Eastern Sudanic unity—is thought to have emerged by the third millennium BCE, likely associated with the development of pastoralism. Linguistic models propose that this group originated somewhere east of the Nile, in present-day South Sudan.Template:Sfn However, this is complicated by archaeological evidence placing culturally Nilotic populations firmly within the Nile Valley—from Kadero to Meroë—by the early third millennium BCE, indicating a wider and more integrated presence.
Archaeological and historical evidence suggests that early populations closely related to the Nilotic peoples were long-established in the Nile Valley, with significant cultural and genetic links to the Nubians of Northern Sudan and Southern Egypt. These communities likely contributed to the development of major civilizations such as the Kingdom of Kush—including Kerma, Napata, and Meroë—and the later Christian kingdoms of Makuria, Nobatia, and Alodia.Template:Sfn Genetic and archaeological studies indicate that Nubians were originally a population closely related to Nilotic groups,Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn who later received gene flow from Middle Eastern and East African populations.Template:Sfn
One of the earliest known archaeological sites associated with a pastoralist culture bearing Nilotic characteristics is Kadero, located about 48 km north of modern Khartoum, on the east bank of the Nile just upstream from the confluence with the Blue Nile. Dating to around 3000 BCE, Kadero reveals a cattle-herding society that also practiced seed cultivation and fishing.Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn The site contains burial remains with distinct sub-Saharan African features and evidence of long-distance trade, artistry, and mixed subsistence strategies—an economic pattern still observed among later Nilotic groups.Template:Sfn
AntiquityEdit
By the 2nd century, descriptions in Ptolemy’s Geography (c. 150 CE), situates a group called the Memnones between the Nile and the Blue Nile (Astapos), near the region of Meroë.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Classical authors often associated this area with mythic "Ethiopians" or descendants of Memnon—a Homeric figure representing powerful peoples of the Upper Nile. While the term "Memnones" is mythologically derived, its geographic placement in the text overlaps with the historical heartland of early Nilotic-speaking populations, particularly south of Khartoum in the White Nile basin.
Expansion out of central SudanEdit
The Nilotic expansion from Central regions of the Sudan like the Gezira into the rest of South Sudan seems to have begun between the 5th-11th centuries. Some of these later migrations coincided with the collapse of the Christian Nubian kingdoms of Makuria and Alodia and the penetration of Arab traders into central Sudan. From the Arabs, the South Sudanese may have obtained new breeds of humpless cattle.Template:Sfn Archaeologist Roland Oliver notes that the period also shows an Iron Age beginning among the Nilotic. These factors may explain how the Nilotic speakers expanded to dominate the region.
Expansion into East AfricaEdit
Following their expansion across South Sudan during the first millennium CE, Nilotic-speaking pastoralists began settling further east into the highlands and Rift Valley of what is now Kenya and northern Tanzania. This movement, which accelerated from the 13th century onward, corresponds with the emergence of the Pastoral Iron Age in East Africa—a transformative period marked by new forms of livestock management, iron technology, and territorial consolidation.
Genetic studies of ancient remains from Kenya and Tanzania show that Pastoral Iron Age communities were distinct from their earlier Pastoral Neolithic predecessors. The latter were composed of approximately 40% Nilotic-related ancestry (similar to the Dinka), 40% ancestry from northeastern Africa (likely from the Horn or Levant), and 20% from indigenous foragers. By contrast, Pastoral Iron Age individuals show up to 60% Nilotic-related ancestry, indicating a renewed demographic and cultural expansion by Nilotic-speaking groups during this period.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
These developments are reflected archaeologically in the rise of the Sirikwa culture (c.1200 to 1800 CE), a widespread agropastoral tradition centered on the Uasin Gishu plateau and surrounding western highlands. The Sirikwa economy emphasized dairying and seasonal herd mobility, supported by fortified settlements featuring distinctive cattle enclosures ("Sirikwa holes"), defensive gate systems, and irrigation features—pointing to a highly organized and sedentary pastoral society.
ShillukEdit
By the 16th century, the most powerful group among the Nilotic speakers were the Cøllø, called Shilluk by Arabs and Europeans, who spread east to the banks of the white Nile under the legendary leadership of Nyikang,Template:Sfn who is said to have ruled Läg Cøllø c from around 1490 to 1517.Template:Sfn The Cøllø gained control of the west bank of the river as far north as Kosti in Sudan. There they established an economy based on cattle raising, cereal farming, and fishing, with small villages located along the length of the river.Template:Sfn The Cøllø developed an intensive system of agriculture. The Cøllø lands in the 17th century had a population density similar to that of the Egyptian Nile lands.Template:Sfn
One theory is that pressure from the Cøllø drove the Funj people north, who would establish the Sultanate of Sennar. The Dinka remained in the Sudd area, maintaining their transhumance economy.Template:Sfn
While the Dinka were protected and isolated from their neighbours, the Cøllø were more involved in international affairs. The Cøllø controlled the west bank of the White Nile, but the other side was controlled by the Funj sultanate, with regular conflict between the two. The Cøllø had the ability to quickly raid outside areas by war canoe, and had control of the waters of the Nile. The Funj had a standing army of armoured cavalry, and this force allowed them to dominate the plains of the sahel.
Cøllø traditions tell of Rädh Odak Ocollo who ruled around 1630 and led them in a three-decade war with Sennar over control of the White Nile trade routes. The Cøllø allied with the Sultanate of Darfur and the Kingdom of Takali against the Funj, but the capitulation of Takali ended the war in the Funj's favour. In the later 17th century, the Cøllø and Funj allied against the Dinka, who rose to power in the border area between the Funj and Cøllø.Template:Sfn
The Cøllø political structure gradually centralized under the a king or reth. The most important is Rädh Tugø (son of Rädh Dhøköödhø) who ruled from circa 1690 to 1710 and established the Cøllø capital of Fashoda. The same period had the gradual collapse of the Funj sultanate, leaving the Cøllø in complete control of the White Nile and its trade routes. The Cøllø military power was based on control of the river.Template:Sfn
Geographical barriers protected the southerners from Islam's advance, enabling them to retain their social and cultural heritage and their political and religious institutions. The Dinka people were especially secure in the Sudd marshlands, which protected them from outside interference, and allowed them to remain secure without a large armed forces. The Shilluk, Azande, and Bari people had more regular conflicts with neighbouring states.Template:Sfn
Western Nilotic settlement in East AfricaEdit
For various reasons, slow and multigenerational migrations of Nilotic Luo peoples occurred from South Sudan into Uganda and western Kenya from at least 1000 AD, and continuing until the early 20th century.Template:Sfn
Oral history and genealogical evidence have been used to estimate timelines of Luo expansion into and within Kenya and Tanzania. Four major waves of migrations into the former Nyanza province in Kenya are discernible starting with the people of Jok (Joka Jok), which is estimated to have begun around 1490–1517.Template:Sfn
Joka Jok were the first and largest wave of migrants into northern Nyanza. These migrants settled at a place called Ramogi Hill, then expanded around northern Nyanza. The people of Owiny' (Jok'Owiny) and the people of Omolo (Jok'Omolo) followed soon after (1598-1625).Template:Sfn
A miscellaneous group composed of the Suba, Sakwa, Asembo, Uyoma, and Kano then followed. The Suba originally were Bantu-speaking people who assimilated into Luo culture. They fled from the Buganda Kingdom in Uganda after the civil strife that followed the murder of the 24th Kabaka of Buganda in the mid-18th century and settled in South Nyanza, especially at Rusinga and Mfangano islands.Template:Sfn Luo speakers crossed Winam Gulf of Lake Victoria from northern Nyanza into South Nyanza starting in the early 17th century.Template:Sfn
Eastern Nilotic settlement in East AfricaEdit
The Maasai inhabit the African Great Lakes region and arrived via South Sudan.<ref name="Okothndaloh">A. Okoth & A. Ndaloh, Peak Revision K.C.P.E. Social Studies, East African, p.60–61.</ref> Most Nilotic speakers in the area, including the Maasai, the Turkana and the Kalenjin, are pastoralists and have a reputation as fearsome warriors and cattle rustlers.<ref name="Okothndaloh" /> The Maasai and other groups in East Africa have adopted customs and practices from neighbouring Cushitic-speaking groups, including the age-set system of social organisation, circumcision, and vocabulary terms.<ref name="Collins">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="Wandi">S. Wandibba et al., p.19–20.</ref>Template:Full citation needed
Many ethnic groups that had already formed settlements in the region were forcibly displacedTemplate:When by the incoming Maasai.<ref name=":1">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Other, mainly Southern Cushitic groups, were assimilated into Maasai society. The Nilotic ancestors of the Kalenjin likewise absorbed some early Cushitic populations.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
The Maasai territory reached its largest size in the mid-19th century and covered almost all of the Great Rift Valley and adjacent lands from Mount Marsabit in the north to Dodoma in the south.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> At this time the Maasai, as well as the larger Nilotic group they were part of, raised cattle as far east as the Tanga coast in Tanganyika (now mainland Tanzania). Raiders used spears and shields but were most feared for throwing clubs (orinka) which could be accurately thrown from up to 70 paces (approx. 100 metres). In 1852, there was a report of a concentration of 800 Maasai warriors on the move in what is now Kenya. In 1857, after having depopulated the "Wakuafi wilderness" in what is now southeastern Kenya, Maasai warriors threatened Mombasa on the Kenyan coast.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Because of this migration, the Maasai are the southernmost Nilotic speakers.
Southern Nilotic settlement in East AfricaEdit
Starting in the mid-19th century, European anthropologists and later Kenyan historians have been interested in the origins of human migration from various parts of Africa into East Africa. One of the more notable broad-based theories emanating from these studies includes the Bantu expansion. The main tools of study have been linguistics, archaeology and oral traditions.
The significance of tracing individual clan histories in order to get an idea of Kalenjin groups formation has been shown by scholars such as B.E. Kipkorir (1978). He argued that the Tugen first settled in small clan groups, fleeing from war, famine, and disease, and that they arrived from western, eastern, and northern sections. Even a section among the Tugen claims to have come from Mount Kenya.Template:Sfn
The Nandi account on the settlement of Nandi displays a similar manner of occupation of the Nandi territory. The Kalenjin clans who moved into and occupied the Nandi area, thus becoming the Nandi tribe, came from a wide array of Kalenjin-speaking areas.Template:Sfn
Apparently, spatial core areas existed to which people moved and concentrated over the centuries, and in the process evolved into the individual Kalenjin communities known today by adopting migrants and assimilating original inhabitants.Template:Sfn
Several early ethnographic accounts from the various Kalenjin sub tribes point to Tulwetab/Tulwop Kony (Mount Elgon) as their original point of settlement in Kenya.Template:Sfn This point of origin appears as a central theme in most narratives recorded after the colonial period. One of the more famous accounts states:
... The Kalenjin originated from a country in the north known as Emet ab Burgei, which means, the warm country. The people are said to have traveled southwards passing through Mount Elgon or Tulwet ab Kony in Kalenjin. The Sabaot settled around the slopes of the mountain while the others travelled on in search of better land. The Keiyo and Marakwet settled in Kerio Valley and Cherangani Hills. The Pokot settled on the northern side of Mount Elgon and later spread to areas north of Lake Baringo. At Lake Baringo, the Tugen separated from the Nandi and the Kipsigis. This was during a famine known as Kemeutab Reresik, which means, famine of the bats. It is said that during this famine a bat brought blades of green grass which was taken as a sign of good omen signifying that famine could be averted through movement to greener pastures. The Tugen moved and settled around Tugen Hills while the Kipsigis and the Lembus Nandi moved to Rongai area. The Kipsigis and Nandi are said to have lived as a united group for a long time but eventually were forced to separate due to antagonistic environmental factors. Some of these were droughts and invasion of the Maasai from Uasin Gishu.Template:Sfn
Culture and religionEdit
Most Nilotes continue to practice pastoralism, migrating on a seasonal basis with their herds of livestock.Template:Sfn Some tribes are also known for a tradition of cattle raiding.Template:Sfn
Through lengthy interaction with neighbouring peoples, the Nilotes in East Africa have adopted many customs and practices from Southern Cushitic groups. The latter include the age set system of social organization, circumcision, and vocabulary terms.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn
In terms of religious beliefs, Nilotes primarily adhere to traditional faiths, Christianity and Islam. The Dinka religion has a pantheon of deities. The Supreme, Creator God is Nhialic, who is the God of the sky and rain, and the ruler of all the spirits.Template:Sfn He is believed to be present in all of creation, and to control the destiny of every human, plant, and animal on Earth. Nhialic is also known as Jaak, Juong, or Dyokin by other Nilotic groups, such as the Nuer and Shilluk. Dengdit or Deng, is the sky God of rain and fertility, empowered by Nhialic.Template:Sfn
Deng's mother is Abuk, the patron goddess of gardening and all women, represented by a snake.Template:Sfn Garang, another deity, is believed or assumed by some Dinka to be a god suppressed by Deng. His spirits can cause most Dinka women, and some men, to scream. The term Jok refers to a group of ancestral spirits.
In the Lotuko mythology, the chief God is called Ajok. He is generally seen as kind and benevolent, but can be angered. He once reportedly answered a woman's prayer for the resurrection of her son. Her husband, however, was angry and killed the child. According to the Lotuko religion, Ajok was annoyed by the man's actions and swore never to resurrect any Lotuko again. As a result, death was said to have become permanent.
GeneticsEdit
Y DNAEdit
A Y-chromosome study by Wood et al. (2005) tested various populations in Africa for paternal lineages, including 26 Maasai and 9 Luo from Kenya, and 9 Alur from the Democratic Republic of Congo. The signature Nilotic paternal marker Haplogroup A3b2 was observed in 27% of the Maasai, 22% of the Alur, and 11% of the Luo.Template:Sfn
Haplogroup B is another characteristically Nilotic paternal marker.Template:Sfn It was found in 22% of Luo samples, 8% of Maasai, and 50% of Nuer peoples.Template:Sfn The E1b1b haplogroup has been observed at overall frequencies around 11% among Nilo-Saharan-speaking groups in the Great Lakes area,Template:Sfn with this influence concentrated among the Maasai (50%).Template:Sfn This is indicative of substantial historic gene flow from Cushitic-speaking males into these Nilo-Saharan-speaking populations.Template:Sfn 67% of the Alur samples possessed the E2 haplogroup.Template:Sfn
The Y-DNA of populations in the Sudan region were studied, with various local Nilotic groups included for comparison. The signature Nilotic A and B clades were the most common paternal lineages amongst the Nilo-Saharan speakers, except those inhabiting western Sudan. There, a prominent North African influence was noted.Template:Sfn
Haplogroup A was observed amongst 62% of Dinka, 53.3% of Shilluk, 46.4% of Nuba, 33.3% of Nuer, 31.3% of Fur, and 18.8% of Masalit. Haplogroup B was found in 50% of Nuer, 26.7% of Shilluk, 23% of Dinka, 14.3% of Nuba, 3.1% of Fur, and 3.1% of Masalit. The E1b1b clade was also observed in 71.9% of the Masalit, 59.4% of the Fur, 39.3% of the Nuba, 20% of the Shilluk, 16.7% of the Nuer, and 15% of the Dinka.Template:Sfn Balemi (2018) found that a sample of 50 Nuer carried e1b1b-M78 (32%), A-M13 (28%), B-M60 (24%) and F-M89 (4%).
Solomon Balemi (2018) Genetic Study of LCT- Enhancer, Y chromosome and Mitochondrial DNA Variation in Some Ethnic Groups in Ethiopia.
The atypically high frequencies of the haplogroup in the Masalit was attributed to either a recent population bottleneck, which likely altered the community's original haplogroup diversity, or to geographical proximity to E1b1b's place of origin in North Africa. The clade "might have been brought to Sudan [...] after the progressive desertification of the Sahara around 6,000–8,000 years ago".Template:Sfn Similarly, Afro-Asiatic influence was seen in the Nilotic Datog of northern Tanzania, 43% of whom carried the M293 subclade of E1b1b.Template:Sfn
mtDNAEdit
Unlike the paternal DNA of Nilotes, the maternal lineages of Nilotes in general show low-to-negligible amounts of Afro-Asiatic and other extraneous influences. An mtDNA study examined the maternal ancestry of various Nilotic populations in Kenya, with Turkana, Samburu, Maasai, and Luo individuals sampled. The mtDNA of almost all of the tested Nilotes belonged to various sub-Saharan macro-haplogroup L subclades, including L0, L2, L3, L4, and L5. Low levels of maternal gene flow from North Africa and the Horn of Africa were observed in a few groups, mainly by the presence of mtDNA haplogroup M and haplogroup I lineages in about 12.5% of the Maasai and 7% of the Samburu samples, respectively.Template:Sfn
Autosomal DNAEdit
The autosomal DNA of Nilotic peoples has been examined in a study on the genetic clusters of various populations in Africa. According to the researchers, Nilotes generally form their own African genetic cluster, although relatively most closely related to other Nilo-Saharan populations, more distantly followed by Afro-Asiatic speakers and Niger-Congo speakers. The authors also found that certain Nilotic populations in the eastern Great Lakes region, such as the Maasai, showed some additional Afro-Asiatic affinities due to repeated assimilation of Cushitic-speaking peoples over the past 5000 or so years.Template:Sfn
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Overall, Nilotic people and other Nilo-Saharan groups are closely related to Afro-Asiatic speakers of North and East Africa. Both groups are inferred to have diverged from a common ancestor around 16,000 years ago. Nilotic people and other Nilo-Saharan groups are also closely related to Niger-Congo speakers of West and Central Africa. Both groups are inferred to have diverged from a common ancestor around 28,000 years ago, perhaps somewhere in the Sahel.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Most Nilotic peoples have predominant to exclusive West/East African ancestry, although some groups display varying degrees of West-Eurasian admixture, mostly mediated indirectly through pastoralists from the Horn of Africa.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
Admixture analysisEdit
In 121 African populations, four African American populations, and 60 non-African populations, results indicated a high degree of mixed ancestry reflecting migration events. In East Africa, all population groups examined had elements of Nilotic, Cushitic and Bantu ancestry amongst others to varying degrees. By and large, genetic clusters were consistent with linguistic classification with notable exceptions including the Luo of Kenya. Despite being Nilo-Saharan speakers, the Luo cluster with the Niger-Kordofanian-speaking populations that surround them. This indicates a high degree of admixture occurred during the southward migration of southern Luo. Kalenjin groups and Maasai groups were found to have less Bantu ancestry, but significant Cushitic ancestry.Template:Sfn
PhysiologyEdit
Physically, Nilotes are noted for their typically very dark skin color and skinny, and occasionally tall bodies. They often possess exceptionally long limbs, particularly their distal segments (fore arms, lower legs). This characteristic is thought to be a climatic adaptation to allow their bodies to shed heat more efficiently.Template:Citation needed<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Sudanese Nilotes are regarded as one of the tallest peoples in the world. Average values of Template:Convert for height and Template:Convert for weight were seen in a sample of Sudanese Shilluk.Template:Sfn Another sample of Sudanese Dinka had a stature/weight ratio of Template:Convert and Template:Convert, with an extremely ectomorphic somatotype of 1.6–3.5–6.2.
In terms of facial features, the nasal profile most common amongst Nilotic populations is broad, with characteristically high index values ranging from 86.9 to 92.0. Lower nasal indices are often found amongst Nilotes who inhabit the more southerly Great Lakes region, such as the Maasai, which is attributed to genetic differences.Template:Sfn
Additionally, the Nilotic groups presently inhabiting the African Great Lakes region are sometimes smaller in stature than those residing in the Sudan region. Measurements of Template:Convert and Template:Convert were found in a sample of agricultural Turkana in northern Kenya, and of Template:Convert and Template:Convert in pastoral Turkana.Template:Sfn A height of Template:Convert was seen for Maasai in southern Kenya, with an extreme trunk/leg length ratio of 47.7.Template:Sfn
Many Nilotic groups excel in long- and middle-distance running. This sporting prowess may be related to their exceptional running economy, a function of slim body morphology and very long, slender legs (particularly lower legs, i.e., calf muscles and ankles.).Template:Sfn For 404 elite Kenyan distance runners, 76% of the international-class respondents identified as part of the Kalenjin ethnic group and 79% spoke a Nilotic language.Template:Sfn
See alsoEdit
- Shanqella, historical Ethiopian term for persons of Nilotic origin
- Junubi, North Sudanese term for people from South Sudan
- Nilotic languages
- Dinka People
NotesEdit
ReferencesEdit
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