The Luo History:- Origin and Regions of The Luo People
The Luo people emerged from the Semitic-speaking, Nilo-Saharan-speaking, Cushitic-speaking people. The Luo were originally a light-skinned community with the culture of Egypt (Tekidi), Kush and Meroe.
They migrated to Kar Thum (Khartoum) to Wau in the Bar-el Ghazal region in South Sudan. It was here that they met a dark-skinned people who referred to them as Jur Chol (the aliens passing through the blacks).
Between 990-1125, the Luos were in Sudan and then a series of calamities, including a serious outbreak of anthrax (‘opere’) and population explosion whipped out the entire livestock that were owned by the tribe of the Anu which was darker, and preferred both livestock and crop production.
Following this incident, the community resorted to fishing along the Aora Nalo (the River Nile) for survival and this is how the Luo earned the name Jo-Oluo-Aora (people who follow the river) which, in the course of time came to be shortened to Luwo or Luo.
South Sudan is hence the first place that the Jo-Luo were first referred as such, the subsequent birthplace of the Luo nation. This explains why most tales of the origin of the Luo nation start from South Sudan at Dog nam (the Acholi equivalent of dhowath/ dho nam which is the Dholuo for the mouth of the lake – that is, a lake shore).
Whereas there is no agreement on which lake it is, most historians identify it as Lake No or River Palugo, or what the Arabs called the ; Sea of Gazelle (Bar-el Ghazal). The three are the same thing.
According to oral tradition, the Luo lived in Eastern Bar-el-Ghazal until the year 1300 when they dispersed because of quarrel among the three brothers: Nyikang’o, Dimo and Gilo. Feuds within the homestead triggered by a power struggle led to a split and subsequently, separate history of the three groups.
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