History of the Acholi People

Acholi is an ethnic group from districts of Gulu, Amuru, Kitgum and Pader in northern Uganda.  These territories are commonly called "Acholiland". According to the 1991 Uganda census, there were 746,796 Acholi in Uganda and an additional 45,000 Acholi live outside of Uganda, mostly in Magwe County in southern Sudan.
The Acholi are a Luo people, a group of related African ethnic groups, who are said to have come to northern Uganda from the area now known as Bahr el Ghazal in southern Sudan. Starting in the late 17th century, a new sociopolitical order developed among the Luo of northern Uganda, mainly characterized by the formation of chiefdoms headed by Rwodi (meaingin the 'ruler'). By the mid-19th century, about 60 small chiefdoms existed in eastern Acholiland. During the second half of the nineteenth century Arabic-speaking traders from the north started to call them Shooli, a term which transformed into 'Acholi'.