Doleib Hill was a mission station established by the American Inland Mission in

southern Sudan South Sudan (; din, Paguot Thudän), officially the Republic of South Sudan ( din, Paankɔc Cuëny Thudän), is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered by Ethiopia, Sudan, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Con ...

, located approximately south of the city of

Malakal Malakal is a city in South Sudan. It is the capital of Upper Nile State, South Sudan, along the White Nile River. It also serves as the headquarter of Malakal county and it used to be the headquarter of Upper Nile Region from 1970s to late 1990s. ...

, on the northern bank of the

Sobat River The Sobat River is a river of the Greater Upper Nile region in northeastern South Sudan, Africa. It is the most southerly of the great eastern tributaries of the White Nile, before the confluence with the Blue Nile. Geography The Sobat River i ...

, then in the former Upper Nile province of Sudan, the present day

Upper Nile state Upper Nile is a state in South Sudan. The White Nile flowes through the state, giving it its name. The state also shares a similar name with the region of Greater Upper Nile, of which it was part along with the states of Unity and Jonglei. It ...

South Sudan South Sudan (; din, Paguot Thudän), officially the Republic of South Sudan ( din, Paankɔc Cuëny Thudän), is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered by Ethiopia, Sudan, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the ...

Early years

Doleib Hill was established during the

Anglo-Egyptian Sudan Anglo-Egyptian Sudan ( ar, السودان الإنجليزي المصري ') was a condominium of the United Kingdom and Egypt in the Sudans region of northern Africa between 1899 and 1956, corresponding mostly to the territory of present-day ...

condominium period, in the early part of the 20th century, and developed into an important educational and religious center among the

Shilluk people 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 the region. The Reverend J. Alfred Heasty lived at Doleib Hill from 1921 and became an expert on the local Shulla people and their language. The Shilluk (Shulla) were primarily herdsmen rather than farmers, measuring their wealth and social standing in cattle. They felt it was wrong to kill a cow, but would eat one that had died. The Shulla also hunted and fished and foraged for wild edible plants.

Civil wars

During the

First Sudanese Civil War The First Sudanese Civil War (also known as the Anyanya Rebellion or Anyanya I, after the name of the rebels, a term in the Madi language which means 'snake venom') was a conflict from 1955 to 1972 between the northern part of Sudan and the sou ...

(1955-1972) the school was forcibly closed by government forces. The Government of Sudan targeted the Christianized-Westernized educated elite, treating them as rebels. In July 1965 the headmaster of the girls' schools at Doleib Hill was one of the first to be tortured and then killed. The school was reopened after the Addis Ababa peace accord of 1972. The school was subsequently forced to close for a second time after the outbreak of the

Second Sudanese Civil War The Second Sudanese Civil War was a conflict from 1983 to 2005 between the central Sudanese government and the Sudan People's Liberation Army. It was largely a continuation of the First Sudanese Civil War of 1955 to 1972. Although it originated ...

(1983-2005). The school buildings were occupied as a Sudanese government garrison in 1983. In late 1986 and early 1987 rebel Anyanya-2 forces attacked Shilluk villages near Doleib Hill and Taufikia several times. Possibly as many as 600 civilians were killed. In 1991 the Lou Nuer Anyanya-2 militia was based near Doleib Hill under Yohannes Yual when it declared for Riek Machar's breakaway

SPLA-Nasir The SPLA-Nasir was a splinter faction of the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA), a rebel group that fought in the Second Sudanese Civil War. Originally created as an attempt by the Nuer tribe to replace SPLA leader John Garang in August 1991, ...

. In 1995 Riek Machar granted an amnesty to Commander Gordon Kong Banypiny, who had been convicted for using his troops in an ethnically motivated attack on

Nasir Nasir ( ar, ناصر, translit=Nāṣir) is a masculine given name, commonly found in Arabic which can mean "helper" or "one who gives victory" (grammatically the Stem I masculine singular active participle of consonantal verb root ''n-ṣ-r''). ...

, held by a different section of Nuer within the SSIA command. After trying to raise support in the Waat region, Gordon Kong fled to Doleib Hill, which was held by a government militia commanded by Mabur Dhol, a former Anyana soldier. He went on from there to Malakak where he obtained arms from the government. Since 2011 Doleib Hill has been in the northern region of the new country of

, in the Upper Nile state.

References

Populated places in Upper Nile (state) Sobat River History of Sudan History of South Sudan {{SouthSudan-geo-stub