SUMMARY

The Panyon Dinka is a section of the Agar Dinka of South Sudan.

The Dinka are the largest non-Arab ethnic group in Sudan and the Dinka language is the first language for about one tenth of the Sudanese population. In southern Sudan the Dinka are the largest ethnic group. They are mainly cattle pastoralists who live on either side of the White Nile and across Bahr al-Ghazal. Traditional Dinka culture follows the flooding and receding of the Nile waters.

The Agar subgroup of the Dinka is one of the many subgroups of the Dinka people. Agars occupy a relatively large area when compared to other Dinka subgroups, mainly living in the Cuelbet and Rumbek districts of the Lakes Province of South Sudan. Organized around traditional clan- and subclan- bases, the Dinka Agar are mainly semi-itinerant pastoralists, depending on their cattle stocks for their livelihood. The Agar people were described as relatively prosperous during the 1970s, with Rumbek becoming a trading center of some importance. However, the civil war in South Sudan took its toll on the community, destroying vital infrastructure, and gravely affecting the Dinka Agar. Moreover, this was coupled with infighting inside the Agar leadership in the 1980s and 1990s between various clan leaders further scarring the community.

The Panyon Dinka has been involved in the non-state category of UCDP organised violence.