According to Shilluk folk history and neighboring accounts, the kingdom was founded by Nyikang, who probably lived in the second half of the 15th century.

A Nilotic people, the Shilluk managed to establish a centralized kingdom that reached its apogee in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, during the decline of the northern Funj Sultanate.

In the 19th century, the Shilluk were affected by military assaults from the Ottoman Empire, resulting in the destruction of the kingdom in the early 1860s.

The Shilluk monarchy and the beliefs of its people was studied in 1911 by Charles Seligman and in 1916 by British anthropologist James George Frazer in The Golden Bough.

[4] The kingdom was located along a strip of land along the western and eastern bank of the White Nile and Sobat River, from Lake No to about 12° north latitude.

This (and a belief by many Shilluk) suggests a common origin with the Acholi, another ethnic group living on the Ugandan-South Sudanese and Luo in Tanzania, Kenya, DRC, Chad, CAR and Ethiopia (Anuak) borders.

Like most Nilotic peoples of South Sudan (such as the Nuer and Dinka), the Shilluk practiced subsistence semi-nomadic cattle breeding and some grain farming.

Their cultivation of durra, a variety of sorghum, made them a relatively prosperous agricultural people except during prolonged droughts.

Facing defeat, Nyikang left his homeland with his retinue and migrated northeast to Wau (near the Bahr el Ghazal, "river of gazelles" in Arabic).

[6] During the 17th century, to ensure a surplus of resources the Shilluk raided and looted neighbouring populations north and south along the White Nile.

The portion of the valley of the White Nile between the villages of Muomo and Asalaya was unfavourable for agriculture; however, the northern savannah provided an abundance of game, fish and honey.

By 1630, the Dinka south and west of the Shilluk country had invaded the southern border of the Sultanate of Sennar.

This era marked the beginning of Shilluk economic ties to other groups (Funj, Arabs, European merchants and Mahdists).

After 1650 the Shilluk population (despite its diversity) appeared to gain a sense of national unity, accompanied by a strengthening of royal authority.

Looting continued upstream along the White Nile in Dinka territory and westward to the Nuba Mountains.

King Tugø (Rädh Tugø) (c. 1690–1710), son of Rädh Dhøköödhø, founded Fashoda as the permanent residence of the Shilluk kings and set up elaborate rituals and investiture ceremonies.The Shilluk Kingdom reached its peak in the 18th century,[6] as the Sultanate of Sennar declined in power.

The Shilluk kings took the disappearance of Sennar from the political scene as an opportunity to strengthen their position on the northern frontier.

[citation needed] The Shilluk Kingdom expanded its territory up to the confluence of the Blue and White Nile, where Khartoum was later built, and defeated numerous attempted invasions by the northern peoples.

That year, the Turkish-Egyptian troops of Ismail Pasha also put a final end to the Sultanate of Funj.

During the reign of Reth Nyokwejø (Yör, Nyokwejø wäd Kwondïd (Nyikwëyø) kwar Okonø wäd Tugø) (c. 1780–1820) a united force of Dinka and Nuer crossed the river Sobat, which cost the Shilluk total control of the White Nile.

In the latter context, pödhø refers to a group of villages inhabited by several lineages which unite for mutual defense under a single leader.

A traditional dwelling consists of two huts (gol) separated by a small space enclosed by millet stalks or coarse grass mats.

The conscripted army crossed the river to battle, except for Prince Duwadh (Dïwäädø wäd Ocøllø).

The Shilluk focus on a figure who lived so long ago his life is shrouded in myth: King Nyikang.

[23][a] Okwa was said to have visited a riverbank and saw two beautiful young women, Nyakayo (Nyikaayø) and Ongwak, coming out of the water.

[23] A popular belief connects the confluence of the River Sobat and the White Nile with Nyakayo's home.

[24] The death of Okwa (Okwä) began a feud between Nyikang (Nyikaangø) and his brother Duwat (Dïwäädø) about monarchical succession.

After many days of travel, the migrant group arrived in a land ruled by Dim (Dïmø), a sorcerer.

The fugitives settled near where the Sobat River flowed into the White Nile, and founded the Shilluk Kingdom.