I am (finally)'. And these came to be known as the Ma'di. Early history Ma’di oral history claims Nigeria as the cradle of Ma’di people – their place of origin. According to the one commonly told oral narrative, the Ma’di people nakedleft Nigeria, moved southward until they reached Amadi, a town in southwest Sudan, where they settled. The word Amadi in Ma’di language means here we are. It also means, at our place. From this storyline by then the Ma’di and Moru were still one ethnic group. From Amadi, Ma’di people traveled eastward reaching River Nile. There they separated into two clusters – Moru and Ma’di. The Moru cluster went back – westward; the Ma’di cluster settled by the riverbank. It is believed the two clusters (groups) separated because of a squabble over a piece of groundnut. A Ma’di man found some groundnut, which he ate it alone. His Moru brother blamed him for being greedy and hence moved away from him. However today Ma’di oral history cannot specify the period during which Ma’di migrated from Nigeria to Sudan. Moreover, it cannot also bridge the missing historical link between the present-day Ma’di people and their assumed accentors – the Nigerians. None-Madi scholars who have written on Ma’di have different opinions about the origin of Ma’di. Though it has remained unclear where the Ma’di people came from, most likely they arrived to southern Sudan region, around 1400-1700 A.D. This period coincided with the migration of the Nilotic people from north to south. From one Ma’di oral history narrative, after the Ma’di and Moru parted, some Ma’di groups settled near Mount Rajaf, near the Nile. Others settled in Nyarabanga, south of Rajaf. In those places, they intermingled with Bari people. In Rajaf, the Ma’di people lived for years. As their number grew, they also dispersed into sub-groups, many of them left Rajaf. Over the years many moved southward on different routes, looking for better terrains to settle. Along the way, several groups evolved and acquired different names: Arapi, Goopi (Logopi), Logili, Mugi, Okei, Pandikeri, Patibi (Moi-ba), etc. According to one storyline, the Ma’di people found the Bari had already settled in Rajaf and Nyarabanga. Adherents to this storyline believe that the Bari have settled in Gondokoro, Rajaf and Nyarabanga, around 1600 A.D. That the Ma'di had found the Bari had already settled in Rajaf and Nyarabanga. Another commonly known narrative among Madi