Place:West, Cameroon

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NameWest
Alt namesOuestsource: Getty Vocabulary Program
Province de l'Ouestsource: Wikipedia
TypeProvince
Coordinates5.383°N 10.75°E
Located inCameroon
source: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names


the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

The West Region is 14,000 km2 of territory located in the central-western portion of the Republic of Cameroon. It borders the Northwest Region to the northwest, the Adamawa Region to the northeast, the Centre Region to the southeast, the Littoral Region to the southwest, and the Southwest Region to the west. The West Region is the smallest of Cameroon's ten regions in area, yet it has the highest population density.

As home to the enterprising Bamum and Bamileke kingdoms, the West is an economic bright spot and one of Cameroon's more developed regions. This progressive development is tempered by the strong traditional culture that persists among the Bamileke and the province's other major ethnic group, the Bamum (sometimes Bamoum, Bamun, Bamoun).

Contents

History

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Early population movements

Human beings have inhabited the West since prehistoric times, as evidenced by archaeological finds at Galima and Foumban. Bamileke groups likely entered the area from the Adamawa Plateau in the 17th century, probably fleeing Fulbe (Fula) slave raids. They originally settled in what is now Bamum territory, but the Bamum forced them across the Noun in a series of wars in the 18th century. Bamileke tradition states that they migrated in three major groups. The first consisted of the Baleng, Bapi, and Bafussam (who founded the settlement at Bafoussam along with the Bamougoum). Next came the Bagam, Bamendu, Bamsoa, Bazu, and Bangu. The final wave consisted of the Bati and Bafangwa. This period also saw the Bamileke assimilation of several older populations.

Bamum tradition claims their kingdom was founded when Ncharé Yen led them to settle at Foumban (Mfom-Ben) in the 15th century. However, most scholars today place this migration as late as the 19th century, likely the result of population pressures caused by the same Fulbe jihads that had earlier pushed the Bamileke south. The king Mbwe-Mbwe extended Bamum holdings from the Mbam to the Noun Rivers, subjugating numerous local rulers in the process. Mbwe-Mbwe also kept the Fulbe from encroaching further south and west.

The Bamum experienced a golden age of sorts under the leadership of Sultan Ibrahim Njoya (r. 1886–1933). Njoya was a patron of learning, and he converted to Islam under the tutelage of numerous Muslim scholars he had allowed into the kingdom. He developed an alphabet for the Bamum language (the Shumon script), and established schools to teach it. The Islamisation of the Bamum occurred during his reign.

The Bali-Chamba are the third major group to have pushed through the West Province territory in historical times. They came under the leadership of a warrior chief named Gawolbe and crossed the Noun around 1825. In 1830, they fought a war with the Bamileke Bafu-Fundong group near Dschang. Their leader, Gawolbe II died, and the tribe splintered as Gawolbe's seven sons fought for control. Most of these groups migrated further west into what is today the Northwest Province.

European contacts

German administration

The area had only indirect contact with European powers (mostly due to slave raids by tribes further south) before the German annexation of the Cameroons in 1884. The first Europeans to enter the territory were representatives of the Basel Mission in 1897. The Germans themselves did not move into the territory until 1899 (though they had signed treaties with Bamileke leaders as early as 1884). Governor Jesko Von Puttkamer established the Gesellschaft Nordwest-Kamerun to monopolise trade in the area, and he established the divisional capital at Dschang in 1903. The area's cool temperatures drew many German settlers, and the colonisers established great coffee plantations, which they forced the natives to work. Larger plantations were established further south, and many Bamileke were forced or encouraged to move out of their traditional territories to work them. The Germans also set up a puppet over-chief for all the Bamileke, who had never before considered themselves a single group. Catholic missionaries reached the grasslands area in 1910. By 1912, most of the Bamileke had converted to Christianity.

Sultan Njoya welcomed the first German emissary to the Bamum kingdom in 1902 after hearing of the ruthless treatment given rebellious tribes further to the northwest. He even lent military support for the German campaign against the Nso near Bamenda in 1906. The Bamum soldiers, eager for revenge for an earlier defeat to the Nso in 1888, committed such atrocities that the Germans sent them back. Njoya also ordered the building of a palace at Foumban in 1917, which he modeled after that of the German governor.

French administration

Bamileke and Bamum territory fell to the French in 1916 after the Germans' defeat in World War I. The territory became part of the Baré-Foumban-Nkongsamba administrative area, and the capital was moved to Foumban. Dschang served as the seat of a French-run school for the sons of chiefs, which the French used to indoctrinate as well as instruct. The French maintained German plantations and labour sources, and new operations sprung up, such as a palm plantation at Dschang. The new colonial overlords made improvements to the region's infrastructure, as well, especially to the road network.

The French continued Germany's policy of propping up sympathetic chiefs and deposing recalcitrant ones. They sought some sort of administrative centre amid the Bamileke domains, and in 1926, Fotso II of the Bandjoun people offered the site of Bafoussam, neighbouring his domains but not actually part of them. Mambou, chief of the area, opposed the colonials, but he was defeated, and the foundations of modern Bafoussam were laid. The Bamum did not escape the French sphere, either, as sultan Ibrahim Njoya was deposed in 1931 due to his pro-German views. Njoya died in a Yaoundé prison two years later.

After World War II, the West was a centre of political pressure and protest against colonial rule. Other groups came into being to combat these (usually with France's blessing), including the Union Bamiléké in 1948. In 1956, France granted self-rule to its colony, and the West proved one of Cameroon's more politically influential areas due to groups such as Paysans Independants and the Assemblée Traditionnale Bamoun. The population boomed between 1958 and 1965, a period of high urbanisation in Cameroon.

In 1958, Ahmadou Ahidjo became prime minister of French Cameroon with a pro-independence platform. The powerful Union des Populations du Cameroun (UPC) party, including many Bamileke, considered him a French puppet and opposed him. On 27 June 1959, several Bamileke areas were struck in what were later labeled terrorist strikes. Ahidjo declared martial law. His later attitudes toward the Bamileke likely were strongly influenced by their opposition to him.

Post-independence

Under Ahidjo, the current West Province was known as the Administrative Inspectorate of the West. He named Bafoussam the capital and set the province's current boundaries after union of British and French Cameroon in 1972.

Ahidjo's battles with the UPC continued past Cameroon's independence on 1 January 1960. He outlawed the party's "terrorist" wing on 30 October 1963, leading to more strikes in Bamileke population centres and subsequent military retribution.

What support Ahidjo did enjoy among the Bamileke largely came from his pro-business policies. When the president resigned in 1982, his replacement, Paul Biya, sent his representative, Moussa Yaya, to reassure the West's businessmen that he would not prove unfriendly to their interests. Yaya mistrusted Biya, however, and only exacerbated Bamileke reservations. The Bamum, as well, were reluctant to see Cameroon's presidency change from a Muslim to a Christian. Much Bamileke and Bamum resentment for the Biya administration dates to this period.

In 2008, the President of the Republic of Cameroon, Paul Biya, signed decrees abolishing "Provinces" and replacing them with "Regions". Hence, all of the country's ten provinces are now known as Regions.

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This page uses content from the English Wikipedia. The original content was at West Province (Cameroon). The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with WeRelate, the content of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.