Cameroon Royal Families: A Historical Overview

Nov 06, 2025 0

Cameroon, situated at the crossroads of West and Central Africa, boasts a rich and diverse history shaped by numerous ethnic groups, kingdoms, and cultural traditions. The territory has been inhabited since the Middle Paleolithic era, with the earliest archaeological evidence dating back approximately 30,000 years. European traders arrived in the fifteenth century, and the area later became a significant source of slaves for the transatlantic slave trade.

Cameroon's political entity emerged from the colonization of Africa by Europeans. From 1884, Cameroon was a German colony, German Kamerun, with its borders drawn through negotiations between the Germans, British, and French. After the First World War, the League of Nations mandated France to administer most of the territory, with the United Kingdom administering a small portion in the west. In 1960, Cameroon became independent with part of British Cameroons voting to join former French Cameroon.

This article delves into the history of several prominent royal families in Cameroon, exploring their origins, traditions, and cultural significance.

The Western Grassfields and the Kedjom Keku Fondom

The Kedjom, also known as Babanki, are part of a larger cultural area known as the Western Cameroon Grassfields. The Western Grassfields is a region that corresponds to the Anglophone North West Region of the Republic of Cameroon.

The Western Grassfields is a territory characterised by a high plateau with an altitude ranging from 1000 m to 1800 m which lay on either side of a volcanic mountain range running south-west and north-east from the Gulf of Guinea to the Tibati, whose highest regional peaks are Mount Bamboutos (2740 m) and Mount Oku (3008 m). With a surface of roughly 16,800 square kilometres. The natural vegetation of this region consists of short and tall grasses with raffia and oil palms growing along the courses of the rivers and streams and banana trees surrounding the compounds.

Map of Cameroon Regions

Kedjom is in Tubah Sub Division, Mezam Division, in the North West Region of Cameroon. Tubah Sub Division covers four villages: Kedjom Keku, Kedjom Ketinguh, Bambui and Bambili. The area is inhabited by a population of about sixty-eight thousand (68,000) people. Kedjom Keku literally means “people of the forest” as the area they settled on was forested. She is situated in the northeast of Bamenda some 15 kilometres from Bamenda, the regional capital of the North West Region.

Oral history indicates that Kedjom people came into the North West Region from the northeast. They had migrated from an area east of Lake Chad, then moved southwest ward to the Adamawa plateau, north of Bankim. They then migrated into the North West Region through Nso, Ndop plain, Oku, Kom and are now settled where they are: Kedjom people are of the Tikar or Tikari stock. The Tikari fall under the Semi-Bantu peoples in the Grassfields region of Cameroon. They are essentially blacksmiths, weaver and woodcarvers.

Kedjom Keku like most Cameroon Grassfields fondoms is highly stratified with the kwifon, the fon and notables occupying positions of decision making. The kwifon is the highest institution in this society. After the kwifon is the fon. The fon is the highest personality in the village to whom inhabitants pay allegiance. He is a custodian of culture and an auxiliary to the administration. He is highly respected and endowed with power and authority over the territory. The fon occupies an invaluable position in the Kedjom Keku fondom as he is “father” of the fondom.

The Split of Kedjom

The split of Kedjom occurred in the mid-1800s after the death of Fon Yufanyi. In Kedjom, the keben ke ndong (flute dance) or the annual dance is a very special ceremony that is hosted by the fon to venerate the gods, commemorate the loving memory of warriors who had died as well as special celebration of the death of Fon Mbuwayn, who passed on without leaving a successor. It is also a period of prayer for protection for the coming season. It is thus a period of village ritualistic cleansing.

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It so happened that during the period of the dance, a prince named Ninying died the dance continued, despite the fact that the palace was bereaved and this was not in keeping with the customs of the ancestors. Quite dissatisfied, seventeen princes and their families decided to migrate away from Kedjom to form present day Kedjom Ketinguh because they considered such an act as disrespectful to their ancestors and the land. The split of Kedjom into two was caused by nothing other than a family quarrel which eventually involved the entire Kedjom people and occurred around the period of the annual dance.

The Bamum Kingdom

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The Bamum Kingdom is among the most famous traditional kingdoms on the African continent. They have the historical distinction of having invented, at the end of the 19th century, their own phonetic script. Some estimates put the number of Bamum worldwide at 1.25 million people. The kingdom is situated in northwest Cameroon and is larger than the state of Delaware.

In the interior of a territory the German occupiers called Kamerun, a sultan named Ibrahim Njoya held sway over the kingdom of Bamum (also spelled Bamoun). Born in the midcentury, Njoya grew to be a thoughtful leader who melded the modern techniques of the colonizers with the wisdom of his ancestors, taking power in the late 1880s in his capital city of Foumban. He oversaw the first surveyed map of his kingdom, called the Lew Ngu, or the “Book of the Country.” He wrote, with assistance from several scribes, the first history of his people. He created his own spoken and written language and built dozens of schools to teach it.

Map of Bamum commissioned by Sultan Njoya

Today, the Library preserves several of Njoya’s achievements, including several of the maps and sketches he commissioned, along with examples of his language. There are also dozens of photographs from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, showing men on horseback, women with unique hairstyles, buildings with elaborate carvings, and Njoya in variety of formal settings.

The 20th king of the Bamoun people, Mouhammad Nabil Mfourifoum Mbombo Njoya, stood up from his ornate throne for the ancient ritual to get under way. The nearly 600-year-old tradition sees him put on public trial over his governance -- with local chiefs reading out indictments destined to put his popularity to the test.

The rites, which are followed by celebrations, had not taken place in six years due to the Covid-19 pandemic and other factors, but were recognised in December 2023 by UNESCO as intangible cultural heritage.

Duala Rulers

The rulers of the Duala are the headmen, chiefs, paramount chiefs, and kings of the Duala people of Cameroon. The earliest Duala rulers known, according to Duala's oral history, were Mbongo and his son Mbedi. From Mbedi's home at Pīti, northeast of the modern city of Douala, his sons migrated southward. Over time, the Duala split into various lineages. Each of these families established a population centre along the banks of the Wouri.

Beginning as early as the 18th century with Doo a Makongo, European traders started referring to the Duala rulers as chiefs and kings (kine in Duala). A dichotomy emerged under which the rulers of Akwa and Bell were kings, while the leaders of smaller lineages were chiefs or princes. These rulers were given Europeanised names, such as King George or King Akwa.

The Nso Dynasty

The Nso dynasty is an offshoot of the Tikar dynasty. The Tikar dynasty was founded around 1299 by Princess Wou-Ten at Rifem or Kimi. When Tinki the Tikar Fon died in 1387 a bloody battle for his succession ensued.

When Nchare Yen and Mbe decided to leave, their elder sister Ngonnso wanted to leave with them but they refused because she was already married. When the brothers realized Ngonnso and her supporters were following them, they cut the bridge over the Mape River after crossing. Ngonnso and her followers unable to cross the Mape, decided to move west along the banks of the Mape and founded the Nso dynasty. The name NSO is believed to have been derived from her name "Ngon - Nso".

It was agreed that when Ngonnso died she would be succeeded by one of her two sons, who would then be recognized as the first King (Fon) of the Nso. When Ngonnso died around 1421, she was succeeded by her son Leh who is considered the first King (Fon) of the Nso dynasty.

Mbiame

When the Fon of Nso "Ndze Mbiame or Tar Mbiame" disappeared around 1575 in Kovifem, a succession dispute between his son Mbiame who thought he was the rightful heir to the throne and his half brother and successor Tar (Ndzeh) Mbiame II, led to Prince Mbiame who could not accede to the throne to leave Kovifem with his followers and settle near Mboh Nso.

Oku

Around 1650 when Fon Tarmekuu disappeared there was another succession fight between the successor Fon Koontum and his brother Prince Vikuu (Oku). The succession dispute forced Prince Vikuu (Oku) to leave Kovvifem with a few supporters and settle in the Ngonbaa forest.

Nseh, Noni, and Din

Fon Seembum I or Sehm I and his son Tar Manjong did a lot to expand Nso by conquest. They first conquered Nseh and the Noni Fondoms and signed pacts with them in which the former retained their Fonships but became subordinate vassal states of the Nso Fondom.

Nkar

While Nso was still in Kovvifem an unsuccessful attempt was made to conquer Nkar around 1720 by Fon Ndzefon. The Nso attack was repelled by the combined forces of Nkar and Bamoun.

Here is a table summarizing the key aspects of the dynasties discussed:

Dynasty	Region	Origin	Key Figures	Notable Features
Kedjom	Western Grassfields	Tikar	Fon Yufanyi	Annual flute dance, split into Kedjom Keku and Kedjom Ketinguh
Bamum	Northwest Cameroon	Unknown	Sultan Ibrahim Njoya, Mouhammad Nabil Mfourifoum Mbombo Njoya	Own phonetic script, rich cultural traditions
Duala	Coastal Cameroon	Mbongo, Mbedi	Doo a Makongo, King George, King Akwa	Lineages along the Wouri River, Europeanized names for rulers
Nso	Northwest Cameroon	Tikar	Princess Wou-Ten, Ngonnso, Leh	Offshoot of Tikar dynasty, vassal states like Nseh and Nkar