Bamileke people

The Bamileke are a Central African people who inhabit the Western High Plateau of Cameroon. The Bamileke languages belong to the Grassfields branch of the Niger-Congo language family, which is sometimes labeled as a "Bantoid language," rather than a Bantu language. Feyou de Happy has posited that the ethnonym Bamiléké comes from the Bana term "Poe Meh Lah Ka" which can be translated as "people of faith" and or "people from the land of Ka" Like a king, the Fon is head of all authorities, from territory to civil and military, within a given kingdom. The Bamiléké are the descendants of a Mbum princess named Wouten (also called Betaka) who helped establish the Tikar fondom sometime in the 13th century after being expelled from Ngan Ha, the capital of Mbum following a succession dispute. The Mbum who are of Sudanic origin are the ancestors of all Grassfields people and now reside in the Adamawa province of Cameroon. The majority of Bamiléké historical narratives detail an origin along the Nile River in what is now Sudan. Archeological and linguistic evidence indicates that the arrival of the Bamiléké in Western Cameroon occurred in multiple waves with two primary routes. The first route was more significant and originated in the North between the Lake Tchad area and the Nile Valley. The second route originated in Nigeria around the Cross River area. Alternatively, Diop through the usage of toponyms, vestigial expressions, and corroborating sociopolitical data reconstructed migration patterns for the Bamum which originated along the Upper Nile River near the Great Lakes region before arriving in Cameroon. As a result of the expansionist policies of Ncharé, the founder of the Bamum mfondom, the majority of Bamiléké have paternal ancestors who are Bamum. In the 17th century, the Bamiléké migrated further south and west under the pressure of the Fulani people. When Cameroon was colonized, the British granted status and a certain amount of control to traditional authorities, such as the Fon. This was due to a colonial policy known as indirect rule.