The Bafut Subdivision or the Kingdom/Chiefdom/Fondom of Bafut is a commune in the

Mezam Mezam is a division of the North West Region of Cameroon. The department covers an area of 1745 km and as of 2005 had a total population of 524,127. The capital of the department lies at Bamenda. Subdivisions The department is divided admini ...

Department of Northwest Province,

Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...

. It is located in the

Western Grassfields The Western High Plateau, Western Highlands or Bamenda Grassfields is a region of Cameroon characterised by high relief, cool temperatures, heavy rainfall and savanna vegetation. The region lies along the Cameroon line and consists of mountai ...

region - a name for the Northwest Province and surrounding grassland areas. Bafut is the most powerful of the traditional kingdoms of the Grassfields, now divided into 26 wards along a 10 kilometre stretch of the "Ring Road" that trails along a ridge above the Menchum Valley. Bafut is primarily an agrarian region. The major languages of the region are the

Bafut language The Bafut language, ''Fut'', is an Eastern Grassfields language of the Niger–Congo languages, and related to Bamum. Oral tradition traces dynastic origins to the Ndobo or Tikari areas. It is spoken by people of Bafut Subdivision, Tuba, in ...

and

Cameroonian Pidgin English Cameroonian Pidgin English, or Cameroonian Creole (, from West Coast), is a language variety of Cameroon. It is also known as Kamtok (from 'Cameroon-talk'). It is primarily spoken in the Northwest Region (Cameroon), North West and Southwest Regio ...

. Its headquarters are located in the town of

Bafut Bafut may refer to several things relating to Cameroon: * Bafut language * Bafut Subdivision ** Bafut, Cameroon, the headquarters town of the subdivision * Bafut Wars, a series of early 20th-century wars * Fon of Bafut The Fon of Bafut is the f ...

History

Bafut was a fondom or kingdom - ruled by the

Fon of Bafut The Fon of Bafut is the fon or Mfor (traditional ruler) of the town of Bafut and its adjoining areas in the Northwest Province, Cameroon, which comprise the erstwhile Fondom of Bafut. At present, the Fon of Bafut is still a local ruler, but un ...

using traditional power structures. However, following the

Bafut Wars The Bafut Wars were a series of wars fought in the early 20th century between the troops of the Fon of Bafut and German-backed troops of neighbouring fondoms and German troops. The wars ultimately led to a defeat for the Fon of Bafut, forcing hi ...

in the early 20th century, the region came under the

German Empire The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...

. The Germans forced the Fon into exile, but had to ultimately reinstate him as leader when their

puppet ruler A puppet ruler is someone who holds a title of political authority, but is loyal to or controlled by outside persons or groups. When a foreign government wields such outside control, the puppet ruler's territory is referred to as a puppet state. ...

was not accepted. The fall of the German Empire in

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

brought the region under the

British Empire The British Empire comprised the dominions, Crown colony, colonies, protectorates, League of Nations mandate, mandates, and other Dependent territory, territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It bega ...

as part of the

British Cameroons British Cameroons or British Cameroon was a British Empire, British League of Nations mandate, mandate territory in British West Africa, formed of the Northern Cameroons and Southern Cameroons. Today, the Northern Cameroons forms parts of the Bor ...

. At least one Fon of Bafut, Achirimbi II maintained friendly ties with the British. When the British left Cameroon in 1961, the region had a choice of joining either the newly formed Cameroon or

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

. Achirimbi II is famously said to have remarked that it was a choice between the "Fire and the Deep Sea"; the region ultimately joined Cameroon. Since 2017, Bafut has become of battleground of the

Anglophone Crisis The Anglophone Crisis (), also known as the Ambazonia War of Independence, is an List of ongoing armed conflicts, ongoing armed conflict in the English language, English-speaking Northwest Region (Cameroon), Northwest and Southwest Region (Came ...

Operation Free Bafut Operation Free Bafut was a week-long Cameroonian military operation against the Seven Karta militia in and around Bafut Bafut may refer to several things relating to Cameroon: * Bafut language * Bafut Subdivision ** Bafut, Cameroon, the headquar ...

in April 2020 saw heavy fighting in and around the village between the Cameroonian military and the separatist

Seven Karta Seven Karta is an Ambazonian separatist militia that is part of the Ambazonia Self-Defence Council.

militia.

Geography

The region of Bafut is situated about twenty kilometres northwest of

Bamenda Bamenda, also known as Abakwa and Mankon Town, is a city in northwestern Cameroon and capital of the Northwest Region (Cameroon), Northwest Region. The city has a population of about six hundred thousand people and is located north-west of the C ...

and covers an area of roughly . The estimated population of 80,000 (2005) is settled in three main zones. *At the centre are the people of ''Mumala'a'' (heart of the country) clustered around the Fon's palace who refer to themselves as the real Bafut (''Bufu''). This name can be applied to the whole chiefdom. *To the south is the ''Ntare'' (ridge area) *To the north is the ''Mbunti'' (lower) which descends abruptly to the

Menchum Menchum is a department of Northwest Province in Cameroon. The department covers an area of 4469 km and as of 2005 had a total population of 161,998. The capital of the department lies at Wum. The Menchum River drains this area, flowing we ...

river valley

Traditional power structures

Bafut is one of the two regions in Cameroon (the other being

Bali, Cameroon Bali is a town and commune in Cameroon, lying west of Bamenda. It has a population of 32,000 (2001 estimate). Formerly the centre of a kingdom, it is known for its palace and its regular festival A festival is an event celebrated by a co ...

), where traditional power structures are still in place. Bafut is a chiefdom or fondom. It was long the centre of the local kingdom of the

Tikar The Tikar (formally known as Tikari, Tigar, Tigari, and Tigre throughout their history) are a Central African ethnic group in Cameroon. They are known to be great artists, artisans and storytellers. Once a nomadic people, some oral traditions t ...

people (originally from the Northern regions of

Lake Chad Lake Chad (, Kanuri language, Kanuri: ''Sádǝ'', ) is an endorheic freshwater lake located at the junction of four countries: Nigeria, Niger, Chad, and Cameroon, in western and central Africa respectively, with a catchment area in excess of . ...

), and is administered by the

. The Fon of Bafut was, and to some extent still is, the ''paramount'' Fon of the region, with all other Fons pledging allegiance to him.

The region in popular culture

The Bafut Subdivision is known for *its palace of the Fon of Bafut, which houses a museum (see

for a section on the palace) *for its annual festival

Abin e Mfor The Brazilian Intelligence Agency (, ABIN) is the main intelligence agency in Brazil. ABIN's mission is to ensure that the Federal Executive has access to knowledge related to the security of the State and society, such as those involving fore ...

or the ''Dance of the Mfor/Fon'' *as the place where the famous naturalist

Gerald Durrell Gerald Malcolm Durrell Order of the British Empire, OBE (7 January 1925 – 30 January 1995) was a British naturalist, writer, zookeeper, conservation movement, conservationist, and television presenter. He was born in Jamshedpur in British Ind ...

came on two animal-collecting expeditions in 1949 and 1957. Durrell wrote two accounts - ''The Bafut Beagles'' and ''A Zoo in My Luggage'' - on his travels in Bafut, and created a mini TV series ''To Bafut with Beagles''.

References

*R. K. Engard; Myth and political economy in Bafut (Cameroon)- the structural history of an African kingdom; ''Paideuma'', Vol. 34, pp. 49 – 89; 1988 *R. K. Engard; Dance and power in Bafut (Cameroon), ''Creativity of power: Cosmology and action in African societies'', ed. W. Arens and Ivan Karp,

Smithsonian Institution Press The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, Education center, education and Research institute, research centers, created by the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government "for the increase a ...

; 1989 * Michael Tabuwé Aletum; Political conflicts within the traditional and the modern institutions: A case study of the Bafut-Cameroon; Vander Pub., 1973 {{Coord missing, Cameroon Communes of Northwest Region (Cameroon)