Foumban or Fumban is a city in

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...

, lying north east of

Bafoussam Bafoussam is the capital and largest city of the West Region of Cameroon, in the Bamboutos Mountains. It is the 3rd most important (financially) city in Cameroon, after Yaoundé and Douala. The ''communauté urbaine'' (Urban Community) of Bafous ...

. It has a population of 83,522 (at the 2005 Census). It is a major town for the Bamoun people and is home to a

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these ...

of traditional arts and

culture Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups.Tyl ...

. Foumban is known for its political significance in the formation of Cameroon's history and its cultural, tourism and economic potential. There is also a

market Market is a term used to describe concepts such as: *Market (economics), system in which parties engage in transactions according to supply and demand *Market economy *Marketplace, a physical marketplace or public market Geography *Märket, an ...

and a craft centre, while Foumban Royal Palace contains a museum with information on

Ibrahim Njoya King Ibrahim Mbouombouo Njoya ( Bamum: , ''Iparəim Nʃuɔiya'', formerly spelled in Bamum as , and Germanicized as ''Njoja'') in Yaoundé, was seventeenth in a long dynasty of kings that ruled over Bamum and its people in western Cameroon dati ...

who invented a new religion,

Bamum script The Bamum scripts are an evolutionary series of six scripts created for the Bamum language by Ibrahim Njoya, King of Bamum (now western Cameroon) at the turn of the 19th century. They are notable for evolving from a pictographic system to a s ...

, and the artificial language Shümom.

History

Foumban is the headquarters of the Noun Division of the Western province. It was the seat of the Bamoun Dynasty. The Bamoun Dynasty was founded in the 1394 by Mfon Nshare Yen. Mfon Nshare became the first Mfon (what is today called Sultan) and was the founding father of Foumban, which became the capital city of the Bamoun Dynasty. This was as a result of the many wars against neighboring kingdoms between 1394 and 1418. Since then, Founban has politically, culturally and economic grown into a tourist city of great renown in Cameroon. Its rich history and development has seen it surpass other cities and towns in the region, and it continues to attract hundreds of visitors. Bamoun became a part of German Kamerun on July 14, 1884. The sultan was beheaded in a conflict with the Nso people from the North West Province of Cameroon, and his head carried off in 1889. Foumban is one of Cameroon's major attractions and an important centre of traditional African art. Its jewel is the Palais Royal, seat of power for the Bamoun people. The ruler of the Bamoun is known as the sultan, and the Bamoun can trace the lineage of their sultan back to 1394. The palace, completed in 1917, resembles a medieval chateau. It houses the Sultan's Museum, which contains a multitude of royal gowns, arms, musical instruments, statues, jewellery, masks and colourful bead-covered thrones carved in the shapes of the men who sat on them. A few hundred metres south of the palace is the Musée des Arts et des Traditions Bamoun. This extensive collection has exhibits on Bamoun history and art, including cooking implements, musical instruments, pipes, statues, masks, gongs and an ornately carved xylophone. The road that connects the two museums is the Rue des Artisans, home to sculptors, basket makers, weavers and embroiderers, and one of the best places in Central Africa to buy wood carvings. Views of the Palais du Roi des Bamouns" class="center"> Sultanat Bamoun.JPG Monument de guerrier au sultanat de Foumban.JPG La porte principale du sultanat de Foumban.jpg Sultanat Foumban.JPG The gate to the sultan's home.jpg File:Famille à moto à Foumban.jpg, Public transport File:Kdfiestaauto1.JPG, Family on motorbike File:Kdfprayer2.JPG, Adult, day of celebration File:Kdffete23.JPG, Woman, feast day File:Kdfprayer6.JPG, Man, feast day

Economy

The economy was largely agricultural, and slave owning was practiced on a small scale. The Bamum kingdom also traded with neighboring populations. They imported

salt Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quantitie ...

, iron, beads,

cotton Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus ''Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor perce ...

goods and copper objects. The main economic activity in Foumban as of today is tourism and agriculture which is largely

subsistence A subsistence economy is an economy directed to basic subsistence (the provision of food, clothing, shelter) rather than to the market. Henceforth, "subsistence" is understood as supporting oneself at a minimum level. Often, the subsistence econo ...

. Thousands of tourist visit this ancient city to take a look at the remains of arts and cultural display of the kings of this historic town. The streets are decorated with artistic designed but much more is the palace which protrudes and imposes at the center of the city. Its centrality symbolizes an era where the kings represents the nerve center of the entire community. Artwork is the major source of income. There is an art market, a tourist center and a museum called Musée des Arts et des Traditions Bamoun. Agriculture is also carried out in small-scale subsistence farming. However, due to its very rich and fertile soil, the

government of Cameroon The Republic of Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; ...

has established a research centre to develop local hybrid of seeds to expand on the agricultural sector. The Institute for Agronomic Research (IRAD) has engage the community in partnership with the government in developing large-scale

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...

in this landlocked community. Other economic activities include cattle rearing and

palm oil Palm oil is an edible vegetable oil derived from the mesocarp (reddish pulp) of the fruit of the oil palms. The oil is used in food manufacturing, in beauty products, and as biofuel. Palm oil accounted for about 33% of global oils produced from ...

production.

Coffee Coffee is a drink prepared from roasted coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulant, stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. It is the most popular hot drink in the world. S ...

is the main cash crop that is produced and sold in the world market.

Culture

The Bamoun people claim their origin from

Tikar The Tikar (also Tikari, Tige, Tigar, Tigre, Tikali) are a central African people who inhabit the Western High Plateau in Cameroon. They are known as great artisans and storytellers. Once a nomadic people, some oral traditions trace the origin of ...

in Cameroon. Thus it no surprise that the language of the Bamum kingdom could be trace to the Tikars in the western highlands of Cameroon. This apparently did not last long, and the language of the conquered, Mben, was adopted. The Bamun developed an extensive artistic culture at their capital of Foumban at the beginning of the 20th century. During Njoya's reign six

dye A dye is a colored substance that chemically bonds to the substrate to which it is being applied. This distinguishes dyes from pigments which do not chemically bind to the material they color. Dye is generally applied in an aqueous solution an ...

pits containing various colors were maintained. The Mbum also imported

indigo Indigo is a deep color close to the color wheel blue (a primary color in the RGB color space), as well as to some variants of ultramarine, based on the ancient dye of the same name. The word "indigo" comes from the Latin word ''indicum'', m ...

-dyed

raffia Raffia palms (''Raphia'') are a genus of about twenty species of palms native to tropical regions of Africa, and especially Madagascar, with one species (''R. taedigera'') also occurring in Central and South America. ''R. taedigera'' is the sour ...

-sewn cloth from the Hausa as royal cloth. This royal cloth was called Ntieya, and Hausa craftsmen were kept at palace workshops to supply nobles and teach the art of dyeing. File:KdfDanseTradi.JPG, Njiyit village, traditional dance File:Assembly of tribal leaders for Foumban, Cameroon festival.jpg, Assembly of tribal chiefs for Foumban, Cameroon festival File:Foumban Chiefs Rollcall.jpg, Call of Foumban chefs File:Kdfdanse02.JPG, Traditional dance File:Case d etamtam.JPG, Tam-tam case File:Kdfdansetra.JPG File:Kdfdansetra00.JPG File:Kdfiesta.JPG File:Kdfiesta11.JPG File:Kdfiesta14.JPG File:Kdfiesta0.JPG File:Kdfiesta101.JPG File:Kdfiesta13.JPG File:Kdfiesta3.JPG File:Kdffete8.JPG File:Kdffete21.JPG File:Kdfprayer6.JPG File:Kdfvoilef.JPG File:Kdfvoile0.JPG File:Kdfvoile03.JPG File:Kdfvoile007.JPG File:Kdfvoile08.JPG File:Kdfvoile1.JPG File:Kdfportrait5.JPG File:Kdfamily7.JPG File:Kdfamily13.JPG File:Kdfportrait03.JPG File:Kdfportrait00.JPG File:Kdfamilychild.JPG File:Kdfportrait120.JPG File:CEREMONIE DE FUNERAILLE EN PAYS BAMOUN 01.JPG File:CEREMONIE DE FUNERAILLE EN PAYS BAMOUN 08.JPG File:CEREMONIE DE FUNERAILLE EN PAYS BAMOUN 09.JPG File:CEREMONIE DE FUNERAILLE EN PAYS BAMOUN 12.JPG File:CEREMONIE DE FUNERAILLE EN PAYS BAMOUN 07.JPG File:CEREMONIE DE FUNERAILLE EN PAYS BAMOUN 05.JPG File:CEREMONIE DE FUNERAILLE EN PAYS BAMOUN 03.JPG Entree de la ville de Foumban - 03

Notable people

* Arouna N'Joya (1908−1971), politician * Simon Ngapandouetnbu (2003-), professional footballer who currently plays as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

for

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...

References

{{Authority control Populated places in West Region (Cameroon)

History

Economy

Culture

Notable people

See also

References