The Isubu (Isuwu, Bimbians) are a
Bantu
Bantu may refer to:
*Bantu languages, constitute the largest sub-branch of the Niger–Congo languages
*Bantu peoples, over 400 peoples of Africa speaking a Bantu language
* Bantu knots, a type of African hairstyle
*Black Association for National ...
ethnic group who inhabit part of the coast 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; Chad to the northeast; the C ...
. Along with other coastal peoples, they belong to Cameroon's
Sawa Sawa may refer to:
Places
* Sawa, Nepal, a village development committee
* Sawa, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, Poland, a village
* Saveh, sometimes transliterated Sāwa, Iran, a city
* Sawa Lake, Iraq
People
* Sawa (Hrycuniak) (born Michał Hrycunia ...
ethnic groups. They were one of the earliest Cameroonian peoples to make contact with Europeans, and over two centuries, they became influential traders and middlemen. Under the kings
William I of Bimbia
William I of Bimbia, born Bile, was the chief and king of the Isubu ethnic group, who lived in Bimbia on the coast of Cameroon in the mid-to-late 19th century. British traders recognised the sovereignty of William's Bimbia and titled him "king". ...
and
Young King William, the Isubu formed a state called
Bimbia
Bimbia was an independent state of the Isubu people of Cameroon. In 1884, it was annexed by the Germans and incorporated in the colony of Kamerun.
It lies in Southwest Region, to the south of Mount Cameroon and to the west of the Wouri estuary ...
.
History
Early population movements
The predominant Isubu
oral history holds that the ethnic group hails from
Mboko, the area southwest of
Mount Cameroon
Mount Cameroon is an active volcano in the South West region of Cameroon next to the city of Buea near the Gulf of Guinea. Mount Cameroon is also known as Cameroon Mountain or Fako (the name of the higher of its two peaks) or by its indigenous n ...
. Tradition makes them the descendants of
Isuwu na Monanga, who led their migration to the west bank of the
Wouri estuary. When a descendant of Isuwu named
Mbimbi became king, the people began to refer to their territories as
Bimbia
Bimbia was an independent state of the Isubu people of Cameroon. In 1884, it was annexed by the Germans and incorporated in the colony of Kamerun.
It lies in Southwest Region, to the south of Mount Cameroon and to the west of the Wouri estuary ...
.
Kingdom of Bimbia
Portuguese
Portuguese may refer to:
* anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal
** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods
** Portuguese language, a Romance language
*** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language
** Portu ...
traders reached the Wouri estuary in 1472. Over the next few decades, more Europeans came to explore the estuary and the rivers that feed it, and to establish
trading post
A trading post, trading station, or trading house, also known as a factory, is an establishment or settlement where goods and services could be traded.
Typically the location of the trading post would allow people from one geographic area to tr ...
s. The Isubu carved out a role for themselves as middlemen, trading
ivory
Ivory is a hard, white material from the tusks (traditionally from elephants) and teeth of animals, that consists mainly of dentine, one of the physical structures of teeth and tusks. The chemical structure of the teeth and tusks of mammals i ...
,
kola nuts, and
peppers
Pepper or peppers may refer to:
Food and spice
* Piperaceae or the pepper family, a large family of flowering plant
** Black pepper
* ''Capsicum'' or pepper, a genus of flowering plants in the nightshade family Solanaceae
** Bell pepper
** Chili ...
from the interior. However, a major commodity was
slaves, most bound for
plantation
A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...
s on nearby islands such as
Annobón
Annobón ( es, Provincia de Annobón; pt, Ano-Bom), and formerly as ''Anno Bom'' and ''Annabona'', is a province (smallest province in both area and population) of Equatorial Guinea consisting of the island of Annobón, formerly also Pigalu a ...
,
Fernando Po,
Príncipe
Príncipe is the smaller, northern major island of the country of São Tomé and Príncipe lying off the west coast of Africa in the Gulf of Guinea. It has an area of (including offshore islets) and a population of 7,324 at the 2012 Census; , and
São Tomé
São Tomé is the capital and largest city of the Central African island country of São Tomé and Príncipe. Its name is Portuguese for " Saint Thomas". Founded in the 15th century, it is one of Africa's oldest colonial cities.
History
Álvar ...
. By the 16th century, the Isubu were second only to the
Duala in trade. The earliest Isubu merchants were likely
chiefs or
headmen.
[Fanso 73.] Bimbia, the primary Isubu settlement, grew quickly.
European traders did their best to support friendly chiefs against their rivals, adulating them with titles such as ''King'', ''Prince'', or ''Chief''. In exchange, these indigenes offered trade
monopolies
A monopoly (from Greek el, μόνος, mónos, single, alone, label=none and el, πωλεῖν, pōleîn, to sell, label=none), as described by Irving Fisher, is a market with the "absence of competition", creating a situation where a speci ...
to their patrons and sometimes ceded land. An Isubu chief named
Bile became leader of the Isubu as King William, although
Dick Merchant
Dick, Dicks, or Dick's may refer to:
Media
* ''Dicks'' (album), a 2004 album by Fila Brazillia
* Dicks (band), a musical group
* ''Dick'' (film), a 1999 American comedy film
* "Dick" (song), a 2019 song by Starboi3 featuring Doja Cat
Names
...
of
Dikolo village and other chiefs eventually opposed his dominance.
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
traders became the dominant European presence in the region by the mid-19th century, and the Crown used them to enforce
abolition of the
slave trade
Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...
in the
Gulf of Guinea
The Gulf of Guinea is the northeasternmost part of the tropical Atlantic Ocean from Cape Lopez in Gabon, north and west to Cape Palmas in Liberia. The intersection of the Equator and Prime Meridian (zero degrees latitude and longitude) is in ...
. In 1844 and 1848, King William signed anti-slavery treaties. In exchange, the traders provided him with annual gifts of alcohol, guns, textiles, and other goods.
William was also asked to forbid practices the British viewed as barbaric, such as
sacrificing
Sacrifice is the offering of material possessions or the lives of animals or humans to a deity as an act of propitiation or worship. Evidence of ritual animal sacrifice has been seen at least since ancient Hebrews and Greeks, and possibly ex ...
a chief's wife upon his death. With William's blessing, Bimbia became a haven for repatriated slaves and escapees from the illicit trade, which continued for many more years.
The British also endeavored to educate and Christianise the Bimbians. King William rebuffed the earliest
missionaries because he did not agree with their insistence on prayer and opposition to
polygamy
Crimes
Polygamy (from Late Greek (') "state of marriage to many spouses") is the practice of marriage, marrying multiple spouses. When a man is married to more than one wife at the same time, sociologists call this polygyny. When a woman is ...
. In 1844, however,
Joseph Merrick
Joseph Carey Merrick (5 August 1862 – 11 April 1890), often erroneously called John Merrick, was an English man known for having severe deformities. He was first exhibited at a freak show under the stage name "the Elephant Man" and then wen ...
convinced William to let him open a church and school in Bimbia. In 1858, the Spanish ousted Protestant missionaries from their base at Fernando Po. King William sold a portion of his domains to the missionary
Alfred Saker, who then founded Victoria (today known as
Limbe). By 1875, numerous missions and schools sprung up in Victoria and other settlements. Victoria came to be a mixture of freed slaves, working Cameroonians, and Christianised Cameroonians from the various coastal groups.
Cameroonian Pidgin English
Cameroonian Pidgin English, or Cameroonian Creole ( wes, Wes Cos, from West Coast), is a language variety of Cameroon. It is also known as Kamtok (from 'Cameroon-talk'). It is primarily spoken in the North West and South West English speaking r ...
began to develop at this time.
Isubu society was changed fundamentally by the European
trade
Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market.
An early form of trade, barter, saw the direct excha ...
. European goods became
status symbols, and some rulers appointed Western traders and missionaries as advisors. Large numbers of Isubu grew wealthy, leading to rising class tensions. Competition escalated between coastal groups and even between related settlements. Between 1855 and 1879, the Isubu alone engaged in at least four conflicts, both internal and with rival ethnic groups. Traders exploited this atmosphere, and beginning in 1860, German, French, and Spanish merchants had established contacts and weakened the British monopoly. The Duala had gained a virtual hegemony over trade through the Wouri estuary, and the Isubu had little power left.
Young King William was virtually powerless when he succeeded his father in 1878.
German administration
In July 1884, the Isubu found themselves part of the
German Empire after annexation by
Gustav Nachtigal
Gustav Nachtigal (; born 23 February 1834 – 20 April 1885) was a German military surgeon and explorer of Central and West Africa. He is further known as the German Empire's consul-general for Tunisia and Commissioner for West Africa. His missio ...
. Coastal territory became the heart of the new colony, but Bimbia and the Isubu lands had already passed their prime.
German arrival on the mainland meant that the coastal peoples' monopoly on trade had ended. Years of contact with Westerners and a high level of literacy had allowed a literate upper class of Isubu
clerk
A clerk is a white-collar worker who conducts general office tasks, or a worker who performs similar sales-related tasks in a retail environment. The responsibilities of clerical workers commonly include record keeping, filing, staffing service ...
s, farmers, and traders to emerge in Victoria and Buea. This class were familiar with European law and conventions, which allowed them to pressure the German colonial government with petitions, legal proceedings, and
special interest groups to oppose unpopular or unfair policies.
British administration
In 1918, Germany lost World War I, and her colonies became mandates of the
League of Nations
The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference that ...
. The British became the new colonial rulers of Isubu lands. Great Britain integrated its portion of Cameroon with the neighbouring colony of Nigeria, setting the new province's capital at Buea. The British practiced a policy of
indirect rule
Indirect rule was a system of governance used by the British and others to control parts of their colonial empires, particularly in Africa and Asia, which was done through pre-existing indigenous power structures. Indirect rule was used by vario ...
, entrusting greater powers to Bakweri and Isubu chiefs in Buea and Victoria. Chief
Manga Williams of Victoria became one of two representatives to the Nigerian
Eastern House of Assembly
Eastern may refer to:
Transportation
*China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai
* Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways
* Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 1926 to 1991
*Eastern Air ...
. He was succeeded by another Isubu,
John Manga Williams.
Geography
The Isubu are primarily concentrated in the
Fako division
Mount Cameroon is an active volcano in the South West region of Cameroon next to the city of Buea near the Gulf of Guinea. Mount Cameroon is also known as Cameroon Mountain or Fako (the name of the higher of its two peaks) or by its indigenous n ...
of Cameroon's
Southwest Province
The Southwest Region or South-West Region () is a region in Cameroon. Its capital is Buea. , its population was 1,553,320. Along with the Northwest Region, it is one of the two Anglophone (English-speaking) regions of Cameroon. Various Ambazonia ...
. Their settlements lie largely along the coast or just inland, east of
Limbe and west of
Douala
Douala is the largest city in Cameroon and its economic capital. It is also the capital of Cameroon's Littoral Region. Home to Central Africa's largest port and its major international airport, Douala International Airport (DLA), it is the com ...
. They occupy the coast directly east of the
Wovea, with their main settlement at Bimbia. The town of Limbe is a mixture of Isubu and other ethnic groups.
Culture
The Isubu today are divided into the urban and rural. Those who live in the cities earn a living at a number of skilled and unskilled professions. The rural Isubu work as fishermen and farmers, mostly at the subsistence level.
Language
Isu is the Isubu language. In addition, many Isubu speak
Duala or
Mokpwe, the languages of the Duala and Bakweri respectively. Isu is part of the
Bantu
Bantu may refer to:
*Bantu languages, constitute the largest sub-branch of the Niger–Congo languages
*Bantu peoples, over 400 peoples of Africa speaking a Bantu language
* Bantu knots, a type of African hairstyle
*Black Association for National ...
group of the
Niger–Congo language family.
In addition, individuals who have attended school or lived in an urban centre usually speak a European language. For some Isubu, this is
French; for others, it is
Cameroonian Pidgin English
Cameroonian Pidgin English, or Cameroonian Creole ( wes, Wes Cos, from West Coast), is a language variety of Cameroon. It is also known as Kamtok (from 'Cameroon-talk'). It is primarily spoken in the North West and South West English speaking r ...
or standard English. A growing number of the
Anglophones
Speakers of English are also known as Anglophones, and the countries where English is natively spoken by the majority of the population are termed the '' Anglosphere''. Over two billion people speak English , making English the largest languag ...
today grow up with Pidgin as their first tongue.
Religion
The Isubu have been mostly Christianized since the 1930s.
Evangelical
Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being " born again", in which an individual expe ...
denominations dominate, particularly the
Baptist
Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only ( believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compe ...
church. Nevertheless, remnants of a pre-Christian
ancestor worship
The veneration of the dead, including one's ancestors, is based on love and respect for the deceased. In some cultures, it is related to beliefs that the dead have a continued existence, and may possess the ability to influence the fortune of t ...
persist. Isubu belief states that the ancestors live in a parallel world and act as mediators between the living and God ("Jengu").
Arts
The Isubu participate in the annual
Ngondo, a traditional festival of the Duala, although today all of Cameroon's coastal peoples are invited. The main focus is on communicating with the ancestors and asking them for guidance and protection for the future. The festivities also include armed combat,
beauty pageant
A beauty pageant is a competition that has traditionally focused on judging and ranking the physical attributes of the contestants. Pageants have now evolved to include inner beauty, with criteria covering judging of personality, intelligence, ...
s,
pirogue
A pirogue ( or ), also called a piragua or piraga, is any of various small boats, particularly dugouts and native canoes. The word is French and is derived from Spanish , which comes from the Carib '. Description
The term 'pirogue' does n ...
races, and traditional
wrestling
Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat ...
.
[''Guide touristique'' 126.]
Classification
The Isubu are
Bantu
Bantu may refer to:
*Bantu languages, constitute the largest sub-branch of the Niger–Congo languages
*Bantu peoples, over 400 peoples of Africa speaking a Bantu language
* Bantu knots, a type of African hairstyle
*Black Association for National ...
in language and origin. More narrowly, they fall into the Sawa, or the coastal peoples of Cameroon.
Notes
References
* Austen, Ralph A., and Derrick, Jonathan (1999): ''Middlemen of the Cameroons Rivers: The Duala and their Hinterland, c. 1600–c.1960''. Cambridge University Press.
* Chrispin, Dr. Pettang, directeur. ''Cameroun: Guide touristique.'' Paris: Les Éditions Wala.
* Derrick, Jonathan (1990). "Colonial élitism in Cameroon: the case of the Duala in the 1930s". ''Introduction to the History of Cameroon in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries.'' Palgrave MacMillan.
* Elango, Lovett Z. (1990). "Trade and diplomacy on the Cameroon coast in the nineteenth century, 1833–1879: the case of Bimbia." ''Introduction to the History of Cameroon in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries.'' Palgrave MacMillan.
* Fanso, V. G. (1989). ''Cameroon History for Secondary Schools and Colleges, Vol. 1: From Prehistoric Times to the Nineteenth Century.'' Hong Kong: Macmillan Education Ltd.
* Gordon, Raymond G., Jr. (ed.) (2005):
Isu. ''Ethnologue: Languages of the World'', 15th ed. Dallas: SIL International. Accessed 6 June 2006.
* Gordon, Raymond G., Jr. (ed.) (2005):
Pidgin, Cameroon. ''Ethnologue: Languages of the World'', 15th ed. Dallas: SIL International. Accessed 6 June 2006.
External links
BakweriramaPeuple Sawa(in French)
{{Ethnic groups in Cameroon