Understanding the Romance between Kings and Islam in the Nso and Babessi Kingdoms of the Bamenda Grassland in Cameroon
- February 1, 2021
- Posted by: RSIS Team
- Categories: IJRISS, Social Science
International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) | Volume V, Issue I, January 2021 | ISSN 2454–6186
Joseph Lon NFI
The University of Bamenda
Abstract: The conversion of the Monarch of the Nso Kingdom, Patrick Sehm MbingloI, a Roman Catholic Christian to Islam in 2014 provoked widespread panic in the Catholic dominated Nso Kingdom of the Bamenda Grassland, Cameroon and the Guardian Post Newspaper of October 30, 2014 even talked of “mass exodus to Islam feared as Nso King Converts”. This event provoked this paper which sets out to investigate the introduction of Islam in the two Bamenda Grassland royal palaces. Using primary and secondary sources the study examines the conversion of some Nso and Babessi Kings to Islam arguing that their decision to adopt Islam was due to the presence of Hausa traders and Fulani graziers, Bamum influences, political, social and economic considerations rather than the genuine spiritual or religious gains of Islam. Islam in the Bamenda Grassland therefore has a bright future because the religion unlike Christianity can accommodate and guarantee certain royal practices and aspirations
Key Words: King, Nso, Babessi, Islam, Conversion, Bamenda Grassland.
Introduction
Cameroon, Africa in miniature as it is often referred to, is a country both in West and Central Africa. With a triangular shape covering about 475440 square kilometres, it is situated between the Lake Chad in the North and the Atlantic Ocean in the South and between Nigeria in the West and Gabon, Congo and the Central African Republic in the East. Its climate, vegetation and landscapes are as varied as its culture or peoples. Inhabited by about 25 million people divided into about 250 ethnic groups and languages, the people were introduced to Christianity and Islam in the 19th century. Christianity came through European missionaries along the coast and Islam through Hausa and Fulani traders and jihadists in the North.
