The Kirdi () are the many cultures and ethnic groups who inhabit northwestern Cameroon and northeastern Nigeria.
The term was applied to various ethnic groups who refused to convert to Islam after Islamic conquests of the region and was a pejorative, although some writers have reappropriated it.Steven Nelson, From Cameroon to Paris: Mousgoum Architecture In and Out of Africa (2007). University of Chicago Press: p. 155. The term comes from the Kanuri word for pagan; the Kanuri people are predominantly Muslim.
In the eleventh century, people such as the Fulani converted to Islam and spread throughout West Africa in the following centuries. They had also begun migrating to Cameroon, where they had attempted to convert the pre-existing peoples.Minorities at Risk Project, Chronology for Kirdi in Cameroon, 2004, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/469f38751e.html [accessed 11 September 2020] Therefore, the kirdi, have fewer similarities culturally or linguistically as they do in their general geographic dispersal, primarily situated in the arid steppe and savannahs of North and Far North regions of CameroonDeLancey, M. D., et al. Historical Dictionary of the Republic of Cameroon. Historical Dictionaries of Africa, No. 113, 2010. Available at: http://shcas.shnu.edu.cn/_upload/article/files/0e/08/4b0564f84fd9b9a65bde70ec5e4a/67ccaabe-3afc-4fb2-9df9-b7b27b0ebc0a.pdf [accessed 11 September 2020]
Estimates of how many groups may be described as Kirdi vary, with estimates ranging from 26 (2007) to more than 40 (1977).Gert Chesi and Rudolf Kreuzer. The Last Africans (1977). Perlinger: p. 18.
The Bata, Fali, Fata, Gemjek, Guidar, Giziga, Hurza, Kapsiki, Mada, Mafa, Massa, Matakam, Mofou, Mora, Mousgoum, Muyang, Ouldeme, Podoko, Toupouri, Vame and Zulgo are all considered Kirdi, due to their resistance to Islam. They speak Chadic and Adamawa languages.
The first mentioning of Kirdi is by Denham in 1826 (1985:145) who translates the word Kerdies as "Negroes who have never embraced the Mohammedan faith".
Generally, the Kirdi have been underrepresented in the Cameroonian political system. Based on the frequently quoted CIA World Factbook, the Kirdi represent 11 percent of the Cameroon population, compared to the predominantly Muslim and more culturally homogeneous Fulani at 10 percent of the Cameroon population; then Cameroon Highlanders 31 percent, Equatorial Bantu 19 percent, Northwestern Bantu, 8 percent, and Eastern Nigritic 7 percent, and other African and non-Africans representing 14 percent.CIA World Factbook. 2006. "Cameroon People – 2006. Available at Given their historical under-representation, the Kirdi has never constituted a political voting bloc.Ngoh, Victor Julius, The Political Evolution of Cameroon, 1884–1961. Dissertations and Theses, 1979. Available at: https://doi.org/10.15760/etd.2924 Seeking to gain Kirdi votes, the Fulani, while historically they despise the Kirdi, cajole them into boosting their electoral chances, such as for the Cameroonian Union or UC. Although the Kirdi community is vastly diverse in cultures, based on pressures from rival groups, such as the Fulani, they have come to see themselves as a single group of people, and have had an increasing interest in representation in the political system.
Main Kirdi peoples Bata The Bata people of Northern Cameroon number only approximately 13,500 persons in their current historical region.Vubo, Emmanuel Yenshu, Management of Ethnic Diversity in Cameroon against the Backdrop of Social Crises, Cahiers d'études africaines, 2008. Available at: http://journals.openedition.org/etudesafricaines/15159 [accessed 19 April 2019] They are Chadic people. The language that they speak is Bata, from the Chadic language family. Many Bata people have converted to Islam, while those that remain in their historic region continue pagan practices.Blench, Roger (2019). An Atlas of Nigerian Languages (4th ed.). Cambridge: Kay Williamson Educational Foundation.
Fali The Fali people are concentrated in mountainous areas of Northern Cameroon and some live in northeastern Nigeria. In Nigeria, they are called the Bana people. They speak various unrelated languages. These people have origins from the Ngomma people, who founded an ancient capital of their once sovereign land, Timpil. They are monotheistic and atavistic but later became Christian. The Fali are distinguished from the other Kirdi for their vibrant ornately decorated textiles and clothing.(James Stuart Olson, editor)(1996)"Fali," The Peoples of Africa: An Ethnohistorical Dictionary. Greenwood : p. 174-175.
Kapsiki The Kapsiki people, also known as the Kamwe people, live in villages of 2000–6000 people, and subsist on livestock farming, agriculture and, in the village of Rumsiki in particular, on tourism. In Nigeria, the Kapsiki people live on the slopes of the mountains and the western plains. The Kapsiki have been living in this area for five centuries, long before the great slave hunts of the 19th century, but due to their isolated habitat they have been able to maintain themselves against the Fulbe people. Other peoples of the Mandara region, such as the Mafa, Mofu, Podoko Guisiga, or Daba peoples have also remained protected due to their isolated habitat.Kwache, Iliya Yame (2016): Kamwe People of Northern Nigeria: Origin, History and Culture. Prudent Universal Press and Publishing Company Ltd Kaduna Nigeria
Mafa The Mafa people are located in the Far North Cameroon region and are known for many agricultural technological achievements. These ethno-engineering procedures include: small-scale irrigation, canalization, and drainage systems. In addition, the Mafa practice an extensive variety of soil fertility management procedures, including: crop rotation and mixed cropping, Agroforestry, biomass, nutrient management. They speak the Mafa language of the Chadic language family.Fred Zaal (1 April 2016). Sustainable Land Management in the Tropics: Explaining the Miracle. Routledge. pp. 145–. .
Mofu The Mofu people primarily exist in the extreme North Province of Cameroon. Their languages are separate languages of the Biu–Mandara branch of the Chadic language family."Master of the Killer Ants", PBS, Nova, November 2007
Mousgoum The Musgum people (Musgum or Mulwi) are a Chadic ethnic group in Cameroon. Many Musgums engage in agriculture with staple crops including: ground nuts and cotton which are sold for commercial use.Gordon, Raymond G., Jr. (ed.) (2005): "Musgu". Ethnologue: Languages of the World, 15th ed. Dallas: SIL International. Accessed 2 February 2007.
Tupuri The Tupuri people, also known as the Tupouri, have historically resided east of Kaélé in the Kaele division and in the Kar-Hay subdivision of the Mayo-Danay division of the Far North Province. They are a kirdi ethnic group and language, that stretches from northern Cameroon into Chad. This language is from the Chadic language family. The language they speak is also called Tupuri.Gordon, Raymond G., Jr. (ed.) (2005): "Tupuri". Ethnologue: Languages of the World, 15th ed. Dallas: SIL International. Accessed 7 June 2006
Zulgo While being a Chadic people, their language is from the Zulgu-Gezmek apart from the Chadic language family.
Name origins There is controversy regarding the name “Kirdi”, as it has come to be associated as a pejorative. This derogatory term has been adopted by Fulani and other Cameroonian languages. The term has an origin from Kanuri and is ultimately thought to be derived from the Arabic language word for "monkey". Although some writers have considered the name as a proper moniker for the collection of peoples. Presently, Kirdi bears the general meaning "pagan," in opposition to the Fulani and other Muslim groups. In recent years, many have reclaimed the label as a means of identification and political unity, giving rise to the “kirditude” movement.
Kirditude is thought to have been kickstarted as a movement in opposition to the largely Muslim Fulani political base for Maigari Bello Bouba’s UNDP during the 1991 election campaign. The term is only recognized in the Extreme North and North regions, while it is not used in the Adamawa region, the Fulfulde term Matchoubé, meaning "slave" or "servant," is used instead. Most groups, that are recognized under the umbrella term that is the kirdi peoples speak Afro-Asiatic languages, though some speak Niger-Congo Languages, this depends on the geographic dispersal of the groups, while there are still groups considered kirdi that have remained within the governance of Nigeria as opposed to Cameroon.Minorities at Risk Project, Assessment of Kirdi in Cameroon. MAR. AMAR Project, 2006, available at: http://www.mar.umd.edu/assessment.asp?groupId=47101. [accessed 11 September 2020] Like Cameroon, the kirdi are a vast multitude of many diverse languages, some of which vary by entire language families.
The historical meaning of the word, kirdi, can be best translated to mean the following, ‘all those who were non-Muslims and who could therefore be subjected to slavery’. Those that rejected conversion to Islam or to be relegated as merely a tributary during the Adamawa Emirate were capture as slaves. This is where the term kirdi earned its use. However, writers have repurposed the term to encompass a general collective group not united with language, customs, or religion, but of the specific negation of one religion, as well as being historical peoples of the Mandara Mountains. From this, Kirdi has come to be interpreted in the context of a group of people united by the social ideology that emphasizes resistance overall.
History The Republic of Cameroon, the locus of most Kirdi began at the start of colonization from insurgent Muslim groups. By the 1400s Europeans started their occupation, such as from the Kamerun then split between north and south regions by France and Britain. Following the Second World War came under the United Nations as UN Trusteeships, anticipating that the Kirdi would be granted their own self-governance, which seemed perspective as most political groups began to form from the people groups. During the eleventh century and onwards into the nineteenth century Muslim Fulani from the Niger basin have migrated to Cameroon, this continued into the nineteenth century. The Fulani population grew at the coast and southern area of Cameroon and converted the pre-existing inhabitants. During the late 1770s and the early 19th century, the Fulani, an Islamic pastoral people of the western Sahel, conquered most of what is now northern Cameroon, subjugating or displacing its largely non-Muslim inhabitants.
In 1960, Cameroon declared its independence and adopted a constitution by popular referendum. By 1972, the constitution was redrafted essentially establishing a one-party state. Ahmadou Babatoura Ahidjo, a Fulani Muslim from French Cameroons, would remain in power from 1960 to his death in 1989. The kirdi have sought representation in recent years from minority parties like the Social Democratic Front (SDF) in opposition to the Fulani-dominated Union Nationale pour la Démocratie et le Progrès (UNDP). Christian missionaries have had some success among the Kirdi in recent years. Major Kirdi personalities include Luc Ayang and Etienne Hollong.
Religion Christian missions have had some success among the Kirdi in recent years. While kirdi generally bears the meaning "pagan," in opposition to the Fulani and other Muslim groups, they do not all practice atavistic customs and pagan rituals, many have converted to Christianity and are increasingly self-identifying as a Christian political bloc, to contrast the Muslims opposing blocs.
Islamisation during the Fulani jihad