c. Y. A.
The name Tchamba stands for both a city located in Tchamba Prefecture in the Centrale Region of Togo, and the tribe living in that area. Tchamba is originally a tribe living in and around the town of Chamba, in the Northern Region of present-day Ghana. The town can be found between Salaga and Bimbilla. Part of the tribe is still living there; others have migrated to Accra.
The (T)Chambas are known as aborigines (indigenous people) of Northern Ghana, once covering an area as large as the present Dagbon. Due to major tribal wars between the Dagomba people and the Kokomba people in the aftermath of the First World War, many of them fled to present-day Tchamba in Northern Togo, while others fled to Accra, but a third group survived in the North of Ghana. The various groups maintain close relations, for example in the Chamba Heritage Society and it is not uncommon for families to live in two of their homelands. The Tchamba language is widely spoken in Togo, Ghana, Benin, and Nigeria. They have linguistical affiliations with Konkonba, Bassari. They are predominantly Moslems.
In Togo, the major clans are Imamwa, Congoro, Lari, Dopo, Samgbe, Lambu Daru Atarrawei, Nantoh, Ninche, Kumateh, and others. The Congoros are the origins there, whereby the Laris among others arrived later. The kingship was originally for the Congoros while the Islamic leadership position (Imam) is always held by Imamwa as their name implies. Some of the major towns in Tchamba are Alibi, Kasaleym and Affem Boussou.
A brief introduction of The Chamba people of Ghana and Togo, and thier locations.
The Map Location of Chamba in Ghana
The Map Location of Chamba in Togo
A brief introduction of The Chamba people of Nigeria and Cameroon, and thier locations.
The Chamba people of Nigeria and Cameroon speak two distantly related languages: Chamba Leko, of the Leko–Nimbari languages, and Chamba Daka, of the Dakoid languages.
The Chamba people have their own particular religious beliefs known as the Chamba religion.[1] The Chamba (they refer to themselves as SAMA) people are an ethnic group found in the present-day borderline between the Cameroon and Nigeria. Researchers Raymond Boyd and Richard Fardon agree that the chamba people are composed of two different languages belonging to the Niger-Congo family.[2] The two groups are called Chamba Daka and Chamba Leko.
The Chamba speakers still speak various other dialects that are different from place to place. The central area is where the Chamba Daka (Sama Nnakenyare) live. That area is found in North east of Nigeria on the Cameroon border in Adamawa State. The area was called the “Chamba Native Authority" during the colonial era. Actually the Chamba were split into Nigeria and Cameroun as a result later by the United Nation’s plebiscite conducted first in 1969 and finally in 1961.
The original occupant of the Chambaland were the Germans, but when Germany lost the First World War her territory in Africa was taken as mandated territory by the League of Nations and was given out. The Cameroun was divided between British and France. “Where the majority of the Chamba live, straddles the present border between Nigeria and Cameroon” (Boyd; 1994). Boyd also says that the “Chamba Leko speakers are restricted to the easternmost part of the central area, for the most part on the Cameroon part of the modern border. The remainder of the Chamba are Daka-speaking”.
Today the Chamba people are one of the largest ethnic groups in the North eastern Nigeria. The Gangwari of Ganye (Chief of Ganye) is highest traditional ruler in Chamba land.
The closest chamba neighbours are the Mumuye, the Fulani and the Jukun and Kutep people.
The Chamba in Cameroon are divided into several subsets: Bali Nyonga, Bali Kumbat, Bali-Gham, Bali-Gangsin, and Bali-Gasho.
The Map Location of Chamba aka Adamawa in Nigeria
The Map Location of Chamba in Cameroon
