Handicraft center Bali Nyonga

Bali Nyonga, commonly known as Bali, belongs to the Chamba Leko group that
migrated from the Chamba area of what is today known as Northern Cameroon to the
Bamenda grassfields. The date of their exodus is not certain but could be estimated
to be the beginning of the second quarter of the 19th century (Hunt 1925). Historical
accounts hold that the Chamba were the last of the ethnic groups to settle in the
grassfields of Bamenda in the second half of the 19th century (Nyamndi 1988;
Chilver and Kaberry 1967).

Under the leadership of Gawolbe, the Chamba group arrived at Banyo in about 1825
where they incorporated a number of other groups such as the Peli, Mboum, Buti and
Tikar. The Chamba group and its new allies continued their journey further south and
settled near the powerful Bamum kingdom, which today is found in the Western
Province. There, the Chamba tried to subjugate the Bamum with the aid of the Bati, a
small group that had been suffering constant persecution from the Bamum. Although
the Chamba failed to subjugate the Bamum, they incorporated some of the Bati and
continued towards the south. They crossed the river Nun and entered the Bamenda
grassfields where they fought with the already established kingdoms of Mankon,
Bafut, Pinyin, Meta and Moghamo. Unable to find a territory where they could settle
without hostility from the neighbouring groups, the Chamba left the Bamenda
grassfields and moved further west into Dschang, located in the present-day Western
Province.