the bamoun people claim their origin from tikar in cameroon. thus it no surprise that the language of the bamum kingdom could be trace to the tikars in the western highlands of cameroon. this apparently did not last long, and the language of the conquered, mben, was adopted. the bamun developed an extensive artistic culture at their capital of foumban at the beginning of the 20th century. during njoya’s reign six dye pits containing various colors were maintained. the mbum also imported indigo-dyed raffia-sewn cloth from the hausa as royal cloth. this royal cloth was called ntieya, and hausa craftsmen were kept at palace workshops to supply nobles and teach the art of dyeing.