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>> I'm Lanisa Kitchiner,
Chief of the African
and Middle Eastern Division.
One of the many things
we do is provide research
and tell stories that
are not widely known.
The story of the polymath
genius Sultan Ibrahim Njoya,
leader of the Bamum kingdom
in modern-day Cameroon,
is one of them.
Njoya led his kingdom
in the late 19th
and early 20th centuries.
He had to deal with German,
and then French, colonialists.
He created the first map of his
kingdom called the Lewa Ngu,
or the Book of the Country.
He also wrote the
history of his people
in a script of his own making.
He also created a
unique religion.
In creating these, he
preserved not only a snapshot
of his kingdom's
physical boundaries
when European colonialists were
erasing them, but also a picture
of his nation's hopes,
dreams, and aspirations.
We are thrilled to
preserve Sultan Njoya's map,
one of his charming sketchbooks,
and many other documents
that help tell a story that
might otherwise be lost to time.
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