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19-638: The Mandjia, the third most populous ethnic group in the Central African Republic, are concentrated in Bossangoa. Along with the Baya , a closely related group, the Mandjia are important historically for their resistance to invasion by various Muslim powers to the north. From 1901 to 1905 Bossangoa and the surrounding area was in rebellion against French colonial authorities. Bossangoa became

38-624: A Gbaya prophet who claimed to possess magical powers that could defeat the French, caused the Gbaya to revolt massively. Karnu was killed early, but revolt kept raging for about three years until the French were finally able to put it down. The Gbaya people felt discriminated against in the political sphere, even after independence from the French. It was only in the 1990s that a notable number of Gbaya leaders began to be admitted into higher administrative positions in government. More recent estimates of

57-567: A center of Protestant missionary activity during the 1920s. In 1959, the city was made the seat of the Apostolic Prefecture of Bossangoa from the Diocese of Berbérati . In 1964, it was promoted as the Diocese of Bossangoa . Bossangoa received electricity in 1970. In June 1980, the city was the scene of clashes between police and farmers over government food policies. The next year French troops were called in to suppress rioting in

76-436: A gas station stripped down to the metal frames of its pumps, and an emptied city hall." The population, which once numbered 50,000, has mostly fled the city to escape communal violence between Muslims and Christians in the aftermath of the civil war. The population was living in two separate camps – one for Muslims and one for Christians. In April 2014, Chadian troops escorting a convoy of "the last 540 Muslim residents of

95-585: A people of western region of Central African Republic , east-central Cameroon , the north of the Republic of Congo , and the northwest of the Democratic Republic of Congo , and Republic of South Sudan In the first half of the 20th century, the Gbaya were involved in several revolt attempts against German and then French colonial rule. In rural areas, the Gbaya cultivate mainly maize , cassava , yams , peanuts , tobacco , coffee and rice ,

114-704: A second mission in 1892 in the same places, meant in particular to establish French control over the Adamawa (in modern Nigeria ), from which the Benue, the major tributary of the Niger, rises. The plan failed, for the English protested that the claimed territory had been assigned to Britain. In 1895 Mizon was nominated Resident of Majunga , in Madagascar . He was promoted to administrateur-superieur of Mayotte , at

133-525: A series of rapes and murders on the locals. To escape the horrors of the war, many Gbaya tribes went to live deep into the rainforest , and soon the old practices that the German administration had attempted to quell, such as tribal wars, slavery and cannibalism, became popular again. In 1928, forced labor conscription by the French to build the Congo-Ocean Railway , and the rise of Karnu,

152-550: Is known as kuri . Kam , is a Gbaya porridge made from cassava. Today, most of the Gbaya people are Christians (50% Protestant, 33% Catholic), about 12% follows original indigenous beliefs, with only a minority of Muslims (3%). Witchcraft is known to be practiced, and is known to the people as dua . Stories and rituals of the Gbaya people are a feature of everyday society. The rituals employ martial arts equipment such as dual-edged swords and throwing knives . Antoine Mizon Louis Alexandre Antoine Mizon (1853–1899)

171-580: The Niger-Congo language family. Pre-colonial and early colonial era Gbaya tribes routinely indulged in ritual anthropophagy . While it essentially targeted defeated enemies, it could in some occasions be extended to owned slaves. This behavior deeply disgusted the Germans and the French, causing them to disdain and mistreat the Gbaya people, and to favor other ethnicities (such as the Fulani) over

190-597: The Sangha River . In the early 1900s, the area where the Gbaya lived became part of German Kamerun . The Gbaya, who traditionally lived in small rural communities, strongly resented the forced urbanization brought by the Germans. Many tribes initially responded by moving away to remote areas, but a German repression campaign soon forced them back into submission. By 1910, all the resisting tribes had been subdued, and their leaders had been hanged. From 1912 onward, many Gbaya tribes were forced to collect rubber for

209-587: The Eastern area of whats is now Cameroon. During the 19th century, a series of wars opposed Gbaya tribes to Fulani tribes of the Sokoto Caliphate . These wars were marked by extensive slave raiding , resulting in the enslavement of a great numbers of Gbaya by the Fulani. The first contact with Europeans occurred in 1892, when French explorer Antoine Mizon entered Gbaya territory after steaming up

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228-421: The Gbaya. By the end of the 20th century, anthropophagy is considered to have completely disappeared from Gbaya culture. One of the last recorded cases occurred in 1949, when a dozen old Gbaya men from a village near Bertoua were arrested after having indulged in ritual cannibalism. In rural areas, the Gbaya cultivate mainly maize , cassava (staple food), yams , peanuts , tobacco , coffee and rice ,

247-492: The Germans. When the First World War broke out, France, Britain and Belgium invaded German Kamerun . Many Gbaya joined the French to get revenge from the oppression they had suffered at the hands of the Germans. As they retreated, German forces used scorched earth tactics, burning down many Gbaya villages The Gbaya also suffered greatly when a number of Congolese Force Publique troops went rogue and indulged in

266-650: The aftermath of elections. In March 2013, rebels of the Séléka Alliance overtook the town, as part of the 2012-13 Central African Republic conflict . The rebels are seeking to overthrow the government of President of the Central African Republic François Bozizé In January 2014, Bossangoa was described as a ghost town, "strangely empty" with "no people, only charred houses and storefronts, block after block of blackened roofless dwellings, an abandoned bank,

285-443: The latter two of which were introduced by the French. The diamond industry took off in the late 1930s and still remains important. The agriculture method of Gbaya is called "swidden", a type of "slash and burn" farming where the forest is cleared, vegetation burnt on top of the cleared land, the farm used for a few years, then abandoned and the families move to a new area. The Gbaya make an alcoholic beverage prepared with honey which

304-561: The latter two of which were introduced by the French. Today, many of the Gbaya people are Christians, though witchcraft is practiced, known as dua . Gbaya people have been present in Central Africa since at least the 16th century. Archaeological researches have determined their place of origin to be located somewhere in the lower valley of the Lobaye River . During the early 19th century, several Gbaya tribes migrated toward

323-574: The northwestern town of Bossangoa to Goré, Chad ," were attacked by local militia as they passed through Boguila ." Three people were wounded. On 24 February 2021 government forces captured Bossangoa. Bossangoa has a tropical savanna climate ( Köppen climate classification Aw ). The main agricultural products are cotton and coffee . There is a small local airport that serves light planes. 6°29′N 17°27′E  /  6.483°N 17.450°E  / 6.483; 17.450 Gbaya people The Gbaya , also Gbeya or Baya , are

342-517: The population differ markedly, from 1.2 million, down to 685,100, of which 358,000 are native to Cameroon. Gbaya culture often takes an interest in the past and various traditions of martial arts , including disciplines that use hand-to-hand weapons. Subgroups of the Gbaya include the Bokoto , Kara , Kaka , Buli , and Bwaka . The Gbaya speak a language of the Adamawa-Ubangi subgroup of

361-677: Was a French explorer and colonial administrator. Born in Paris in 1853, Mizon entered in the French Navy in 1869. Between 1880 and 1883 he was at Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza 's orders, with whom he had difficulties working. In 1890 he was given the command of an expedition meant to find a viable route between the Niger and the Congo rivers by passing by the Benue and Sangha River . He also led

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