Invented in 1903 in Cameroon by King Ibrahim Njoya, King of Bamoun. The king of the Bamouns, Sultan Njoya developed for more than 40 years a writing system for his own language. At the end of the 19th century he conceived, following a dream, a first system of 466 pictograms, then reduced their number and gave them a syllabic value.
King Njoya established his school in Foumban, his capital (Cameroon), he taught the first symbols of his writing to the notables He created a series of schools and books using this writing. But in 1931, the French colonial authorities dismissed him and destroyed all these schools and works. He was exiled to Yaoundé and died 2 years later.