The Tikar had a large population, sophistication in war, government, industry and the arts, the old Tikar dynasties dominated Central and West Africa for at least three centuries before their decline in the nineteenth century. It is estimated that there were more than one million Tikar people. Today there are less than 100000 in the French-speaking zone and 300000 in the English-speaking zone (Banso).

The Tikar met the criteria for “good slaves.” They were attractive, learned quickly and had a tradition of slavery with-in their own society. As the Tikar people attempted to abandon their traditional grassy savannahs and the plains where they were easy slave trade targets with no natural protection, they were forced to leave their villages, with slave traders on the one side and four hostile tribes on the other side, seeking revenge. One of the strategies they applied to fight off the enemy was to dig moats around villages; these still exist in at least five kingdoms. However this strategy failed and the survivors found refuge in the forest. The slave trade during this drained their brightest and most physically fit young people. Having been weakened by war and the slave trade, they became vulnerable to neighboring tribes who had been subjected by the Tikar for several centuries.

While much more could be known about the Tikar very little scholarship has been invested to recount their history. Their ceramic techniques, architecture and iron smelting kilns were very advanced.