The town of Tibati was founded in the 1820s by Hamman Sambo, a flag-bearer of Modibo Adama, in turn a vassal of Muhammad Bello, leader of the Sokoto Caliphate.

At the southernmost point of the Adamawa Emirate, Tibati was a center of slave raiding and perhaps the most powerful Lamidate in the region.

[2] In the early years of German colonization of Cameroon, the Lamidate of Tibati, particularly their Vute vassals, was an obstacle to their commercial penetration of the Adamawa plateau.

Although Lamido Muhammad attempted to negotiate a peace, the Germans launched a surprise attack on Tibati and deposed him.

As per tradition, the Faadah (electoral college) of the lamidate heard the proposals of 22 candidates before selecting Barkindo as the 21st Lamido of Tibati.

[1]: 315 The town's medical needs are covered by a large missionary hospital in Ngaoubela, approximately 15 km in the north, following N15 / N6 into the direction of Ngaoundal.