The Asante Empire (
Asante Twi
Asante, also known as Ashanti, Ashante, or Asante Twi, is one of the principal members of the Akan dialect continuum. It is one of the four mutually intelligible dialects of Akan which are collectively known as Twi, the others being Bono and Ak ...
: ), today commonly called the Ashanti Empire, was an
Akan Akan may refer to:
People and languages
*Akan people, an ethnic group in Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire
*Akan language, a language spoken by the Akan people
*Kwa languages, a language group which includes Akan
* Central Tano languages, a language group ...
state that lasted between 1701 to 1901, in what is now modern-day
Ghana
Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and Tog ...
.
It expanded from the
Ashanti Region
The Ashanti Region is located in southern part of Ghana and it is the third largest of 16 administrative regions, occupying a total land surface of or 10.2 percent of the total land area of Ghana. In terms of population, however, it is the m ...
to include most of Ghana as well as parts of
Ivory Coast
Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital is Yamoussoukro, in the centre of the country, while its largest city and economic centre i ...
and
Togo
Togo (), officially the Togolese Republic (french: République togolaise), is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, where its c ...
. Due to the empire's
military prowess,
wealth
Wealth is the abundance of valuable financial assets or physical possessions which can be converted into a form that can be used for transactions. This includes the core meaning as held in the originating Old English word , which is from an I ...
, architecture,
sophisticated hierarchy and
culture
Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups ...
, the Ashanti Empire has been extensively studied and has more historic records written by European, primarily British authors than any other indigenous culture of
Sub-Saharan Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa is, geographically, the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lies south of the Sahara. These include West Africa, East Africa, Central Africa, and Southern Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the List of sov ...
.
[Collins and Burns (2007), p. 140.]
Starting in the late 17th century, the Ashanti king
Osei Tutu
Osei Kofi Tutu I ( – ) was one of the founders of the Ashanti Empire, assisted by Okomfo Anokye. The Asante are an Akan ethnic group of West Africa. Osei Tutu led an alliance of Asante states against the regional hegemon, the Denkyira, compl ...
( – 1717) and his adviser
Okomfo Anokye
Okomfo Anokye (c.1655-c.1717?/c.1719) was the first priest ( Okomfo) of the Ashanti Empire. Anokye is known for his participation in the expansion of the empire. He was also the codifier of the constitution and laws of the Ashanti Empire.
Biogra ...
established the Ashanti Kingdom, with the
Golden Stool of Asante as a sole unifying symbol.
Osei Tutu oversaw a massive Ashanti territorial expansion, building up the army by introducing new organisation and turning a disciplined royal and paramilitary army into an effective fighting machine.
In 1701, the Ashanti army conquered
Denkyira, giving the Ashanti access to the
Gulf of Guinea
The Gulf of Guinea is the northeasternmost part of the tropical Atlantic Ocean from Cape Lopez in Gabon, north and west to Cape Palmas in Liberia. The intersection of the Equator and Prime Meridian (zero degrees latitude and longitude) is i ...
and the
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...
coastal trade with Europeans, notably the
Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
.
The economy of the Ashanti Empire was mainly based on the trade of gold and agricultural exports
as well as
slave trading
The history of slavery spans many cultures, nationalities, and religions from ancient times to the present day. Likewise, its victims have come from many different ethnicities and religious groups. The social, economic, and legal positions of ens ...
,
craft
A craft or trade is a pastime or an occupation that requires particular skills and knowledge of skilled work. In a historical sense, particularly the Middle Ages and earlier, the term is usually applied to people occupied in small scale pr ...
work and trade with markets up
North
North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography.
Etymology
The word ''north ...
.
The army served as the effective tool to procure captives.
The Ashanti Empire fought several wars with neighboring kingdoms and lesser organized groups such as the
Fante. The Ashanti defeated the
British Empire
The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts e ...
's invasions in the first two of the four
Anglo-Ashanti Wars
The Anglo-Ashanti wars were a series of five conflicts that took place between 1824 and 1900 between the Ashanti Empire—in the Akan interior of the Gold Coast—and the British Empire and its African allies. Though the Ashanti emerged victori ...
, killing British army general
Sir Charles MacCarthy and keeping his skull as a gold-rimmed drinking cup in 1824. British forces later burnt and sacked the Ashanti capital of
Kumasi
Kumasi (historically spelled Comassie or Coomassie, usually spelled Kumase in Twi) is a city in the Ashanti Region, and is among the largest metropolitan areas in Ghana. Kumasi is located in a rain forest region near Lake Bosomtwe, and is t ...
, however, and after the final Ashanti defeat at the fifth Anglo-Ashanti War, the Ashanti empire became part of the Gold Coast colony on 1 January 1902. Today, the Ashanti Kingdom survives as a constitutionally protected, sub-national
traditional state
Traditional authority is a form of leadership in which the authority of an organization or a regime is largely tied to tradition or custom. The main reason for the given state of affairs is that " things have always been that way".Reinhard Bend ...
in union with the Republic of Ghana. The current king of the Ashanti Kingdom is
Otumfuo Osei Tutu II Asantehene. The Ashanti Kingdom is the home to
Lake Bosumtwi
Lake Bosumtwi is the only natural lake in Ghana. It is situated within an ancient impact crater that is about in diameter. It is about south-east of Kumasi, the capital of Ashanti, and is a popular recreational area. There are about 30 village ...
, Ghana's only natural lake. The state's current economic revenue is derived mainly from trading in
gold bar
A gold bar, also called gold bullion or gold ingot, is a quantity of refined metallic gold of any shape that is made by a bar producer meeting standard conditions of manufacture, labeling, and record keeping. Larger gold bars that are produced ...
s,
cocoa
Cocoa may refer to:
Chocolate
* Chocolate
* ''Theobroma cacao'', the cocoa tree
* Cocoa bean, seed of ''Theobroma cacao''
* Chocolate liquor, or cocoa liquor, pure, liquid chocolate extracted from the cocoa bean, including both cocoa butter an ...
,
kola nut
The term kola nut usually refers to the seeds of certain species of plant of the genus ''Cola'', placed formerly in the cocoa family Sterculiaceae and now usually subsumed in the mallow family Malvaceae (as subfamily Sterculioideae). These col ...
s and
agriculture
Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people ...
.
[Collins and Burns (2007), p. 139.]
Etymology and origins
The name ''Asante'' means "because of war". The word derives from the
Twi words ''ɔsa'' meaning "war" and ''nti'' meaning "because of". This name comes from the Asante's origin as a kingdom created to fight the
Denkyira kingdom.
The variant name "Ashanti" comes from British reports transcribing "Asante" as the British heard it pronounced, ''as-hanti''. The hyphenation was subsequently dropped and the name ''Ashanti'' remained, with various spellings including ''Ashantee'' common into the early 20th century.
Between the 10th and 12th centuries AD, the ethnic
Akan people
The Akan () people live primarily in present-day Ghana and Ivory Coast in West Africa. The Akan language (also known as ''Twi/Fante'') are a group of dialects within the Central Tano branch of the Potou–Tano subfamily of the Niger–Con ...
migrated into the forest belt of Southern Ghana and established several Akan states:
*
Ashanti,
*
Brong-Ahafo,
*
Assin
The Assin (also known as Asin and Asen) are an ethnic group of the Akan people who live in Ghana. The Assin people live predominantly in the Central Region of Ghana. The capital of the Assin district is Assin Foso.
There are two subdivisions of t ...
-Denkyira-
Fante Confederacy
The Fante Confederacy refers either to the alliance of the Fante people, Fante states in existence at least since the sixteenth century, or it can also refer to the modern Confederation formed in 1868. The Confederation is seen as one of the first ...
-
Mankessim Kingdom
The Mankessim Kingdom (1252–1844) was a pre-colonial African state in modern-day Ghana. It is regarded as the heartland of the Fante people, and operated as capital of the Fante Confederacy in the 19th century. The town of Mankessim still exi ...
(present-day
Central region)
*
Akyem
The Akyem are an Akan people. The term Akyem (Akem, Akim or Aki) is used to describe a group of four states: Asante Akyem, Akyem Abuakwa, Akyem Kotoku and Akyem Bosome. These nations are located primarily in the eastern region in south Ghana. ...
-
Akwamu
Akwamu was a state set up by the Akwamu people in present-day Ghana. After migrating from Bono state, the Akan founders of Akwamu settled in Twifo-Heman. The Akwamu led an expansionist empire in the 17th and 18th centuries. At the peak of their ...
-
Akuapem-
Kwahu
Kwahu refers to an area and group of people that live in Ghana, part of the Twi-speaking Akan group. The region has been dubbed Asaase Aban, or the Natural Fortress, in view of its position as the highest habitable elevation in the country. Kwahu ...
(present-day
Eastern region and
Greater Accra
The Greater Accra Region has the smallest area of Ghana's 16 administrative regions, occupying a total land surface of 3,245 square kilometres. This is 1.4 per cent of the total land area of Ghana. It is the second most populated region, befor ...
), and
*
Ahanta
The Ahanta/Ayinda are Akan People who live to the north and east of the Nzema. The Ahanta land has been historically known as one of the richest areas on the coast of what is now Ghana.
The Ahanta land spans from Beposo to Ankobra in what is no ...
-
Aowin-
Sefwi-
Wassa
The Wasa are Akan people who live predominantly in Ghana
Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with I ...
(present-day
Western region).
Before the Ashanti Kingdom had contact with Europeans, it had a flourishing trade with other African states due to the Ashanti
gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile ...
wealth. Trade with European states began after contact with the
Portuguese
Portuguese may refer to:
* anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal
** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods
** Portuguese language, a Romance language
*** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language
** Portu ...
in the 15th century AD.
[
MacLean, Iain. ''Rational Choice and British Politics: An Analysis of Rhetoric and Manipulation from Peel to Blair'', 2001, p. 76.] When the
gold mines
Gold mining is the extraction of gold resources by mining. Historically, mining gold from alluvial deposits used manual separation processes, such as gold panning. However, with the expansion of gold mining to ores that are not on the surface, ...
in the
Sahel
The Sahel (; ar, ساحل ' , "coast, shore") is a region in North Africa. It is defined as the ecoclimatic and biogeographic realm of transition between the Sahara to the north and the Sudanian savanna to the south. Having a hot semi-arid cli ...
started to play out, the Ashanti Kingdom rose to prominence as the major player in the gold trade.
At the height of the Ashanti Kingdom, the Ashanti people became wealthy through the trading of gold mined from their territory.
History
Foundation
![The National Archives UK - CO 1069-44-5-1-001](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6b/The_National_Archives_UK_-_CO_1069-44-5-1-001.jpg)
Ashanti political organization was originally centred on
clans
A clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship
and descent. Even if lineage details are unknown, clans may claim descent from founding member or apical ancestor. Clans, in indigenous societies, tend to be endogamous, mea ...
headed by a
paramount chief
A paramount chief is the English-language designation for the highest-level political leader in a regional or local polity or country administered politically with a chief-based system. This term is used occasionally in anthropological and arc ...
or O''manhene''.
One particular clan, the
Oyoko, settled in the Ashanti's sub-tropical forest region, establishing a centre at
Kumasi
Kumasi (historically spelled Comassie or Coomassie, usually spelled Kumase in Twi) is a city in the Ashanti Region, and is among the largest metropolitan areas in Ghana. Kumasi is located in a rain forest region near Lake Bosomtwe, and is t ...
. The Ashanti became tributaries of another Akan state,
Denkyira but in the mid-17th century the Oyoko under Chief Oti Akenten started consolidating the Ashanti clans into a loose
confederation
A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a union of sovereign groups or states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical iss ...
against the Denkyira.
The introduction of the
Golden Stool
The Golden Stool ( Ashanti- tw, Sika dwa; full title, Sika Dwa Kofi "the Golden Stool born on a Friday") is the royal and divine throne of kings of the Ashanti people and the ultimate symbol of power in Asante. According to legend, Okomfo Anoky ...
(''Sika dwa'') was a means of centralization under Osei Tutu. According to legend, a meeting of all the clan heads of each of the Ashanti settlements was called just prior to declaring independence from Denkyira. Those included members from Nsuta, Mampong, Dwaben, Bekwai and Kokofu.
In this meeting the Golden Stool was commanded down from the heavens by Okomfo Anokye, chief-priest or sage advisor to ''Asantehene'' Osei Tutu I and floated down from the heavens into the lap of Osei Tutu I. Okomfo
Anokye declared the stool to be symbolic of the new Ashanti Union (''the Ashanti Kingdom''), and allegiance was sworn to the stool and to Osei Tutu as the ''Asantehene''. The newly declared Ashanti union subsequently waged war against and defeated Denkyira. The stool remains sacred to the Ashanti as it is believed to contain the ''
Sunsum'' — spirit or soul of the Ashanti people.
Independence
In the 1670s the head of the
Oyoko clan,
Osei Kofi Tutu I
Osei Kofi Tutu I ( – ) was one of the founders of the Ashanti Empire, assisted by Okomfo Anokye. The Asante are an Akan ethnic group of West Africa. Osei Tutu led an alliance of Asante states against the regional hegemon, the Denkyira, comp ...
, began another rapid consolidation of
Akan people
The Akan () people live primarily in present-day Ghana and Ivory Coast in West Africa. The Akan language (also known as ''Twi/Fante'') are a group of dialects within the Central Tano branch of the Potou–Tano subfamily of the Niger–Con ...
s via diplomacy and warfare.
[Shillington, Kevin, ''History of Africa'', New York: St. Martin's, 1995 (1989), p. 194.] King Osei Kofu Tutu I and his chief advisor, Okomfo Kwame Frimpong
Anokye led a coalition of influential Ashanti city-states against their mutual oppressor, the
Denkyira who held the Ashanti Kingdom in its thrall. The Ashanti Kingdom utterly defeated them at the
Battle of Feyiase
The Battle of Feyiase was the decisive battle in the struggle that led to the Ashanti Empire replacing Denkyira as the dominant power among the Twi-speaking Akan peoples.
During the battle, the Denkyira army deployed 2 or 3 Dutch cannons while ...
, proclaiming its independence in 1701. Subsequently, through hard line force of arms and savoir-faire diplomacy, the duo induced the leaders of the other Ashanti city-states to declare allegiance and adherence to Kumasi, the Ashanti capital. From the beginning, King Osei Tutu and priest
Anokye followed an expansionist and an imperialistic provincial foreign policy. According to folklore, Okomfo Anokye is believed to have visited
Agona-Akrofonso.
Under Osei Tutu
Realizing the strengths of a loose confederation of Akan states, Osei Tutu strengthened centralization of the surrounding Akan groups and expanded the powers of the judiciary system within the centralized government. This loose confederation of small city-states grew into a kingdom and eventually an empire looking to expand its borders. Newly conquered areas had the option of joining the empire or becoming tributary states.
Opoku Ware I Opoku Ware I (born 1700–1750) was an ''Asantehene'' of Oyoko heritage, who ruled the Ashanti Empire which occupied parts of what is now Ghana. He is credited with being the "empire builder" of the Asante empire. He married and had two children na ...
, Osei Tutu's successor, extended the borders, embracing much of Ghana's territory.
European contact
European contact with the Ashanti on the
Gulf of Guinea
The Gulf of Guinea is the northeasternmost part of the tropical Atlantic Ocean from Cape Lopez in Gabon, north and west to Cape Palmas in Liberia. The intersection of the Equator and Prime Meridian (zero degrees latitude and longitude) is i ...
coast region of Africa began in the 15th century. This led to trade in
gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile ...
,
ivory
Ivory is a hard, white material from the tusks (traditionally from elephants) and teeth of animals, that consists mainly of dentine, one of the physical structures of teeth and tusks. The chemical structure of the teeth and tusks of mammals i ...
,
slaves
Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...
, and other goods with the
Portuguese
Portuguese may refer to:
* anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal
** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods
** Portuguese language, a Romance language
*** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language
** Portu ...
.
On May 15, 1817, the Englishman
Thomas Bowdich entered Kumasi. He remained there for several months, was impressed, and on his return to England wrote a book, ''Mission from Cape Coast Castle to Ashantee''. His praise of the kingdom was disbelieved as it contradicted prevailing prejudices.
Joseph Dupuis, the first British consul in Kumasi, arrived on March 23, 1820. Both Bowdich and Dupuis secured a treaty with the Asantehene. But, the governor, Hope Smith, did not meet Ashanti expectations.
British relations
![British Ransack Fomena Palace](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/99/British_Ransack_Fomena_Palace.png)
From 1824 till 1899 there were five
Anglo-Ashanti wars
The Anglo-Ashanti wars were a series of five conflicts that took place between 1824 and 1900 between the Ashanti Empire—in the Akan interior of the Gold Coast—and the British Empire and its African allies. Though the Ashanti emerged victori ...
between the Ashanti Empire and Great Britain and its allies. The British lost or negotiated truces in several of these wars, with the final war resulting in British burning of
Kumasi
Kumasi (historically spelled Comassie or Coomassie, usually spelled Kumase in Twi) is a city in the Ashanti Region, and is among the largest metropolitan areas in Ghana. Kumasi is located in a rain forest region near Lake Bosomtwe, and is t ...
and official occupation of the Ashanti Empire in 1900. The wars were mainly due to Ashanti attempts to establish a stronghold over the coastal areas of present-day Ghana. Coastal peoples such as the
Fante and the
Ga came to rely on British protection against Ashanti incursions.
In December 1895, the British left
Cape Coast
Cape Coast is a city, fishing port, and the capital of Cape Coast Metropolitan District and Central Region of Ghana. It is one of the country's most historic cities, a World Heritage Site, home to the Cape Coast Castle, with the Gulf of Guine ...
with an expeditionary force to start what is known as the Third Anglo-Ashanti War, see below. The Asantehene directed the Ashanti to not resist the British advance, as he feared reprisals from Britain if the expedition turned violent. Shortly thereafter, Governor
William Maxwell arrived in Kumasi as well.
Britain
annexed
Annexation (Latin ''ad'', to, and ''nexus'', joining), in international law, is the forcible acquisition of one state's territory by another state, usually following military occupation of the territory. It is generally held to be an illegal act ...
the territories of the Ashanti and the Fanti and constituted the
Ashanti Crown Colony on 26 September 1901.
Asantehene Agyeman Prempeh was deposed and arrested, and he and other Ashanti leaders were sent into exile in the
Seychelles
Seychelles (, ; ), officially the Republic of Seychelles (french: link=no, République des Seychelles; Creole: ''La Repiblik Sesel''), is an archipelagic state consisting of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean. Its capital and largest city, ...
. The Asante Union was dissolved. A
British Resident
A resident minister, or resident for short, is a government official required to take up permanent residence in another country. A representative of his government, he officially has diplomatic functions which are often seen as a form of indi ...
was permanently placed in the city of Kumasi, and soon after a British fort was built there.
Uprisings of 1900 and since 1935
As a final measure of resistance, the remaining Asante court not exiled to the Seychelles mounted an offensive against the British Residents at the Kumasi Fort. The resistance was led by Asante queen
Yaa Asantewaa
Yaa Asantewaa I (born 17 October 1840 – 17 October 1921) was the Queen Mother of Ejisu in the Ashanti Empirenow part of modern-day Ghana – appointed by her brother Nana Akwasi Afrane Opese, the Edwesuhene, or ruler, of Edwesu. In 1900 she l ...
, Queen-Mother of Ejisu. From March 28 to late September 1900, the Asante and British were engaged in what would become known as the
War of the Golden Stool
The War of the Golden Stool, also known as the Yaa Asantewaa War, the Third Ashanti Expedition, the Ashanti Uprising, or variations thereof, was a campaign in 1900 during the series of conflicts between the United Kingdom and the Ashanti Empire ...
. In the end, the British were victorious; they exiled Asantewaa and other Asante leaders to the Seychelles to join Asante King Prempeh I.
In January 1902, Britain finally designated the Ashanti Kingdom as a
protectorate
A protectorate, in the context of international relations, is a state that is under protection by another state for defence against aggression and other violations of law. It is a dependent territory that enjoys autonomy over most of its in ...
. the Ashanti Kingdom was restored to self-rule on 31 January 1935. Asante King Prempeh II was restored in 1957, and the Ashanti Kingdom entered a
state union
A political union is a type of political entity which is composed of, or created from, smaller polities, or the process which achieves this. These smaller polities are usually called federated states and federal territories in a federal governm ...
with Ghana on independence from the United Kingdom.
Territorial history timeline
Government and politics
The Ashanti state was a centralized state made up of a hierarchy of heads starting from the "
Abusua
Abusua is the name in Akan culture for a group of people that share common maternal ancestry governed by seven major ancient female abosom (deities). Panyin" who was head of a family or lineage. The family was the basic political unit in the empire. The family or lineage followed the village organization which was headed by the ''Odikro''. All villages were then grouped together to form divisions headed by a divisional head called ''Ohene''. The various divisions were politically grouped to form a state which was headed by an ''Omanhene'' or ''Amanhene''. Finally, all Ashanti states formed the Ashanti Empire with the Asantehene as their king.
[.]
The Ashanti government was built upon a sophisticated
bureaucracy
The term bureaucracy () refers to a body of non-elected governing officials as well as to an administrative policy-making group. Historically, a bureaucracy was a government administration managed by departments staffed with non-elected offi ...
in Kumasi, with separate
ministries to handle the state's affairs. Of particular note was Ashanti's Foreign Office based in Kumasi; despite its small size, it allowed the state to pursue complex negotiations with foreign powers. The Office was divided into departments to handle relations separately with the
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
,
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
,
Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
, and
Arab
The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...
s. Scholars of Ashanti history, such as
Larry Yarak and
, disagree over the power of this sophisticated bureaucracy in comparison to the Asantehene, but agree that it was a sign of a highly developed government with a complex system of
checks and balances
Separation of powers refers to the division of a state's government into branches, each with separate, independent powers and responsibilities, so that the powers of one branch are not in conflict with those of the other branches. The typic ...
.
Administration
Asantehene
At the top of Ashanti's power structure sat the ''
Asantehene
The is the title for the monarch of the historical Ashanti Empire as well as the ceremonial ruler of the Ashanti people today. The Ashanti royal house traces its line to the Oyoko (an ''Abusua'', or "clan") Abohyen Dynasty of Nana Twum and th ...
'', the King of Ashanti. Each Asantahene was enthroned on the sacred Golden Stool, the Sika 'dwa, an object that came to symbolise the very power of the King. Osei Kwadwo (1764–1777) began the
meritocratic
Meritocracy (''merit'', from Latin , and ''-cracy'', from Ancient Greek 'strength, power') is the notion of a political system in which economic goods and/or political power are vested in individual people based on talent, effort, and ac ...
system of appointing central officials according to their ability, rather than their birth.
As King, the ''Asantehene'' held immense power in Ashanti, but did not enjoy
absolute royal rule. He was obliged to share considerable legislative and executive powers with Ashanti's sophisticated bureaucracy. But the ''Asantehene'' was the only person in Ashanti permitted to invoke the
death sentence
Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that ...
in cases of crime. During wartime, the King acted as Supreme Commander of the
Ashanti army, although during the 19th century, the fighting was increasingly handled by the Ministry of War in Kumasi. Each member of the confederacy was also obliged to send annual tribute to Kumasi.
The ''Asantehene'' (King of all Ashanti) reigned over all and was King of the division of Kumasi, the nation's capital, and the Ashanti Empire. He was elected in the same manner as all other chiefs. In this hierarchical structure, every chief or King swore fealty to the one above him—from village and subdivision, to division, to the chief of Kumasi, and finally the ''Asantehene'' swore fealty to the
State
State may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Literature
* ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State
* ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States
* ''Our S ...
.
The
elders circumscribed the power of the ''Asantehene'', and the chiefs of other divisions considerably checked the power of the King. This in practical effect created a system of checks and balances. As the symbol of the nation, the ''Asantehene'' received significant deference ritually, for the context was religious in that he was a symbol of the people in the flesh: the living, dead or yet to be born. When the king committed an act not approved of by the counsel of elders or the people, he could possibly be
impeached
Impeachment is the process by which a legislative body or other legally constituted tribunal initiates charges against a public official for misconduct. It may be understood as a unique process involving both political and legal elements.
In ...
, and demoted to a commoner.
The existence of
aristocratic
Aristocracy (, ) is a form of government that places strength in the hands of a small, privileged ruling class, the aristocrats. The term derives from the el, αριστοκρατία (), meaning 'rule of the best'.
At the time of the word' ...
organizations and the
council
A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/ shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or nati ...
of elders is evidence of an
oligarchic
Oligarchy (; ) is a conceptual form of power structure in which power rests with a small number of people. These people may or may not be distinguished by one or several characteristics, such as nobility, fame, wealth, education, or corporate, r ...
tendency in Ashanti political life. Though older men tended to
monopolize political power, Ashanti instituted an organization of young men, the ''nmerante'', that tended to
democratize
Democratization, or democratisation, is the transition to a more democratic Regime, political regime, including substantive political changes moving in a democratic direction. It may be a hybrid regime in transition from an Authoritarianism, auth ...
and liberalization, liberalize the political process in the empire. The council of elders undertook actions only after consulting a representative of the ''nmerante''. Their views were taken seriously as they participated in decision-making in the empire.
Residence
The current residence of the Asantehene is the Manhyia Palace built in 1925 by the British and presented to the Prempeh I as a present upon his return from exile.
The original palace of the Asantehene in Kumasi was burned down by the British in 1875. From European accounts, the edifice was massive and ornately built. In 1819, English traveler and author, Thomas Edward Bowdich described the palace as
...an immense building of a variety of oblong courts and regular squares [with] entablatures exuberantly adorned with bold fan and trellis work of Egyptian character. They have a suite of rooms over them, with small windows of wooden lattice, of intricate but regular carved work, and some have frames cased with thin gold. The squares have a large apartment on each side, open in front, with two supporting pillars, which break the view and give it all the appearance of the proscenium or front of the stage of the older Italian theaters. They are lofty and regular, and the cornices of a very bold cane-work in alto-relievo. A drop-curtain of curiously plaited cane is suspended in front, and in each, we observed chairs and stools embossed with gold, and beds of silk, with scattered regalia.
Winwood Reade also described his visit to the Ashanti Royal Palace of Kumasi in 1874:
“We went to the king’s palace, which consists of many courtyards, each surrounded with alcoves and verandahs, and having two gates or doors, so that each yard was a thoroughfare . . . But the part of the palace fronting the street was a stone house, Moorish in its style . . . with a flat roof and a parapet, and suites of apartments on the first floor. It was built by Fanti masons many years ago. The rooms upstairs remind me of Wardour Street. Each was a perfect Old Curiosity Shop. Books in many languages, Bohemian glass, clocks, silver plate, old furniture, Persian rugs, Kidderminster carpets, pictures and engravings, numberless chests and coffers. A sword bearing the inscription From Queen Victoria to the King of Ashantee. A copy of the Times, 17 October 1843. With these were many specimens of Moorish and Ashanti handicraft.”
File:BOWDICH(1819) p338 PLATE 5 - COOMASSIE, ODUMATA'S SLEEPING ROOM.jpg, Odumata's Sleeping Room (1819).
File:BOWDICH(1819) p341 PLATE 7 - COOMASSIE, PART OF A PIAZZA IN THE PALACE.jpg, Piazza in the Palace (1819).
File:BOWDICH(1819) p344 PLATE 9 - COOMASSIE, PART OF ADAM STREET.jpg, Adum Street (1819).
Asanteman council
This institution assisted the Asantehene and served as an advisory body to the king. The council was made up of Amanhene or paramount chiefs who were leaders of the various Ashanti states. The council also included other provincial chiefs. By law the Asantehene never ignored the decisions of the Asanteman council. Doing so could get him de-stooled from the throne.
Amanhene
The Ashanti Empire was made up of metropolitan and provincial states. The metropolitan states were made up of Ashanti citizens known as ''amanfo''. The provincial states were other kingdoms absorbed into the empire. Every metropolitan Ashanti state was headed by the ''Amanhene'' or paramount chief. Each of these paramount chiefs served as principal rulers of their own states, where they exerted executive, legislative and judicial powers.
Ohene
The ''Ohene'' were divisional chiefs under the Amanhene. Their major function was to advise the Amanhene. The divisional chiefs were the highest order in various Ashanti state divisions. The divisions were made up of various villages put together. Examples of divisional chiefs included Krontihene, Nifahene, Benkumhene, Adontenhene and Kyidomhene.
Odikuro
Each village in Asante had a chief called Odikro who was the owner of the village. The Odikro was responsible for the maintenance of law and order. He also served as a medium between the people of his jurisdiction, the ancestor and the gods. As the head of the village, the Odikro presided over the village council.
Queen
![Yaa Asantewaa Museum (4)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bc/Yaa_Asantewaa_Museum_%284%29.jpg)
The queen or ''Ohenemaa'' was an important figure in Ashanti political systems. She was the most powerful female in the Empire. She had the prerogative of being consulted in the process of installing a chief or the king, as she played a major role in the nomination and selection. She settled disputes involving women and was involved in decision-making alongside the Council of elders and chiefs.
Not only did she participate in the judicial and legislative processes, but also in the making and unmaking of war, and the distribution of land.
Obirempon
Successful entrepreneurs who accumulated large wealth and men as well as distinguished themselves through heroic deeds were awarded social and political recognition by being called "Abirempon" or "Obirempon" which means big men. By the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries AD, the appellation "Abirempon" had formalized and politicized to embrace those who conducted trade from which the whole state benefited. The state rewarded entrepreneurs who attained such accomplishments with Mena (elephant tail) which was the "heraldic badge" ''Obirempon''s had a fair amount of legislative power in their regions, more than the local nobles of Dahomey but less than the regional governors of the Oyo Empire. In addition to handling the region's administrative and economic matters, the ''obirempon'' also acted as the Supreme Judge of their jurisdiction, presiding over court cases.
Kotoko council
The Kotoko was a government council in the Ashanti government.
Politically, the kotoko council served as the counterweight to the king's council of elders and basically embodied the aristocratic party in the government. The council formed the Legislature of Ashanti governmental system.
[Edgerton, Robert B. ''Fall of the Asante Empire: The Hundred Year War for Africa's Gold Coast''. Free Press, 1995.] It was made up of the Asantehene, the Queen mother as well as the state chiefs and their ministers.
Elections
The election of Kings and the Asantehene (''King of Kings or emperor'' ) himself followed a pattern. The senior female of the kingly lineage nominated the eligible males. This senior female then consulted the elders, male and female, of that line. The final candidate is then selected. That nomination was sent to a council of elders, who represented other lineages in the town or district.
The Elders then presented the nomination to the assembled people. If the assembled citizenship, citizens disapproved of the nominee, the process was restarted. Chosen, the new Kings were enstooled by the Elders, who admonished him with expectations. The chosen Kings swore a solemn oath to the Gaia (mythology), Earth Goddess and to his ancestors to fulfill his duties honorably in which he Sacrifice, "sacrificed" himself and his life for the betterment of the state.
This elected and enstooled King enjoyed a great majestic ceremony with much spectacle and celebration. He reigned with much despotism, despotic power, including the ability to make judgments of life and death on his subjects. However, he did not enjoy absolute rule. Upon the stool, the King was sacred. He served as the holy intermediary between the people and the ancestors. His powers theoretically were more apparent than real and hinged on his attention to the advice and decisions of the Council of Elders.
Impeachment
Kings of the Ashanti Empire who violated any of the Oath of office, oaths taken during his or her enstoolment, were destooled by Kingmakers.
For instance, if a king punished citizens arbitrarily or was exposed as corrupt, he would be destooled. Destoolment entailed kingmakers removing the sandals of the king and bumping his buttocks on the ground three times. Once destooled from office, his sanctity and thus reverence were lost, as he could not exercise any of the powers he had as king; this includes Chief administrator, Judge, and Military Commander. The now previous king was dispossessed of the Stool, swords and other regalia which symbolized his office and authority.
He also lost his position as custodian of the land. However, even if destooled from office, the king remained a member of the royal family from which he was elected.
An impeachment occurred during the reign of Kusi Obodom, caused by a Battle of Atakpamé, failed invasion of Dahomey.
Legal system
Okomfo Anokye
Okomfo Anokye (c.1655-c.1717?/c.1719) was the first priest ( Okomfo) of the Ashanti Empire. Anokye is known for his participation in the expansion of the empire. He was also the codifier of the constitution and laws of the Ashanti Empire.
Biogra ...
was responsible for creating the Seventy-Seven Laws of Komfo Anokye which served as the Codification (law), codified constitution of the Ashanti Empire.
The Ashanti state, in effect, was a theocracy. It invokes religious, rather than secularity, secular-legal postulates. What the modern state views as crimes, Ashanti view practically as sins. Antisocial acts disrespect the ancestors, and are only secondarily harmful to the community. If the chief or King fails to punish such acts, he invokes the anger of the ancestors and the gods, and is therefore in danger of impeachment. The penalty for some crimes (sins) is death, but this is seldom imposed; a more common penalty is Exile, banishment or incarceration, imprisonment. The King typically exacts or commutation of sentence, commutes all capital punishment, capital cases. These commuted sentences by King and chiefs sometimes occur by ransom or bribery, bribe; they are regulated in such a way that they should not be mistaken for Fine (penalty), fines, but are considered as revenue to the state, which for the most part welcomes wikt:quarrel, quarrels and lawsuit, litigation. Commutation of sentence, Commutations tend to be far more frequent than Capital punishment, executions.
Ashanti are repulsed by murder, and suicide is considered murder. They decapitate those who commit suicide, the conventional punishment for murder. The suicide thus had contempt for the court, for only the King may kill an Ashanti.
In a murder trial, intent must be established. If the homicide is accidental, the murderer pays compensation to the lineage of the deceased. The insanity, insane cannot be executed because of the absence of responsible intent – except for murder or cursing the King; in the case of cursing the king, drunkenness is a valid defense. Capital punishment, Capital crimes include murder, incest within the female or male line, and intercourse with a menstrual cycle, menstruating woman, rape of a married woman, and adultery with any of the wives of a chief or the King. Assaults or insults of a chief or the court or the King also carried capital punishment.
Cursing the King, calling down powers to harm the King, is considered an unspeakable act and carries the weight of death. One who invokes another to commit such an act must pay a heavy indemnity. Practitioners of harmful (evil) forms of Witchcraft, sorcery and witchcraft receive death but not by decapitation, for their blood must not be shed. They receive execution by strangling, burning, or drowning.
Ordinarily, families or lineages settle disputes between individuals. Nevertheless, such disputes can be brought to trial (law), trial before a chief by uttering the taboo oath of a chief or the King. In the end, the Noble court, King's Court is the sentencing court, for only the King can order the Capital punishment, death penalty. Before the Council of Elders and the King's Court, the litigants orate comprehensively. Anyone present can cross-examine the defendant or the accuser, and if the proceedings do not lead to a verdict, a special witness is called to provide additional testimony. If there is only one witness, their sworn oath assures the truth is told. Moreover, that he favours or is hostile to either litigant is unthinkable. Cases with no witness, like sorcery or adultery are settled by ordeals, like drinking poison.
Veneration of the dead, Ancestor Veneration establishes the Ashanti morality, moral system, and it provides the principal foundation for governmental sanctions. The link between mother and child centres the entire network, which includes ancestors and fellow men as well. Its judiciary, judicial system emphasizes the Ashanti conception of rectitude and good behaviour, which favours harmony among the people. The rules were made by ''Nyame'' (Supreme God) and the ancestors, and one must behave accordingly.
Geography
![Lake Bosumtwi, Ghana](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/83/Lake_Bosumtwi%2C_Ghana.jpg)
The Ashanti Empire was one of a series of states along the coast including Dahomey, Benin, and Oyo Empire, Oyo. The Ashanti had mountains and large Agriculture, agricultural surpluses.
The southern part of the Ashanti Empire was covered with moist semi-deciduous forest whilst the Guinean forest-savanna mosaic, Guinea savanna covered the northern part of the state. The Guinea Savanna consists of short deciduous and fire resistant trees. Riparian forests also occur along the Afram River and streams of the savanna zone. Soils in Ashanti were mainly of two types; forest ochrosols in the southern part of Ashanti whilst the savanna ochrosols were confined to northern part of the empire.
The predominant fauna or food rich wildlife and animal species encountered in the Ashanti Empire were the Hen (bird), hen, sheep, goat, duck, Turkey (bird), turkey, rabbit, Guineafowl, guinea fowl, fish, and the porcupine which became the national emblem of the state, as well as about thirty multipurpose flora species of trees and shrubs and over thirty-five ornamental plants which beautified the environs of Ashanti. These tree/shrub-crop-animal (hen/fish) components were intensively integrated spatially and/or sequentially on the same land unit of individual Ashanti houses.
Between 1700 and 1715, Osei Tutu I conquered the neighboring states of Twifo-Heman, Twifo, Wasa people, Wassa and Aowin.
Opoku Ware I Opoku Ware I (born 1700–1750) was an ''Asantehene'' of Oyoko heritage, who ruled the Ashanti Empire which occupied parts of what is now Ghana. He is credited with being the "empire builder" of the Asante empire. He married and had two children na ...
who succeeded Osei Tutu, led the integration of Akan states such as Techiman, Tekyiman,
Akyem
The Akyem are an Akan people. The term Akyem (Akem, Akim or Aki) is used to describe a group of four states: Asante Akyem, Akyem Abuakwa, Akyem Kotoku and Akyem Bosome. These nations are located primarily in the eastern region in south Ghana. ...
and
Kwahu
Kwahu refers to an area and group of people that live in Ghana, part of the Twi-speaking Akan group. The region has been dubbed Asaase Aban, or the Natural Fortress, in view of its position as the highest habitable elevation in the country. Kwahu ...
into Ashanti after embarking on wars of conquest between 1720 to 1750. After the conquest of the Akyem in 1742, the Ashanti exerted power unto the coast. From 1730 to 1770, the Ashanti Empire expanded north into the Savannah states of Gonja people, Gonja, Kingdom of Dagbon, Dagbon and Krakye.
By 1816, the Ashanti had absorbed coastal states such as the
Fante Confederacy
The Fante Confederacy refers either to the alliance of the Fante people, Fante states in existence at least since the sixteenth century, or it can also refer to the modern Confederation formed in 1868. The Confederation is seen as one of the first ...
Economy
Resources
![Máscara de oro - tesoro del rey Kofi Kolkalli](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/35/M%C3%A1scara_de_oro_-_tesoro_del_rey_Kofi_Kolkalli.jpg)
The lands within the Ashanti Kingdom were also rich in river-
gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile ...
,
cocoa
Cocoa may refer to:
Chocolate
* Chocolate
* ''Theobroma cacao'', the cocoa tree
* Cocoa bean, seed of ''Theobroma cacao''
* Chocolate liquor, or cocoa liquor, pure, liquid chocolate extracted from the cocoa bean, including both cocoa butter an ...
and
kola nut
The term kola nut usually refers to the seeds of certain species of plant of the genus ''Cola'', placed formerly in the cocoa family Sterculiaceae and now usually subsumed in the mallow family Malvaceae (as subfamily Sterculioideae). These col ...
s, and the Ashanti were soon trading with the
Portuguese
Portuguese may refer to:
* anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal
** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods
** Portuguese language, a Romance language
*** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language
** Portu ...
at coastal fort Portuguese Gold Coast, Sao Jorge da Mina, later Elmina,and with the Hausa people, Hausa states.
Agriculture
![Ashanti Yam Ceremony 1817](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/ff/Ashanti_Yam_Ceremony_1817.jpg)
The Ashanti prepared the fields by burning before the onset of the rainy season and cultivated with an iron hoe (tool), hoe. Fields are left fallow for a couple years, usually after two to four years of cultivation. Plants cultivated include Plantain (cooking), plantains, yam (vegetable), yams, Cassava, manioc, maize, corn, sweet potatoes, millet, beans, onions, peanuts, tomatoes, and many fruits. Manioc and corn are New World transplants introduced during the Atlantic slave trade, Atlantic European trade. Many of these vegetable crops could be harvested twice a year and the cassava (manioc), after a two-year growth, provides a starchy root.
The Ashanti transformed palm wine, maize and millet into beer, a favourite drink; and made use of the oil from palm for many culinary and domestic uses.
Communication
![Brit Mus 13sept10 brooches etc 062](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c6/Brit_Mus_13sept10_brooches_etc_062.jpg)
The Ashanti invented the Fontomfrom, an Asante talking drum, and they also invented the Akan Drum. They drummed messages to distances of over , as rapidly as a telegraphy, telegraph. Asante dialect (Twi) and Akan language, Akan, the language of the Ashanti people is tonal and more meaning is generated by tone. The drums reproduced these tones, punctuations, and the accents of a phrase so that the cultivated ear heard the entirety of the phrase itself.
The Ashanti readily heard and understood the phrases produced by these "talking drums". Standard phrases called for meetings of the chiefs or to arms, warned of danger, and broadcast announcements of the death of important figures. Some drums were used for proverbs and ceremonial presentations.
Although pre-literate, the Ashanti recruited literate individuals into its government to increase the efficiency of the state's diplomacy. Some written records were also kept.
Historian Adjaye, gives estimates based on surviving letters by the Ashanti that documents from the Ashanti government "could have exceeded several thousands."
Writing was also used in record keeping during court proceedings. Bowdich documented in the early nineteenth century about the "trial of Apea Nyano" on 8 July 1817 where he states that "the Moorish secretaries were there to take notes of the transactions of the day." Wilks adds that such transcripts have not survived today.
Demography
The population history of the Ashanti Kingdom was one of slow centralization. In the early 19th century the Asantehene used the annual tribute to set up a permanent standing army armed with rifles, which allowed much closer control of the Ashanti Kingdom. The Ashanti Kingdom was one of the most centralised states in sub-Saharan Africa. Osei Tutu and his successors oversaw a policy of political and cultural unification and the union had reached its full extent by 1750. It remained an alliance of several large city-states which acknowledged the sovereignty of the ruler of Kumasi and the Ashanti Kingdom, known as the Asantehene. The Ashanti Kingdom had dense populations, allowing the creation of substantial urban centres.
The Ashanti controlled over 250,000 square kilometers while ruling approximately 3 million people.
Architecture
![Kumasi](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fa/Kumasi.png)
The Ashanti traditional buildings are the only remnants of Ashanti architecture. Construction and design consisted of a timber framework filled up with clay and Thatching, thatched with sheaves of leaves. The surviving designated sites are shrines, but there have been many other buildings in the past with the same architectural style. These buildings served as palaces and shrines as well as houses for the affluent. The Ashanti Empire also built mausoleums which housed the tombs of several Ashanti leaders.
Generally, houses whether designed for human habitation or for the Deity, deities, consisted of four separate rectangular single-room buildings set around an open courtyard; the inner corners of adjacent buildings were linked by means of splayed screen walls, whose sides and angles could be adapted to allow for any inaccuracy in the initial layout. Typically, three of the buildings were completely open to the courtyard, while the fourth was partially enclosed, either by the door and windows, or by open-work screens flanking an opening.
Infrastructure
Infrastructure such as road transport and communication throughout the empire was maintained via a network of well-kept roads from the Ashanti mainland to the Niger River, Niger river and other trade cities.
[Davidson (1991), p. 240.][
.] English visitors to Kumasi in the 19th century, noted the division of the capital into 77 wards with 77 main streets; one of which was 100 yards wide. Many houses especially those near the king's stone palace were two story buildings embodied with indoor plumbing in the form of toilets that were flushed with gallons of boiling water. Bowdich revealed in his 1817 account that all streets of Kumasi street name, were named. Stationed at various points of Ashanti roads were the ''Nkwansrafo'' or road wardens who served as the highway police; checking the movement of traders and strangers on all roads. They were also responsible for scouting and were charged with the collection of Toll road, tolls from traders. The Ashanti Empire also built bridges across water bodies for transport. Asantehene Kwaku Dua I, Kwaku Dua ordered his engineers to build proper bridges above streams in the Metropolitan cities of Ashanti. Thomas Birch Freeman, Thomas Freeman, who visited the empire in the 19th century, described the construction as:
Police and military
Police
![State Gifts Presentation Sword](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c1/State_Gifts_Presentation_Sword.JPG)
The ''Asantehene'' inherited his position from his queen mother, and he was assisted at the capital, Kumasi, by a civil service of men talented in trade, diplomacy, and the military, with a head called the ''Gyaasehene''.
Men from the Arabian Peninsula, Sudan, and Europe were employed in the Ashanti empire civil service; all of whom were appointed by the ''Asantehene''.
In the metropolitan areas of Ashanti, several police forces were responsible for maintaining law and order. In Kumasi, a uniformed police, who were distinguished by their long hair, maintained order by ensuring no one else entered and left the city without permission from the government. The ''ankobia'' or special police were used as the empire's special forces and bodyguards to the Asantehene, as sources of Espionage, intelligence, and to suppress rebellion.
For most of the 19th century and into the 20th century, the Ashanti sovereign state remained powerful.
Military
![Ashanteewarcaptain](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/67/Ashanteewarcaptain.jpg)
The Ashanti armies served the empire well, supporting its long period of expansion and subsequent resistance to European colonization.
Armament was primarily with firearms, but some historians hold that indigenous organization and leadership probably played a more crucial role in Ashanti successes. These are, perhaps, more significant when considering that the Ashanti had numerous troops from conquered or incorporated peoples, and faced a number of revolts and rebellions from these peoples over its long history. The political genius of the symbolic "golden stool" and the fusing effect of a national army however, provided the unity needed to keep the empire viable. Total potential strength was some 80,000 to 200,000, making the Ashanti army bigger than the well known Zulu, and comparable to possibly Africa's largest – the legions of Ethiopia.
[Vandervort (1998).] The Ashanti army was described as a fiercely organized one whose king could "bring 200,000 men into the field and whose warriors were evidently not cowed by Snider–Enfield, Snider rifles and 7-pounder guns"
While actual forces deployed in the field were less than ''potential'' strength, tens of thousands of soldiers were usually available to serve the needs of the empire. Mobilization depended on small cadres of regulars, who guided and directed levees and contingents called up from provincial governors.
![Adoo Quamina, 1820 by William Hutton](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/78/Adoo_Quamina%2C_1820_by_William_Hutton.jpg)
Organization was structured around an advance guard, main body, rear guard and two right and left wing flanking elements. This provided flexibility in the forest country the Ashanti armies typically operated in. Horses were known to survive in Kumasi but because they could not survive in the tsetse fly-infested forest zone in the south, there was no cavalry. Ashanti high ranking officers rode horses with the hauteur of European officers but they did not ride to battle. The approach to the battlefield was typically via converging columns, and tactics included ambushes and extensive maneuvers on the wings. Unique among African armies, the Ashanti deployed medical units to support their fighters. This force was to expand the empire substantially and continually for over a century, and defeated the British in several encounters.
Brass barrel blunderbuss were produced in some states in the Gold Coast including the Ashanti Empire around the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Various accounts indicate that Asante blacksmiths were not only able to repair firearms, but that barrels, locks and stocks were on occasion remade.
Wars of the Asante
![Ashantee soldier2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4d/Ashantee_soldier2.jpg)
From 1806 until 1896, the Ashanti state was in a perpetual state of war involving expansion or defense of its domain. Ashanti exploits against other African forces made it the paramount power in the region. Its impressive performance against the British also earned it the respect of European powers.
Asante–Fante War
In 1806, the Ashanti pursued two rebel leaders through Fante territory to the coast. The British refusal to surrender the rebels led to an Ashanti attack. This was devastating enough that the British handed over a rebel; the other escaped. In 1807 disputes with the
Fante led to the Ashanti–Fante War, in which the Ashanti were victorious under Asantehene Osei Bonsu ("Bonsu, the whale").
Ga–Fante War
In the 1811 Ga–Fante War, a coalition of Asante and Ga fought against an alliance of Fante, Akwapim and Akim states. The Asante war machine was successful in defeating the alliance in open combat pushing their enemies towards the Akwapim hills. Ashanti however abandoned their campaign of pursuit after capturing a British fort and establishing their presence and authority on the coast.
Ashanti–Akim–Akwapim War
In 1814 the Ashanti launched an invasion of the Gold Coast, largely to gain access to European traders. In the Ashanti–Akim–Akwapim War, the empire faced the Akim–Akwapim alliance. After several battles, the out numbered Akim–Akwapim alliance were defeated and became tributories to the Ashantis. The Ashanti was established from the midlands down to the coast.
Anglo-Ashanti Wars
First Anglo-Ashanti War
![Aschanti Gefecht 11 july 1824 300dpi](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/60/Aschanti_Gefecht_11_july_1824_300dpi.jpg)
The first of the
Anglo-Ashanti wars
The Anglo-Ashanti wars were a series of five conflicts that took place between 1824 and 1900 between the Ashanti Empire—in the Akan interior of the Gold Coast—and the British Empire and its African allies. Though the Ashanti emerged victori ...
occurred in 1823. In these conflicts, the Ashanti empire faced off, with varying degrees of success, against the British Empire residing on the coast. The root of the conflict traces back to 1823 when Sir Charles MacCarthy (British Army officer), Charles MacCarthy, resisting all overtures by the Ashanti to negotiate, led an invading force. The Ashanti defeated this, killed MacCarthy, took his head for a trophy and swept on to the coast. However, disease forced them back. The Ashanti were so successful in subsequent fighting that in 1826 they again moved on the coast. The Ashanti were stopped about 15 kilometres (10 mi) north of Accra by a British led force. They fought against superior numbers of British allied forces, including Denkyirans until the novelty of British rockets caused the Ashanti army to flee. In 1831, a treaty led to 30 years of peace, with the Pra River (Ghana), Pra River accepted as the border.
Second Anglo-Ashanti War
![Anglo-Ashanti war 1](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a1/Anglo-Ashanti_war_1.jpg)
With the exception of a few Ashanti light skirmishes across the Pra in 1853 and 1854, the peace between the Ashanti and British Empire had remained unbroken for over 30 years. Then, in 1863, a large Ashanti delegation crossed the river pursuing a fugitive, Kwesi Gyana. There was fighting, casualties on both sides, but the governor's request for troops from England was declined and sickness forced the withdrawal of his West Indian troops. The war ended in 1864 as a stalemate with both sides losing more men to sickness than any other factor.
Third Anglo-Ashanti War
In 1869 a European missionary family was taken to Kumasi. They were hospitably welcomed and were used as an excuse for war in 1873. Also, Britain took control of Ashanti land claimed by the Dutch. The Ashanti invaded the new British protectorate. Garnet Wolseley, 1st Viscount Wolseley, General Wolseley and his famous Wolseley ring were sent against the Ashanti. This was a modern war, replete with press coverage (including by the renowned reporter Henry Morton Stanley) and printed precise military and medical instructions to the troops. The British government refused appeals to interfere with British armaments manufacturers who were unrestrained in selling to both sides.
All Ashanti attempts at negotiations were disregarded. Wolseley took 2,500 British troops and several thousand West Indian and African troops to Kumasi. It arrived in Kumasi in January 1896 along a route cleared by an advance contingent under the command of Robert Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell, Robert Baden-Powell. The capital was briefly occupied. The British were impressed by the size of the palace and the scope of its contents, including "rows of books in many languages." The Ashanti had abandoned the capital after a bloody war. The British burned it.
![Prempeh-124-palaver-and-submission](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9d/Prempeh-124-palaver-and-submission.jpg)
The British and their allies suffered considerable casualties in the war losing numerous soldiers and high ranking army officers. but in the end the firepower was too much to overcome for the Ashanti. The Asantehene (the king of the Ashanti) signed a British treaty in July 1874 to end the war.
Fourth Anglo-Ashanti War
In 1895, the Ashanti turned down an unofficial offer to become a British protectorate.
The Ashanti wanting to keep French and European colonial forces out of the territory (and its gold), the British were anxious to conquer the Ashanti once and for all. Despite being in talks with the state about making it a British protectorate, Britain began the Fourth Anglo-Ashanti War in 1895 on the pretext of failure to pay the fines levied on the Ashanti monarch after the 1874 war. The British were victorious and the Ashanti was forced to sign a treaty.
Culture and society
Family
![Bonnat Aschantidorf](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/Bonnat_Aschantidorf.jpg)
Standing among families was largely political. The royal family typically topped the hierarchy, followed by the families of the Tribal chiefs, chiefs of territorial divisions. In each chiefdom, a particular female line provides the chief. A committee of several men eligible for the post elects the chief. The typical Ashanti family was Extended family, extended and matrilineal. A mother's brother was the legal guardian of her children. The father on the other hand had fewer legal responsibilities for his children with the exception of ensuring their well-being. Women also had the right to initiate divorce whiles the husband had some legal rights over his wife such as the right to cut off her nose for adultery.
Clothing
Prominent people wore silk. The ordinary Ashanti wore cotton whiles slaves dressed in black cloth. Garments signalled the rank of the wearer in society and its colour expressed different meanings. White was worn by ordinary people after winning a court case. Dark colours were worn for funerals or mourning.
[.] Laws existed to restrict certain Kente designs to the nobility. Some cotton or silk patterns on the Kente were designed solely for the king and could only be worn with his permission.
Education and children
![Aquasi Boachi and Quamin Poko by JL Cornet](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/90/Aquasi_Boachi_and_Quamin_Poko_by_JL_Cornet.jpg)
Education in the Ashanti Kingdom was conducted by Asante and imported scholars and Ashanti people would often attend schools in Europe for their higher education.
Tolerant parents are typical among the Ashanti. Childhood is considered a happy time and children cannot be responsible for their actions. The child is not responsible for their actions until after puberty. A child is harmless and there is no worry for the control of their Soul (spirit), soul, the original purpose of all funeral, funeral rites, so the ritual funerals typically given to the deceased Ashanti are not as lavish for the children.
The Ashanti adored twins when they were born within the royal family because they were seen as a sign of impending fortune. Ordinarily, boy twins joined the army and twin girls potential wives of the King. If the twins are a boy and girl, no particular career awaits them. Women who bear multiple birth, triplets are greatly honored because three is regarded as a lucky number. Special rituals ensue for the third, sixth, and ninth child. The fifth child (unlucky five) can expect misfortune. Families with many children are well respected and barren women scoffed at.
Adinkra Symbols
The Ashanti used Adinkra symbols in their daily society. The symbols were used as a form of decoration, logos, arts, sculpture and pottery.
Menstruation and impurity
![The National Archives UK - CO 1069-34-31-2-001](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/97/The_National_Archives_UK_-_CO_1069-34-31-2-001.jpg)
The Ashanti held puberty rites only for females. Fathers instruct their sons without public observance. The privacy of boys was respected in the Ashanti kingdom. As menstruation approaches, a girl goes to her mother's house. When the girl's menstruation is disclosed, the mother announces the good news in the village beating an iron hoe with a stone. Old women come out and sing ''Bara'' (menstrual) songs.
Menstruating women suffered numerous restrictions. The Ashanti viewed them as ritually unclean. They did not cook for men, nor did they eat any food cooked for a man. If a menstruating woman entered the ancestral stool (shrine) house, she was arrested, and the punishment could result in death. If this punishment is not exacted, the Ashanti believe, the ghost of the ancestors would strangle the Tribal chief, chief. Menstruating women lived in special houses during their periods as they were forbidden to cross the threshold of men's houses. They swore no oaths and no oaths were sworn for or against them. They did not participate in any of the ceremony, ceremonial observances and did not visit any sacred places.
Healthcare and death
![Ashanti soulwasher by Claire H](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/df/Ashanti_soulwasher_by_Claire_H.jpg)
Sickness and death were major events in the Monarchy, kingdom. The ordinary herbalist divined the supernatural cause of the illness and treated it with herbal medicines.
![Bonnat AschantiPriester](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/66/Bonnat_AschantiPriester.jpg)
People loathed being alone for long without someone available to perform this rite before the sick collapsed. The family dressed the deceased in their best clothes, and adorned them with packets of gold dust (money for the after-life), ornaments, and food for the journey "up the hill". The body was normally buried within 24 hours. Until that time the funeral party engage in dancing, drumming, shooting of guns, all accompanied by the wailing of relatives. This was done because the Ashanti typically believed that death was not something to be sad about, but rather a part of life. As the Ashanti believed in an after-life, families felt they would be reunited with their ancestors upon death. Funeral rites for the death of a king involved the whole kingdom and were a much more elaborate affair.
Ceremony
The greatest and most frequent ceremony, ceremonies of the Ashanti recalled the spirits of departed rulers with an offering of food and drink, asking their favour for the common good, called the ''Adae Festival, Adae''. The day before the ''Adae'', Akan Drum, Akan drums broadcast the approaching ceremonies. The stool treasurer gathers sheep and liquor that will be offered. The chief priest officiates the ''Adae'' in the stool house where the ancestors came. The priest offers each food and a beverage. The public ceremony occurs outdoors, where all the people joined the dancing. Minstrels chant ritual phrases; the talking drums extol the chief and the ancestors in traditional phrases. The ''Odwera'', the other large ceremony, occurs in September and typically lasted for a week or two. It is a time of cleansing of sin from society the defilement, and for the purification of shrines of ancestors and the gods. After the sacrifice and feast of a black Hen (bird), hen—of which both the living and the dead share—a new year begins in which all are clean, strong, and healthy.
Slavery
Slavery was historically a tradition in the Ashanti Empire, with slaves typically taken as captives from enemies in warfare. The Ashanti Empire was the largest slaveowning and slave trading state in the territory of today's Ghana during the Atlantic slave trade. The welfare of their slaves varied from being able to acquire wealth and intermarry with the master's family to being Human sacrifice, sacrificed in funeral ceremonies. The Ashanti believed that slaves would follow their masters into the afterlife. Slaves could sometimes own other slaves, and could also request a new master if the slave believed he or she was being severely mistreated.
The modern-day Ashanti claim that slaves were seldom abused, and that a person who abused a slave was held in high contempt by society. They defend the "humanity" of Ashanti slavery by noting that those slaves were allowed to marry.
[''History of the Ashanti Empire''.]
If a master found a female slave desirable, he might marry her. He preferred such an arrangement to that of a free woman in a conventional marriage, because marriage to an enslaved woman allowed the children to inherit some of the father's property and status
This favoured arrangement occurred primarily because of what some men considered their conflict with the matrilineality, matrilineal system. Under this kinship system, children were considered born into the mother's clan and took their status from her family. Generally her eldest brother served as mentor to her children, particularly for the boys. She was protected by her family. Some Ashanti men felt more comfortable taking a slave girl or pawn wife in marriage, as she would have no ''abusua'' (older male grandfather, father, uncle or brother) to intercede on her behalf when the couple argued. With an enslaved wife, the master and husband had total control of their children, as she had no kin in the community.
In popular culture
The Ashanti Empire has been depicted in a number of different works of Creative nonfiction, nonfiction, detailing the structure of the empire
Literature and theatre
* The novel The Two Hearts of Kwasi Boachi(1997) is based on the memoirs of Kwasi Boachi, the son of the Asantehene Kwaku Dua I, from when he and his cousin Kwame Poku were sent to United Kingdom of the Netherlands, the Netherlands in 1837 to receive a European education.
* It was later adapted into an opera in 2007 by the author Arthur Japin and composer Jonathan Dove
Music
* The singer Ashanti (singer), Ashanti was named after the Ashanti empire. This is because women had power and influence there, and her mother wanted her to follow that model
= Video games
=
The Ashanti Empire has been depicted in some historical Strategy video game, war strategy video games, along with being characters in video games with origins from the area
* In the Grand strategy wargame, grand strategy video games ''Europa Universalis IV'' (2013) and ''Victoria 3'' (2022), both developed by Paradox Interactive, the Ashanti Empire appears as one of many historical nations that players can play as or interact with.
* In Crusader Kings III, Crusader Kings 3, the Ashanti Empire is one of the many nations that players can play or interact as.
* In Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, two characters, Kumi Berko, a pirate playable in the multiplayer mode under the pseudonym "The Mercenary", and Antó, a Master Assassin of the West Indies Brotherhood, were both born in the Ashanti Empire
* In Age of empires 3 Definitive Edition in the expansion of african kingdoms, Akan (Ashanti) It is a playable minor civilization.
See also
* African military systems (1800–1900)
* African military systems after 1900
* African military systems to 1800
* Akyempimhene
*
Anglo-Ashanti wars
The Anglo-Ashanti wars were a series of five conflicts that took place between 1824 and 1900 between the Ashanti Empire—in the Akan interior of the Gold Coast—and the British Empire and its African allies. Though the Ashanti emerged victori ...
* Ashanti people, Ashantis
* History of Ghana
* List of rulers of Asante
References
Bibliography
* Basil Davidson, Davidson, Basil
''African Civilization Revisited'' Africa World Press, 1991,
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* Kevin Shillington, Shillington, Kevin, 1995 (1989), ''History of Africa'', New York: St. Martin's Press.
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External links
the Ashanti Kingdom Encyclopedia - Britannica Online EncyclopediaBBC News , Africa , Funeral rites for Ashanti king"Osei Tutu" ''Encyclopedia Britannica Online''.
Asante Catholicism at GooglebooksAshanti Pageat the Ethnographic Atlas, maintained at Centre for Social Anthropology and Computing, University of Kent, University of Kent, Canterbury
Ashanti Kingdomat the Wonders of the African World, at Public Broadcasting Service, PBS
Ashanti Culturecontains a selected list of Internet sources on the topic, especially sites that serve as comprehensive lists or gateways
''The Story of Africa: Asante''— BBC World Service
Web dossier about the Asante Kingdom Afrika-Studiecentrum, Leiden, African Studies Centre, Leiden
"Asante empire" ''Encyclopædia Britannica''.
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Ashanti Empire,
Ashanti Region, *
19th century in Africa
20th century in Africa
1670 establishments in Africa
1902 disestablishments in Africa
1935 establishments in Gold Coast (British colony)
1957 disestablishments in Africa
African civilizations
Autonomous regions
Countries in precolonial Africa
Former empires
States and territories disestablished in 1902
States and territories disestablished in 1957
States and territories established in 1670
States and territories established in 1935