The Economy of the Ashanti Empire was largely a
pre-industrial
Pre-industrial society refers to social attributes and forums of political and cultural organization that were prevalent before the advent of the Industrial Revolution, which occurred from 1750 to 1850. ''Pre-industrial'' refers to a time before ...
and
agrarian economy.
The
Ashanti established different procedures for mobilizing state revenue and utilizing public finance. Ashanti trade extended upon two main trade routes; one at the
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 (geometry), direction or geography.
Etymology
T ...
and the other at the
South
South is one of the cardinal directions or Points of the compass, compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west.
Etymology
The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Pro ...
. The Northern trade route was dominated by the trade in Kola nuts and at the South, the Ashanti engaged in the
Atlantic Slave Trade
The Atlantic slave trade, transatlantic slave trade, or Euro-American slave trade involved the transportation by slave traders of enslaved African people, mainly to the Americas. The slave trade regularly used the triangular trade route and i ...
. A variety of
economic industries such as cloth-weaving and metal working industries existed. The Ashanti originally farmed in
subsistence
A subsistence economy is an economy directed to basic subsistence (the provision of food, clothing, shelter) rather than to the market. Henceforth, "subsistence" is understood as supporting oneself at a minimum level. Often, the subsistence econo ...
until agriculture became extensive during the 19th century.
State revenues
Gold dust was the main currency of the Ashanti Empire.
Mperedwan or Peregwan was the highest
denomination in Ashanti. One Peregwan was equal to an Ashanti weight of 2.25
troy ounces
Troy weight is a system of units of mass that originated in 15th-century England, and is primarily used in the precious metals industry. The troy weight units are the grain, the pennyweight (24 grains), the troy ounce (20 pennyweights), and the ...
. The Ashanti government depended on taxes as a source of government revenue. According to
Ratray, the main forms of gaining revenue for the government were through death duties, trade, court fees and
fines Fines may refer to:
* Fines, Andalusia, Spanish municipality
* Fine (penalty)
* Fine, a dated term for a premium on a lease of land, a large sum the tenant pays to commute (lessen) the rent throughout the term
*Fines, ore or other products with a s ...
as well as mining revenues. The
Gyaasehene was an office responsible for the empire's national treasury. The collection of revenue was
decentralized
Decentralization or decentralisation is the process by which the activities of an organization, particularly those regarding planning and decision making, are distributed or delegated away from a central, authoritative location or group.
Conce ...
.
All Paramount Chiefs and Sub-Chiefs possessed a local treasury in their jurisdiction which was managed under the auspices of the
Sanaahene Sanaahene is the title given to the royal treasurer. The title Sa-hene, is used primarily in Ghana and is given to a traditional ruler who is considered capable of leading the warring groups of the area. The Sa-hene is mandated to aid the paramount ...
, the Royal Treasurer. It was the local treasury that the chiefs contained their revenue into. Death dues were paid by the family of the deceased. The value of the deceased's estate was assessed but scholars such as Kwame Afosa have asserted that the amount to be paid was left to the discretion of the relatives of the deceased.
Court fees known as were paid by the innocent party during a court case to the officials who constituted the court. Court fees were divided in predetermined proportions among members of the tribunal present at the court as well as the divisional chiefs and the attendants of the palace. Fines inflicted upon guilty litigants were paid into the treasury of the Chief. In the court of 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 t ...
, penalties attached to oaths which were paid by defaulters after court proceedings amounted to as much as 101.25 Peregwan (
£810). which means "head price" was a fine paid by individuals pronounced liable to death sentence. The price could amount to
£800.
Revenue was also acquired from gold mining. One third of the proceeds went to the tenant on whose land the mines were worked upon. The remainder was given to the chief and sub chief who presided over the region.
The Ashanti had an effective system of accounting to control public funds. The state treasury was made up of two boxes known as (Big Box) and (Box of thousand) in separate rooms.
The treasury system of Ashanti was similar to the
Imprest system
The imprest system is a form of financial accounting. The most common is petty cash. The basic characteristic of an imprest system is that a fixed amount is reserved, which after a certain period of time or when circumstances require, because mon ...
. Historian Afosa, likens the Adaka Kesie to a
Current Account Current account or Current Account may refer to:
* Current account (balance of payments), a country's balance of trade, net of factor income and cash transfers
* Current account (banking)
A transaction account, also called a checking account, ch ...
and the Apim Adaka to a
Petty Cash
Petty cash is a small amount of discretionary funds in the form of cash used for expenditures where it is not sensible to make any disbursement by cheque, because of the inconvenience and costs of writing, signing, and then cashing the cheque.
...
account. Adaka Kesie was partitioned into three compartments and according to Kwame Afosa, "All three partitions contained gold dust each for the value of one Peregwan (
£8). Nothing less than a Peregwan was deposited into the box and nothing less than that was taken out.
The Apim Adaka served as the source of government expenditure. Whenever a Peregwan (
£8) was withdrawn from the Adaka Kesie, it was placed into the Apim Adaka. The money in the Apim Adaka was weighed in
small packet
Small packet, also called packages, is a postal term that is internationally defined as mails less than 2 kg. Commonly, small items that are not flat enough to be sent as ordinary letter would be sent as small packets.
Gallery
File:Missing ...
s in order to be used for purchases.
The Royal Treasurer was assisted by three officials during financial transactions with the boxes. Paying into or taking out of the boxes were recorded in
cowries
Cowrie or cowry () is the common name for a group of small to large sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Cypraeidae, the cowries.
The term '' porcelain'' derives from the old Italian term for the cowrie shell (''porcellana' ...
and witnessed by three persons other than the Royal Treasurer.
In the early 19th century, 400,000
oz of gold dust at a value of
£1.5 million at that time, was required to keep the Adaka Kesie full.
The keys to the Adaka Kesie were kept under the care of the chief, the Sanaahene, and the chief of the "bed-chamber," known as .
War taxes known as were paid by adult men and women over the age of 18. War taxes were based on the expenditure on guns and ammunition and they were shared among the divisions, sub-divisions, villages and lineages of the empire. These war taxes were used to meet war expenses.
Tributary States
According to
Bowdich, the Ashanti had not less than 21
tributary states
A tributary state is a term for a pre-modern state in a particular type of subordinate relationship to a more powerful state which involved the sending of a regular token of submission, or tribute, to the superior power (the suzerain). This to ...
by 1819. They included
Gyaaman
Gyaman (also spelled Jamang, Gyaaman) was a medieval Akan people state, located in what is now the Bono region of Ghana and Ivory Coast. Gyaman was founded by the Bono people, a branch of the Akan, in the late 15th century. The Bono then proceede ...
,
Takyiman
Techiman is a city and is the capital of Techiman Municipal and Bono East Region of Ghana. Techiman is a leading market town in South Ghana. Techiman is one of the two major cities and settlements of Bono East region. Techiman is home to West ...
,
Dagbon
The Kingdom of Dagbon is one of the oldest and most organised traditional kingdoms in Ghana founded by the Dagomba people (Dagbamba) in the 11th century. During its rise, it comprised, at various points, the Northern, Upper West, Upper East and ...
,
Gonja and
Denkyira
Denkyira was a powerful nation of Akan people that existed before the 1620s, in what is now modern-day Ghana. Like all Akans, they originated from Bono state. Before 1620, Denkyira was called Agona. The ruler of the Denkyira was called Denkyirah ...
. The annual tribute was paid in gold, slaves, cattle, poultry, and native manufactured cloth.
Failure to pay tribute was equivalent to a rebellion.
Conquered states at the Coast under Ashanti jurisdiction were responsible for collecting
Notes
Note, notes, or NOTE may refer to:
Music and entertainment
* Musical note, a pitched sound (or a symbol for a sound) in music
* Notes (album), ''Notes'' (album), a 1987 album by Paul Bley and Paul Motian
* ''Notes'', a common (yet unofficial) sho ...
from European traders at trading posts. These Notes which were received by the chiefs of the coastal states were given to the Ashanti as tributes. Before the Fanti war of 1807, the Ashanti king held Notes on three Accra forts which had been captured from the Akim in 1730, on
Axim fort, and also on the
Elmina Castle
Elmina Castle was erected by the Portugal, Portuguese in 1482 as Castelo de São Jorge da Mina (''St. George of the Mine Castle''), also known as ''Castelo da Mina'' or simply ''Mina'' (or ''Factory (trading post), Feitoria da Mina''), in presen ...
. A total sum of ten ounces a year was derived as tribute in the form of notes. The amount could also be paid in goods such as firearms. The possession of Notes enabled the king of Ashanti, on occasion, to secure credit for muskets and ammunition.
Trade
In the early 19th century, markets became essential in Ashanti economy. Markets were held daily from eight o'clock in the morning until sunset. Bowdich pointed out that these markets had about sixty stalls and sheds. Foreign imports into these markets included pillows, pipes, tobacco and brassware. There was the presence of internal marketing and
retailing
Retail is the sale of goods and services to consumers, in contrast to wholesaling, which is sale to business or institutional customers. A retailer purchases goods in large quantities from manufacturers, directly or through a wholesaler, and t ...
.
Marketing and retailing were done by both man and women. Market sellers were taxed by toll collectors.
The main Ashanti trade routes were located at the North and South. The northern trade routes involved trade contacts with forest savannah fringes of the
Brong districts in modern Ghana, east-central and northern Ivory Coast,
Upper Volta and
Dahomey
The Kingdom of Dahomey () was a West African kingdom located within present-day Benin that existed from approximately 1600 until 1904. Dahomey developed on the Abomey Plateau amongst the Fon people in the early 17th century and became a region ...
. The southern trade route was established at the coast. At the market towns on the northern trade routes, the Ashanti merchants exchanged kola nuts for salt and European goods for shea butter, livestock, cotton silk threads and cloths, metal locks, gold and slaves. In the Southern trade route, the Ashanti sold gold, ivory, slaves and rubber in exchange for firearms, lead bars, gunpowder, drinks and salt. Ashanti rulers commanded the bulk of the trade with Europeans at the coast. Commoners participated in the trade with Europeans at the coast only from the late 19th century. The northern trade saw participation by all individuals and families irrespective of their social status.
After the early 19th century
ban on the Atlantic Slave Trade south, the Ashanti invested more into the northern trade. Dalrymple-Smith adds that the Ashanti invested in the northern trade before 1808. Long-distance trading was carried out by occasional, professional and state funded traders. Traders of Ashanti gold and slaves were taxed at the borders of the empire.
Industry
Certain villages were specialized in a particular craft. It was common for the Ashanti government to settle war captives with craft skills in such villages. The village of
Bonwire
Bonwire is a town in Ghana, where the most popular cloth in Africa, popularly known as "Kente", originated. The Kente is worn by the king of the Ashanti Kingdom in Ghana. Bonwire is part of Ejisu-Juaben Municipal district within Ghana's Ashanti ...
was specialized in cloth-
weaving
Weaving is a method of textile production in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads are interlaced at right angles to form a fabric or cloth. Other methods are knitting, crocheting, felting, and braiding or plaiting. The longitudinal th ...
.
Ntonso
Ntonso is a town in the Kwabre East District of the Ashanti Region noted for its Adinkra symbols, Adinkra crafts. It is located about 15 km north of Kumasi in the Ashanti region. It is also the home of Adventist Girls High School.
Home of ...
was specialized in cloth-
dyeing
Dyeing is the application of dyes or pigments on textile materials such as fibers, yarns, and fabrics with the goal of achieving color with desired color fastness. Dyeing is normally done in a special solution containing dyes and particular ...
,
Pankrono
Pankrono is a town in the Kwabre East District of the Ashanti Region of Ghana, noted for its pottery.
Location
Pankrono is 8 kilometres on the Kumasi - Mampong Highway.
It is located after Tafo.
See also
* Adanwomase
Adanwomase is a town in th ...
in
pottery
Pottery is the process and the products of forming vessels and other objects with clay and other ceramic materials, which are fired at high temperatures to give them a hard and durable form. Major types include earthenware, stoneware and por ...
,
Ahwiaa
Ahwiaa is a town in the Kwabre East District of the Ashanti Region noted for its wood carvings, arts and crafts.
Location
Ahwiaa is located 9 kilometres from Kumasi along the Kumasi- Mampong Highway N10.
References
See also
* Offinso
Offi ...
in
wood working
Woodworking is the skill of making items from wood, and includes cabinet making (cabinetry and furniture), wood carving, joinery, carpentry, and woodturning.
History
Along with stone, clay and animal parts, wood was one of the first materials ...
, Breman and
Adum
Adum is suburb of Kumasi. Kumasi is the regional capital of the Ashanti Region of 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 ...
in
goldsmithing
A goldsmith is a metalworker who specializes in working with gold and other precious metals. Nowadays they mainly specialize in jewelry-making but historically, goldsmiths have also made silverware, platters, goblets, decorative and serviceable ...
and metalworking. All these villages and settlement were located 15 miles of Kumasi. Blacksmiths,
joinery
Joinery is a part of woodworking that involves joining pieces of wood, engineered lumber, or synthetic substitutes (such as laminate), to produce more complex items. Some woodworking joints employ mechanical fasteners, bindings, or adhesives, ...
and pottery makers were located throughout the empire.
Mining
Mining was both an individual and communal chore. Individuals along with children partook in
gold panning
Gold panning, or simply ''panning'', is a form of placer mining and traditional mining that extracts gold from a placer deposit using a pan. The process is one of the simplest ways to extract gold, and is popular with geology enthusiasts especi ...
and
shaft mining
Shaft mining or shaft sinking is the action of excavating a mine shaft from the top down, where there is initially no access to the bottom. Shaft (civil engineering), Shallow shafts, typically sunk for civil engineering projects, differ greatly ...
whiles slaves formed the major labor force on gold mines.
Much of the state's gold originated from mines although some gold could be obtained by panning in streams.
Deep shafts were common and such mines could reach 100 feet deep. They were connected by
tunnels
A tunnel is an underground passageway, dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, and enclosed except for the entrance and exit, commonly at each end. A pipeline is not a tunnel, though some recent tunnels have used immersed tube constr ...
"several hundred feet in length." An example given by historian Edgerton is a mine that had a timber-shored tunnel 300 yards long and contained
galleries where the gold was worked.
Miners had to dig or chop
Feldspar
Feldspars are a group of rock-forming aluminium tectosilicate minerals, also containing other cations such as sodium, calcium, potassium, or barium. The most common members of the feldspar group are the ''plagioclase'' (sodium-calcium) feldsp ...
and
granite
Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...
in the mines but gunpowder could be used as
explosives
An explosive (or explosive material) is a reactive substance that contains a great amount of potential energy that can produce an explosion if released suddenly, usually accompanied by the production of light, heat, sound, and pressure. An expl ...
to blast hard rock. The ore obtained was transported to crushing areas where they were crushed by hammers on
stone slab
A stone slab is a big stone, flat and relatively thin, often of rectangular or almost rectangular form. They are generally used for paving floors, for covering walls or as headstones.
In dolmens
Most dolmen constructions were built using stone ...
s and the remains were
milled. The powder obtained from the milling process was washed in order to extract the gold from the powder.
Slave trade
Trade in slaves was a major tradition in pre-colonial
Ashanti culture. Slaves were typically taken as captives from enemies in warfare. Perbi states that the Ashanti Empire was the largest slave owning state in the territory of modern Ghana during the
Atlantic slave trade
The Atlantic slave trade, transatlantic slave trade, or Euro-American slave trade involved the transportation by slave traders of enslaved African people, mainly to the Americas. The slave trade regularly used the triangular trade route and i ...
. During the reign of
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 t ...
Osei Kwame Panyin (1777–1803), the sale of Ashanti citizens into slavery was banned.
Wilks argues that the economy of Ashanti "was not one based upon slave-raiding for export purposes". He cites Asantehene
Osei Bonsu
Osei Bonsu (born 1779 – 21 January 1824) also known as Osei Tutu Kwame was the Asantehene (King of the Ashanti). He reigned from 1804 to 1824. During his reign the Ashanti fought the Fante confederation and ended up dominating Gold Coast tra ...
's speech to
Dupuis
Éditions Dupuis S.A. () is a Belgium, Belgian publisher of comic albums and magazines.
Based in Marcinelle near Charleroi, Dupuis was founded in 1922 by Jean Dupuis, and is mostly famous for its comic comics album, albums and magazines. It is ...
in 1820;
He also references Brodie Cruickshank, who wrote in 1853 that "The Ashantee wars are never undertaken expressly to supply this demand." Wilks writes that slaves were more important to the Ashanti economy in the form of domestic labor in the agricultural and industrial sector than for export in the Atlantic slave trade.
Some historians such as Reid and Dalrymple-Smith have commented that the Ashanti economy did not depend on the Atlantic slave trade. Stilwell states that the Ashanti rulers traded in slaves but "also sought other economic options."
Agriculture
From the 17th century, the Ashanti economy revolved around the rural production of staple crops which was supplemented by hunting. Ashanti agriculture was in a subsistence form during this time period. Through out history, the Ashanti used the axe, cutlass,
billhook
A billhook or bill hook, also called a pruning knife or spar hook, is a versatile cutting tool used widely in agriculture and forestry for cutting woody material such as shrubs, small trees and branches. It is distinct from the sickle. It was c ...
and hoe for clearing and maintaining the land. Ashanti farmers practiced both land and
crop rotation
Crop rotation is the practice of growing a series of different types of crops in the same area across a sequence of growing seasons. It reduces reliance on one set of nutrients, pest and weed pressure, and the probability of developing resistant ...
. The basic Ashanti farm was made up of the land containing the crops and the non-farm land under
fallow
Fallow is a farming technique in which arable land is left without sowing for one or more vegetative cycles. The goal of fallowing is to allow the land to recover and store organic matter while retaining moisture and disrupting pest life cycles ...
. From the 19th century, agriculture became intensified and extensive especially in and around
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 the ...
. According to Bowdich, crops were planted in triangular beds with small drains around each. Both Bowdich and Dupuis noted the existence of large fenced yam fields which were planted in rectangular lines.
Huttonn who accompanied Dupuis, stated that several plantations near Kumasi were enclosed. Some cleared grounds covered as much as 2 acres. These lands were laid out in small beds which were not inferior to country gardens in Europe. Certain farms such as Kola plantations were established with the exclusive aim of generating revenue for into the chief's treasury. These types of farms were known as Stool plantations.
Crops that were cultivated in the empire included
plantain
Plantain may refer to:
Plants and fruits
* Cooking banana, banana cultivars in the genus ''Musa'' whose fruits are generally used in cooking
** True plantains, a group of cultivars of the genus ''Musa''
* ''Plantaginaceae'', a family of flowerin ...
s,
yams,
manioc
''Manihot esculenta'', commonly called cassava (), manioc, or yuca (among numerous regional names), is a woody shrub of the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae, native to South America. Although a perennial plant, cassava is extensively cultivated a ...
,
corn
Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. Th ...
,
peanut
The peanut (''Arachis hypogaea''), also known as the groundnut, goober (US), pindar (US) or monkey nut (UK), is a legume crop grown mainly for its edible Seed, seeds. It is widely grown in the tropics and subtropics, important to both small ...
s and
tomato
The tomato is the edible berry of the plant ''Solanum lycopersicum'', commonly known as the tomato plant. The species originated in western South America, Mexico, and Central America. The Mexican Nahuatl word gave rise to the Spanish word ...
es.
In addition, animal husbandry was prominent as pig farming and other livestock were reared in the 19th century.
References
Bibliography
*
*
*
*{{cite book , url= https://books.google.com/books?id=-CMm0zpLOykC , title= State and Society in Pre-colonial Asante , author= T.C. McCaskie , publisher= Cambridge University Press , isbn= 9780521894326, date= 2003
Ashanti Empire
Economies by former country