Ashanti Empire
Ghana, 1670–1902. Draft, not yet reviewed
The Asante Empire was an Akan state that lasted from 1701 to 1902, in what is now modern-day Ghana. In 1701 the Asante army conquered Denkyira, which gave the Asante access to the Gulf of Guinea and coastal trade with Europeans. After the final Asante defeat at the fifth Anglo-Ashanti War, the Asante empire became part of the Gold Coast colony on 1 January 1902.
Seat of power: Kumasi
Rulers
Osei Tutu
Asantehene, 1701–1717
He led an alliance of Asante states against Denkyira and defeated them at the 1701 Battle of Feyiase. As Asantehene, he incorporated a number of Akan states into the growing empire and established the institutions of government that underpinned the state for nearly 200 years.
Opoku Ware I
Asantehene, 1718–1750
He carried out a series of campaigns that expanded the Ashanti Empire across what is today Ghana and eastern Ivory Coast. He supported industry and manufacturing and created new offices for the administration of the state.
Kusi Obodom
Asantehene, 1750–1764
His government made legal reforms, such as restoring the full constitutional powers of the chiefs that his predecessor had limited. He banned the practice of human sacrifice, although sacrifices continued in Ashanti after his time.
Osei Kwadwo
Asantehene, 1764–1777
In a period of bureaucratic reforms known as the Kwadwoan Revolution, he replaced hereditary positions with appointed ones. The reforms let people gain power based on their merit.
Osei Kwame
Asantehene, 1777–1801
He consolidated his position in the 1780s by removing former councillors and replacing them with allies. When most of the Ashanti clans gathered against him in 1803, he took his own life rather than trigger a civil war.
Opoku Fofie
Asantehene, 1803–1804
His reign began in December 1803 and lasted no more than sixty days. He came to the throne by the principle of dynastic alternation in force since the founding of the empire.
Portrait of Opoku Fofie: Zuanzuanfuwa, CC BY-SA 3.0, file
Osei Bonsu
Asantehene, 1804–1824
During his reign the Ashanti fought the Fante confederation and ended up dominating Gold Coast trade. He began building the Aban Palace, paid for by the public treasury. He also brought literate Muslims into the Ashanti bureaucracy.
Mensa Bonsu
Asantehene, 1874–1883
He tried to restore the fortunes of Kumasi after its destruction in the 1873-4 Anglo-Asante war. He was chronically short of revenue, and he carried punitive exactions to new and insupportable levels. In 1883 his sister Yaa Akyaa removed him from the throne and banished him from Kumasi.
Portrait of Mensa Bonsu: Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain, file
Kwaku Dua II Kumaa
Asantehene, 1884–1884
His reign did not last a quarter of a year, because he died of smallpox. His sudden death started several years of civil war, which ended in 1888 when his successor Agyeman Prempeh took office.
Prempeh I
Asantehene, 1888–1931
When Britain asked him to accept a protectorate over Ashanti, he rejected it and said that Britain had miscalculated. Agyeman Prempeh was deposed and arrested, and he and other Ashanti leaders were sent into exile in the Seychelles. He was in exile from 1896 to 1924, a total of 28 years.
Portrait of Prempeh I: Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain, file
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Culture
- Each Asantahene was enthroned on the sacred Golden Stool, an object that came to symbolise the power of the king.
- The walls of Asante buildings were covered in reliefs of Adinkra symbols, which carried unique meanings and were passed down over generations.
- The economy of the Asante Empire was mainly based on the trade of gold and agricultural exports, as well as slave trading, craft work and trade with markets further north.
Picture
The Asante Traditional Buildings are 10 buildings near Kumasi that served as fetish houses and shrines in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Image: Thomas Edward Bowdich, Public domain, file
Sources
Text adapted from the Wikipedia articles listed as sources, CC BY-SA 4.0.