Ashanti
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The Ashanti, or Asante, are a major ethnic group in Ghana. The Ashanti speak Twi, an Akan language similar to Fante.
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| Yoruba |
|---|
 |
| Total population |
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Upwards of 5 million |
| Regions with significant populations |
| central Ghana |
| Languages |
| Twi |
| Religions |
| Christianity, Traditional |
| Related ethnic groups |
| Akan, Fante, Ewe, Ga |
Prior to European colonization, the Ashanti people developed a large and influential empire in West Africa. Around the 13th century AD, Akan peoples migrated into the forest belt of present-day Ghana and established small states in the hilly country around present-day Kumasi. During the height of the Mali Empire the Ashanti, and Akan people in general, became wealthy through the trading of gold mined from their territory. Early in Ashanti history, this gold was traded with the greater Ghana and Mali Empires. Ghana and Mali traded the gold with North Africans who minted the gold.
The Ashanti later developed the powerful Ashanti Confederacy and became the dominant presence in the region. Ashanti was one of the few African states able to offer serious resistance to European colonizers. Between 1826 and 1896, Britain fought four wars against the Ashanti kings (the Anglo-Ashanti Wars). In 1900, the British finally defeated the kingdom and renamed it the Gold Coast colony.
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[edit] Origins
The Ashanti, Adansi, Akyem, Assin, and Denkyira peoples of Ghana, like the Baule of Ivory Coast, are subgroups of the West African Akan nation said to have migrated from the vicinity of the north-western Niger River after the fall of the Ghana Empire in the 1200s.[1] Evidence of this is seen in royal courts of the Akan Kings reflected by that of the Ashanti kings whose processions and ceremonies show remnants of ancient Ghana ceremonies. Ethnolinguists have substantiated the migration by tracing word usage and speech patterns along West Africa.[2] Thus, although the Ghana Empire was geographically different from present-day Ghana, some of its people, specifically the Akan, moved to what is today Ghana, hence the namesake. In fact the North African Almoravid dynasty gold coin was renown throughout the Medieval world as being the purest gold, since West African gold was 92% pure at the time it is mined, higher than old Egyptian gold ore, which started at 85%, and later refined to 95% gold. Evidence of Ashanti connection to the Islamic world is the Ashanti word for money is sikka, the same as the Arabic word for minting money.[3] Akan political organization centred on various clans, each headed by a paramount chief or Amanhene.[4] One of these clans, the Oyoko, settled Ghana’s sub-tropical forest region, establishing a centre at Kumasi.[5] During the mid-1600s, under Chief Oti Akenten, the Oyoko started consolidating other Ashanti clans into a loose confederation that occurred without destroying the authority of each paramount chief over his clan.[6] This was done in part by military assault, but largely by uniting them against the Denkyira, who had previously dominated the region.
[edit] Geography
The Ashantis settled in the central part of present-day Ghana, about three hundred kilometres from the coast. The territory is densely forested and contains rich soil and mineral wealth, notably gold.[7]. The Ashanti Region is now an administrative state within Ghana and is where a majority of Ashantis reside. Kumasi, the capital of the current Ashanti region, was also the historic capital of the Ashanti Kingdom. Currently, the Ashanti region of Ghana has a population of 3,612,950, making it Ghana's most populous region.
[edit] History and Culture
[edit] Ashanti Kingdom
The Ashantis went from being a tributary state, to a confederation of states, and ultimately a centralized hierarchical kingdom. Beginning as a tributary state of Denkyera, the foremost Akan power during the 16th century, the Ashanti Kingdom or Asante grew out of a confederation of Akan-speaking states led by Osei Tutu, the first Asantehene. Using Kumasi as the central base and an alliance with the lower coastal Akan states for trade, Osei Tutu challenged and eventually defeated the Denkyera in 1701.
Realizing the weakness of a loose confederation of Akan states, Osei Tutu strengthened centralization of the surrounding Akan groups and expanded the powers judiciary system within the centralized government. Thus, this loose confederation of small city-states grew into a kingdom or empire looking to expand its borders. Newly conquered areas had the option of joining the empire or becoming tributary states.[8]
[edit] The Golden Stool
Synonymous with the Ashanti is the legend of the 'Golden Stool' (sika 'dwa), the legend actually tells of the birth of the Ashanti kingdom itself. In the seventeenth century in order for the Ashanti to win their independence from Denkyira, then another powerful Akan state, a meeting of all the clan heads of each of the Ashanti settlements was called, in this meeting the Golden Stool was commanded down from the heavens by Okomfo Anokye, the fetish Priest, or sage, to the very first Asantehene (Ashanti king); Osei Tutu I, the Golden stool floated down, from the heavens straight into the lap of Osei Tutu I.Okomfo Anokye declared the stool to be the symbol of the new Ashanti union ('Asanteman'), and allegiance was sworn to the Golden Stool and to Osei Tutu as the Asantehene, the newly founded Ashanti union went to war with Denkyira, defeating them in the process.
The Golden Stool is sacred to the Ashanti, as it is believed that the Golden Stool contains the 'Sunsum' — spirit or soul of the Ashanti people. Just as man cannot live without a soul, so the Ashanti would cease to exist if the Golden Stool were to be taken from them. The Golden Stool is not just sacred; it is a symbol of nationhood, a symbol that binds or unifies all Ashanti.
In 1900 an attempt by the British Gold Coast governor-general, Frederick Hodgson, to capture the Golden Stool, led to an uprising known as the War of the Golden Stool, spearheaded by Yaa Asantewaa, which took several months to put down.
[edit] Geography
The confederacy was one of a series of kingdoms along the coast including Dahomey, Benin, and Yoruba. All of these states were based on trade, especially gold, ivory, and slaves, which were sold to first Portuguese and later Dutch and British traders. The region also had dense populations and large agricultural surpluses, allowing the creation of substantial urban centres.
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 towns which acknowledged the sovereignty of the ruler of Kumasi, known as the Asantehene.
The new home of the Ashanti was also rich in river-gold and kola nuts, and they were soon trading with the Songhay Empire, the Hausa states and by 1482 with the Portuguese at the coastal fort Sao Jorge da Mina, later Elmina.
[edit] Government
At the top of Ashanti's power structure sat the Asantehene, the King of Ashanti. Each Asantahene was crowned on the sacred Golden Stool, the Sika 'dwa, an object which came to symbolise the very power of the King.
As King, the Asantehene held immense power in Ashanti, but did not enjoy absolute royal rule, and was obliged to share considerable legislative and executive powers with Asante's sophisticated bureaucracy. The Asantahene was the only person in Ashanti permitted to invoke the death sentence. During wartime, the King acted as Supreme Commander of the army, although during the nineteenth century, actual 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 Ashanti government was built upon a sophisticated bureaucracy 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, the Ashanti Foreign Office allowed the state to pursue complex arrangements with foreign powers, and the Office itself contained separate departments for handling relations with the British, French, Dutch, and Arabs individually. Scholars of Ashanti history, such as Larry Yarak and Ivor Wilkes, disagree over the actual power of this sophisticated bureaucracy in comparison to the Asantahene, but agree that its very existence pointed to a highly developed government with a complex system of checks and balances.
Below the Asantahene, local power was invested in the obirempon of each locale. The obirempon (literally "big man") was personally selected by the Asantahene and was generally of loyal, noble lineage, frequently related to the Asantahene. Obirempons 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 the region, presiding over court cases.
[edit] European Colonization
The history of the confederacy was one of slow centralisation. In the early nineteenth century the Asantehene used the annual tribute to set up a permanent standing army armed with rifles, which allowed much closer control of the confederacy. Despite still being called a confederacy it was one of the most centralised states in sub-Saharan Africa.
The Ashanti strongly resisted attempts by Europeans, mainly the British, to subjugate them. The Ashanti aligned themselves with the Dutch to limit British influence in the region. But Britain still annexed neighbouring areas, including the Fante. In 1807 disputes with the Fante led to the Ashanti-Fante War, in which the Ashanti were victorious under Asantehene Osei Bonsu ("Osei the whale"). In the 1811 Ga-Fante War the Ashanti were less successful, but still captured a British fort. In 1814 the Ashanti launched an invasion of the Gold Coast, with mixed results, they were able to defeat some of the Fante tribes along the coast.
In 1821, the British Crown took over control of the coastal trading posts from the Africa Company. In 1823, Asantehene Osei Tutu Kwame died, and was replaced by Osei Yaw Akoto. After this, the Ashanti led an attack on the British coastal outposts. The Ashanti fought against a force comprised of Africans and British led by Sir Charles McCarthy in January 1824. The Ashanti won the battle, in which McCarthy was killed. (His head was cut off and kept as a trophy for many years.)
In 1826 the Ashanti fought against the British and their coastal tribal allies. The Ashanti lost the campaign. In 1831, a treaty by the two sides led to thirty years of peace. The Ashanti borders were acknowledged by the British, but the Ashanti were forced to acknowledge British control of most of the coast. The decided border was the Pra river.
The Ashanti crossed the Pra in 1853 and 1854 during skirmishes with tribes that were British allies. In 1863 a large Ashanti delegation crossed the Pra in pursuit of a fugitive, Kwesi Gyani. The British governor panicked and requested troops from England to invade the Ashanti Confederacy, but the request was refused. The British sent West Indian troops to protect the British territory, but due to sickness caused by the wet season, they were withdrawn months later.
In 1874 the British took the offensive and invaded the Ashanti homeland. A column led by Sir Garnet Wolseley, which comprised 2500 British troops as well as several thousand West Indian and African troops sacked Kumasi, which they then burned. The British formally declared the coastal regions to be the Gold Coast colony.
In 1891, the Ashanti turned down an unofficial offer to become a British protectorate. From 1894 to 1895, the Ashanti negotiated with England about becoming a British protectorate, and accepting a British Resident in Kumasi, who would be consulted on major decisions made by the Kumasi. In December of 1895, Sir Francis Scott left Cape Coast with an expedition force. It arrived in Kumasi in January 1896. The Asantehene directed the Ashanti to not resist. Shortly thereafter, Governor William Maxwell arrived in Kumasi as well. Asantehene Agyeman Prempeh was deposed and arrested. A British Resident was permanently placed in the city, and soon after a British fort.
The Ashanti kingdom, cut off from traditional trade routes slowly fell apart. In March 1900, the governor of the Gold Coast, Sir Frederick Hodgson, travelled to Kumasi and demanded the Ashanti's Golden Stool. This caused the Ashanti to rise up, and soon Hodgson fled to the local fort and found himself under siege. Eventually, the fort was relieved and by September, the Ashanti had been put down. Sporadic fighting by Ashanti partisans continued for a number of years as the Asantehene was forced into exile.
[edit] Independence
Relations improved, however, and in 1926 the Asantehene was given ceremonial control over Kumasi. In 1935 the full role of leader of the Ashanti people was restored, but limited to purely ceremonial functions.
[edit] See also
- Denkyira
- Fante Confederacy
- Ghana
- Kusi Obodom
- Rulers of the Akan state of Asante
- Opoku Ware I
- Osei Kwame Panyin
- Salaga
- Slavery
- West Africa
[edit] Literature
- Robert B. Edgerton, 1995, The Fall of the Asante Empire. The Hundred-Year War for Africa's Gold Coast. New York, ISBN 0-02-908926-3
- N. Kyeremateng, K. Nkansa, 1996, The Akans of Ghana: their history & culture, Accra, Sebewie Publishers
- Ernest E. Obeng, 1986, Ancient Ashanti Chieftaincy, Ghana Publishing Corporation, ISBN 9964-1-0329-8
- A. Quarcoo, The Language of Adinkra Symbols
- D. Warren, The Akan of Ghana
[edit] References
- ^ http://acona-usacanada.org/asantehistory1.html
- ^ http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/history/
- ^ http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-Ashanti.html
- ^ http://www.ashanti.com.au/pb/wp_5e360041.html
- ^ http://www.ashanti.com.au/pb/wp_8078438f.html
- ^ http://www.country-data.com/cgi-bin/query/r-5197.html
- ^ http://www.ashanti.com.au/pb/wp_8078438f.html?0.7460217669704267
- ^ Giblert, Erik Africa in World History: From Prehistory to the Present 2004
http://www.archimedes.free-online.co.uk/ghana.htm
[edit] External links
- Ashanti People and History Profiles history and other aspects of the Ashanti.
- Ashanti Page at the Ethnographic Atlas, maintained at Centre for Social Anthropology and Computing, University of Kent, Canterbury
- Ashanti Kingdom at the Wonders of the African World, at PBS
- Ashanti Culture contains a selected list of Internet sources on the topic, especially sites that serve as comprehensive lists or gateways
- Africa Guide contains information about the culture of the Ashanti
