Ashanti Empire
The Asante Empire (Asante Twi: Asanteman), today commonly called the Ashanti Empire, was an Akan state that lasted from 1701 to 1901, in what is now modern-day Ghana.[6] It expanded from the Ashanti Region to include most of Ghana and also parts of Ivory Coast and Togo.[7][8] Due to the empire's military prowess, wealth, architecture, sophisticated hierarchy and culture, 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.[9][10]
Not to be confused with Ashanti Region.
Ashanti EmpireAsanteman (Asante Twi)
Initially Akan religion, later also Christianity
Monarchy
Asante Kotoko (Council of Kumasi)[1] and the Asantemanhyiamu (National Assembly)
1701
1701
1901[2]
1935
1957
Present
259,000 km2 (100,000 sq mi)
3,000,000
- Gold dust[5]
- Cowry shell
(shell currency)
Starting in the late 17th century, the Ashanti king Osei Tutu (c. 1695 – 1717) and his adviser Okomfo Anokye established the Ashanti Kingdom, with the Golden Stool of Asante as a sole unifying symbol.[6][11] 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.[9] In 1701, the Ashanti army conquered Denkyira, giving the Ashanti access to the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean coastal trade with Europeans, notably the Dutch.[9] The economy of the Ashanti Empire was mainly based on the trade of gold and agricultural exports[12] as well as slave trading, craft work and trade with markets further north.[5]
The Ashanti Empire fought several wars with neighboring kingdoms and lesser organized groups such as the Fante. The Ashanti defeated the British Empire's invasions in the first two of the four Anglo-Ashanti Wars, 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, however, and following 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[13] 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, Ghana's only natural lake. The state's current economic revenue is derived mainly from trading in gold bars, cocoa, kola nuts and agriculture.[14]
Odumata's Sleeping Room (1819).
Piazza in the Palace (1819).
Adum Street (1819).
Demography[edit]
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.[3] The Ashanti controlled over 250,000 square kilometers while ruling approximately 3 million people.[3]