A request that this article title be changed to Asante Empire is under discussion. Please do not move this article until the discussion is closed. |
Ashanti Empire Asanteman (Asante Twi) | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||||||
Status | State union with Ghana | ||||||||||||
Capital | Kumasi | ||||||||||||
Common languages | Ashanti (Twi) (official) | ||||||||||||
Religion | Initially Akan religion, later also Christianity | ||||||||||||
Government | Monarchy | ||||||||||||
• 1670–1717 (first) | Osei Tutu | ||||||||||||
• 1888–1896 (13th) | Prempeh I | ||||||||||||
• 1931–1957 (last) | Prempeh II | ||||||||||||
Osei Tutu II | |||||||||||||
Legislature | Asante Kotoko (Council of Kumasi)[1] and the Asantemanhyiamu (National Assembly) | ||||||||||||
History | |||||||||||||
• Established | 1701 | ||||||||||||
• Independence from Denkyira | 1701 | ||||||||||||
• Annexed to form British Ashanti Crown Colony | 1901[2] | ||||||||||||
• Self-rule within British colony | 1935 | ||||||||||||
• State union as Ashanti Region with Ghana | 1957 | ||||||||||||
Present | |||||||||||||
Area | |||||||||||||
[3][4] | 259,000 km2 (100,000 sq mi) | ||||||||||||
Population | |||||||||||||
• [3] | 3,000,000 | ||||||||||||
Currency |
| ||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
Today part of | Ghana
Ivory Coast Togo |
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]
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 held their own against the British in the first two of the five 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]
Obeng, J. Pashington page 20
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).© MMXXIII Rich X Search. We shall prevail. All rights reserved. Rich X Search