Information about Ashanti, geographical location, historical background, legends, and in which books this appears

The Ashanti Kingdom is located in the south-central part of today's Ghanaian Republic. It was established by the Ashanti people, a branch of the Akan ethnic group. According to legend, the Ashanti people originated from the Bosumutwe Lake area, about 30 kilometers southeast of present-day Kumasi city. There is a depression deep in the mountains, surrounded by dense forests, making it difficult for outsiders to reach. The Ashanti people call this place "Ashanti Manso," which means "the birthplace of the Ashanti people." To this day, the Ghanaian government protects this place as a sacred site for the Ashanti people.

Before the Ashanti became a powerful nation, the Akan people had established some larger states.

The earliest Akan country was Adansi, founded by Omin Enim. At first, when Adansi was strong, it ruled Dunkra and other vassal states. In the mid-17th century, Dunkrat in turn destroyed the Adansi and conquered the kingdoms of Twyford, Assin and Vasa, Owen and Severway. Dunkra and its vassals are rich in gold, and its capital is an important center for the gold trade. It also controls the western channel for trade between the interior and the coast, and plays an important role in the trade between Elmina and Cape Coast. By the second half of the 17th century, Dunkra had become the most powerful and wealthy Akan nation west of the Gold Coast.

To the east of the Gold Coast, there is also a very powerful Akan country, the Akwamu Kingdom. The Akwamu people continued to expand their territory, and by the beginning of the 18th century they controlled most of the plains from the Accra Plain, the Akwapim Mountains, and the Kwahu Mountains to the other side of the Birim River. The Kingdom of Akwamu owned the gold fields in the Birim River Basin, controlled the trade routes between the eastern interior and the coast, and enjoyed a monopoly on trade with the European fortresses of Accra and Osu. However, Akwamu was defeated by the Akeem in the 1830s, and his influence gradually disappeared.

The Akim people are divided into three branches: Abu Akwa, Kotoku and Bosomi. They live in the basin of the Pula River and its tributary Birim River. In 1733, the Akeems united with Agona, Obutu, Gomoa, Accra and Fanti and other countries, and with the support of the Dutch, defeated Akwamu. The area inhabited by the Akeem people is called "Great Akani" and is rich in gold. They used slaves to mine gold, cultivate the land, and transport goods. At the same time, they conducted overseas trade to Osu through Accra, and the country became increasingly prosperous.

The Ashanti nation was founded by two Akan clans: Oyoko and Bretuo, who lived in Tafo. The Tafo area has superior natural conditions and is a hub for trade routes to Djenné and Hausa. As the population increased and immigrants arrived, several towns and large villages began to spring up. By the 1770s, small towns-centered states such as Kwaman, Juaben, Bekway, Mampung, Kokofu and Nsuta had been formed. Among these small states called "Amanto", except for Mangpeng, who belongs to the Bretuo clan, the others all belong to the Oyoko clan.

These small Ashanti states surrendered to Dunkla, paid tribute to him, and sent members of the royal family to Dunkla's court as hostages. In addition, the Ashanti people were frequently harassed by the Doma people. In order to get rid of the rule of the Dunkra people and eliminate the threat of the Doma people, the small Ashanti states gradually realized unity and unity with Kwaman as the center.

The ruler of Kwaman, Audi Akenden, led the Ashanti people to fight against the Doma people, winning prestige for Kwaman. In 1660, Akenden died and was succeeded by Obiri Yeboah. At this time, the Ashanti states had formed a confederation with Yeboah as the leader and Kwaman as the center. It was actually a loose wartime alliance in which each state enjoyed full autonomy.

The founder of the Ashanti Nation was Osei Tutu. He was the nephew of Obiri Yeboah. He was sent to the court of Dunkela when he was young and served beside King Boa Ampensem (1677-1692) of Dunkela. He later fled to Akwamu and received The favor of King Akwamu. Later, Obiri Yeboah was killed in the war with the Doma people. Osei Tutu was selected as the successor and returned to the country to succeed to the throne under the escort of Akwamu's army. Also returning home with Osei Tutu was Kwame Frimpong Anokhi. He was a priest who worshiped the God of War. He was very familiar with the politics and military affairs of Akwamu and Dunkla. Played an important role in the development of the Ashanti nation.

In order to expel the Doma people and remove the threat from the Dunkra people, Osei Tutu decided to first unite the loose alliance more closely. Under Anokhi's work, the small states strengthened their concept of unity and were willing to obey Osei Tutu's command. Osei Tutu used Akwamu's army as an example and made new swords for officers, stipulating that officers must swear to fight to the bitter end. In this way, a unified and powerful national army was born. Osei Tutu used this army to finally defeat the Domas and unify the Tafu region.

The military victory strengthened Osei Tutu's leadership and provided favorable conditions for the alliance to develop into a centralized and unified federation. Anokhi uses the traditions of the Akan people to accelerate the process of federation based on the political and organizational situation of the Akan country. He planted Kumnini trees in Kwaman, Juaben and Kumau, but only the one planted in Kwaman survived. Kwaman was henceforth known as "Kumasi" (meaning "under the Kumunini tree") and became the political center of the Ashanti people.

Anokhi also used the political tradition of the Akan people to set up a golden stool and let it fall from "the sky" to Osei Tutu's lap at a large gathering. . Then, he asked the famous chiefs and queens present to donate a piece of nail and some hair, from which he made a syrup, smeared the golden stool, and asked the donor to drink it. The golden stool has since represented the spirit of the entire Ashanti nation and has become a symbol of unity and a source of spiritual strength for the Ashanti people. Osei Tutu, the owner of the golden stool, became the sacred leader of the Ashanti people, and all Amantu chiefs must swear allegiance to the "Ashantihene" (king). Ashanti became a unified and consolidated federal state politically, organizationally and ideologically.

At this time, Dunkra still imposed heavy tributes from the Ashanti and monopolized trade with Europeans on the eastern coast of the Gold Coast, preventing the Ashanti from entering important ports such as Elmina and Cape Coast. Obtain important items such as salt and weapons. Therefore, freedom from Dunkra rule was crucial to the development of the Ashanti nation.

In 1699, King Ndim Kagari of Dunkra asked the Ashanti people to pay a heavy sum of money and made some insulting demands. Osei Tutu firmly refused and declared war on Dunkla. The war started between the coalition forces of Dunkla and Akeem and the coalition of Ashanti and Akwamu. As a result, Dunkla's side was defeated. In 1701, Dunkrat died. The Ashanti annexed all Dunkrat's territory on the left bank of the Offin River, seized the rent memorandum of Fort Elmina, and established direct trade links with the coast.

Then the Ashanti nation immediately turned to war against Akeem. The first Ashanti expedition against Akeem took place at the end of Osei Tutu's reign. It was a disastrous defeat. Osei Tutu was killed. Almost all the Ashanti nobles who followed the expedition were captured, and hundreds of accompanying people were captured. Few people survived. The feud has been made and the war will never stop. In the 1830s, Ashanti King Opoku Wari defeated Akeem, executed his leader, annexed part of his land, and took members of the Akeem royal family as hostages.

After that, the Ashanti also conquered some countries in the north. By the time of Osei Koyo's death in the 1880s, Ashanti had expanded into a large empire. The territory it directly controlled reached the Tyne River in the north, the Pula and Ofin rivers in the south, and the Biya River in the west. It reaches the Volta River in the east, 150 miles long from east to west and 90 miles wide from north to south. Banda, Gaman, Dagomba, Assin, Akim, New Dunkra and Akwamu all surrendered to Ashanti.

At the beginning of the 19th century, the power of the Ashanti Kingdom approached the coast and came into conflict with the coastal Fanti people. In 1805, two chiefs of Assin State, located at the junction of the Ashanti Kingdom and the Fanti Country, refused to submit to the jurisdiction of the Ashanti King and defected to the Fanti Country Federation. In 1806, the Ashanti Kingdom fought against the Fanti coalition, and the latter was defeated. The two chiefs of Assin State fled to Cape Coast and asked the British, who had long been eyeing West Africa, to intervene. Soon, the British directly intervened in the dispute and declared war on the Ashanti Kingdom. Undaunted, the Ashanti took turns besieging the British forts and finally forced the British to surrender. Thereafter, the Ashanti people merged the Fanti nation as a province into the Ashanti Kingdom through two wars.

In 1823, the British sent an expeditionary force of 2,500 men to attack Ashanti, but the entire army was wiped out. Commander McCarthy was wounded and committed suicide. In 1826, the British and Fanti forces returned, and this time the Ashanti were defeated. After that, after several more battles, generally speaking, Ashanti was unable to resist the British offensive. The war of 1874 led to the disintegration of the Ashanti Federation; in 1896, the British arrested Ashanti King Prempe at the negotiating table and exiled him; in the same year, Ashanti was declared a British protectorate, governed by the British Send a governor to govern.

In 1900, the British Governor summoned the Ashanti chiefs to a meeting in Kumasi and asked the Ashanti people to hand over the golden stool so that he could sit on it. The chiefs gathered overnight and swore they would no longer tolerate British rule. Three days later, the Ashanti, led by Mother Ya Asantewa, the chief of the Ejisu tribe, attacked the British fortress. The British suffered a heavy blow, but the Ashanti were ultimately defeated and the Ashantiwa were captured and exiled.

Afterwards, the Ashanti Federation was dismembered into 18 Amantos, which were placed under the jurisdiction of the British Governor. In January 1902, Ashanti became a British crown colony.

"World Culture 2008 Issue 9" "West Asia and Africa" ??"International Outlook" "One Piece."

Perona, Chapter 9 "The Fading Great Empire"

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