The article talks about how the Asantes became dominant and popular in Ghana (Gold Coast), and also how the Asante Kingdom started.
The Early Asantes
Asantes fleeing Denkyira’s hegemony, many smaller Akan tribes moved eastward and settled around the city of Kumasi. By the late 17th century, these Akan peoples were drawn together and were ruled by a single leader, called the Kumasehene. Eventually, the Kumasehene became the Asantehene, and the Asante saw themselves as a single, united people. Obiri Yeboa was the first prominent Kumasehene, and he enlarged the power of his Oyoko clan (yeboa) by incorporating other local Akan nobility into his family, through a combination of force and diplomacy.
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| How the Asante Kingdom started |
The Reign of Osei Tutu and the Golden Stool
Osei Tutu (1680-1717) was the first king of Kumasi to claim the title Asantehene. He would lead the people of Asante and Kumasi to become the dominant power of the Gold Coast. Osei Tutu had the vision and statesmanship to transform the Asante from a subordinate vassal of Denkirya to the paramount Akan kingdom. Osei Tutu had spent some time as a resident prince of the Akwamu court, learned of their military tactics, and was able to ally with that tribe. With the support of the Akwamu king, Osei Tutu revolted against Denkyira. In battle, the Asante developed a pincher formation that aimed to flank the enemy force from the sides and rear. The revolt met with success.
In 1698, the favourite wife of Osei was sent to negotiate at the Denkyira court as a sign of goodwill; instead of receiving her honourably, the enemy king raped her. After that, the war between the two kingdoms became much more savage. At the Battle of Feyiase (1701), the Asante triumphed decisively over Denkyira, bringing total victory. The Denkyirahene was killed, and that nation would persist only as a shadow of its former self. The Asante Empire was now the dominant Akan kingdom, and soon monopolised trade in the Gold Coast region. Osei used a consultative body of the Kotoko Council to integrate the leadership of new peoples into the Asante State. As the empire expanded, incorporated peoples were allowed to join the Asante union directly or exist as semi-autonomous client states. With Osei Tutu began the tradition of the Golden Stool, a gold-glad ceremonial chair which was the physical embodiment of the entire Asante nation. It was an ancient Akan custom for each family to have a stool signifying the authority of elders, as well as stools indicating a chief’s authority in each tribe. The Golden Stool developed a spiritual and political significance beyond all proportion of this earlier tradition, and was said to have a miraculous origin. It was so sacred that even the Asantehene could not sit on it.
The chief priest and spiritual leader of the Asante, Okomfo Anokye, was believed to have called the golden stool down from heaven. The stool houses the soul of the Asante nation and is believed to connect all Asante individuals- those dead, those living, and those yet to be born. As a political symbol, the Golden Stool was seen to transcend the power of all other stools in the Akan tradition. As Akan tribes were absorbed into the Asante union, they were made to bury their stools in a sign of deference.
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