century. Between the 10th and
12th centuries AD the ethnic
Akan people migrated into the
forest belt of Southern Ghana
and established several Akan
states:
Formation of the Kingdom
A
shanti political orga-
nization was original-
ly centered on clans
headed by a paramount chief
or Amanhene. One particular
clan, the Oyoko, settled in the
Ashanti’s sub-tropical forest
region, establishing a center at
Kumasi.The Ashanti became
tributaries of another Akan
state, Denkyira but in the mid-
17th century the Oyoko under
Chief Oti Akenten started
consolidating the Ashanti
clans into a loose confedera-
tion against the Denkyira. The
introduction of the Golden
Stool (Sika ɗwa) was a means
of centralization under Osei
Tutu. According to legend, a
meeting of all the clan heads
of each of the Ashanti settle-
ments was called just prior to
declaring independence from
Denkyira. In this meeting the
Golden Stool was commanded
down from the heavens by
Okomfo Anokye, chief-priest
or sage advisor to Asante-
hene Osei Tutu I and floated
down from the heavens into
the lap of Osei Tutu I. Okomfo
Anokye declared the stool to
be symbolic of the new Asante
Union (the Ashanti Kingdom),
and allegiance was sworn to
the stool and to Osei Tutu as
63 | Colossium . December 2018
the Asantehene. The newly
declared Ashanti union sub-
sequently waged war against
and defeated Denkyira.The
stool remains sacred to the
Ashanti as it is believed to
contain the Sunsum — spirit or
soul of the Ashanti people.
Independence
I
n the 1670s the head of the
Oyoko clan, Osei Kofi Tutu
I, began another rapid
consolidation of Akan peoples
via diplomacy and warfare.
King Osei Kofu Tutu I and his
chief advisor, Okomfo Kwame
Frimpong Anokye led a coa-
lition of influential Ashanti
city-states against their mutual
oppressor, the Denkyira who
held the Ashanti Kingdom in
its thrall. The Ashanti King-
dom utterly defeated them at
the Battle of Feyiase, proclaim-
ing its independence in 1701.
Subsequently, through hard
line force of arms and savoir-
faire diplomacy, the duo in-
duced the leaders of the other
Ashanti city-states to declare
allegiance and adherence to
Kumasi, the Ashanti capital.
From the beginning, King Osei
Tutu and priest Anokye fol-
lowed an expansionist and an
imperialistic provincial foreign
policy. According to folklore,
Okomfo Anokye is believed to
have visited Agona-Akrofonso.
The Ashanti Kingdom and
Britain
I
n December 1895, the Brit-
ish left Cape Coast with
an expeditionary force. It
arrived in Kumasi in January
1896 under the command of
Robert Baden-Powell.The As-
antehene directed the Ashanti
to not resist, as he feared a
genocide. Shortly thereafter,
Governor William Maxwell
arrived in Kumasi as well.
Britain annexed the territories
of the Ashanti and the Fanti.
Asantehene Agyeman Prem-
peh was deposed and arrest-
ed, and he and other Ashanti
leaders were sent into exile
in the Seychelles. The Asante
Union was dissolved. The
British formally declared the
state of the Ashanti Kingdom
and the coastal regions to be
the Gold Coast colony. A Brit-
ish Resident was permanently
placed in the city of Kumasi,
and soon after a British fort
was built there. As a final mea-
sure of resistance, the remain-
ing Asante court not exiled
to the Seychelles mounted an
offensive against the British
Residents at the Kumasi Fort.
The resistance was led by
Asante queen Yaa Asantewaa,
Queen-Mother of Ejisu. From
March 28 to late September
1900, the Asante and British
were engaged in what would
become known as the War of
the Golden Stool. In the end,
the British were victorious;
they exiled Asantewaa and
other Asante leaders to the
Seychelles to join Asante King
Prempeh I. In January 1902,