Ho me

| Ab o ut Manhyia | Asant e

Hist o ry | N e ws

| Eve nt s | Pho t o G alle ry

Hist o ry O f T he Pe o p le

Ho me Asante History History Of The People

United As ante S tates Under Nana O s ei Tutu I The Beginning O f The As ante Natio n The His to ric and Pres ent Impo rtanc e o f As ante- its Culture and Ec o no my Ins tallatio n o f an As antehene
Hist o ry o f K e nt e

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Nana Osei Tutu succeed Nana Obiri Yebo a as the chief o f Kwaman state later kno wn as Kumase state. During his ensto lment he pro mised his peo ple that he wo uld take up the great task o f uniting the Asante states. He was helped to achieve this aim by the great priest and chief o f Ago na, Nana Oko mfo Ano kye. Nana Osei Tutu and Oko mfo Ano kye were ensto o led at the same time, Osei Tutu as Kwamanhene, Oko mfo Ano kye as uncle Obiri Yebo a while Oko mfo Ano kye succeeded his bro ther Oko mfo Yemo a. Acco rding to o ral traditio n a meeting o f the chiefs o f Asante states was called by Nana Osei Tutu o f Kumase. The main agenda was to unite under o ne o f the chiefs. His sto o l wo uld be greater than all the o ther sto o ls, and any chief ensto o led by any questio n o f "who wo uld be cho sen the head then" again appeared. It was at this juncture that Oko mfo Ano kye explained that the pro blem wo uld be so lved be the ancesto rs and the go ds. He wo uld pray to the ancesto rs and the go ds. At the end o f the prayer, the ancesto rs and the go ds wo uld send a sto o l fro m the skies and the chief o n who se laps it wo uld descend and rest wo uld be the cho sen chief. Acco rding to o ral traditio n a festive Friday " Fo fie" was cho sen to be the day that they wo uld meet fo r the go ds and ancesto rs to cho o se their king fo r them. When they agreed o n the day, they were to ld by Oko mfo Ano kye to fast and po ur libatio n to their ancesto rs and the go ds until the cho sen day. Then they dispersed to their vario us states. On the appo inted day, the chiefs met, each waiting to be the paramo unt chief elect. The atmo sphere lo o ked calm. Oko mfo Ano kye appeared amidst drumming and dancing. After so me magical dances he paused a little, jumped here and there and began to call so mething fro m the sky. Drumming started again and the priest co njured. The sky became tense and a deafening no ise was heard. Then a sto o l studded with go ld descended o n the laps o f Nana Osei Tutu. It therefo re meant that he had been cho sen by the ancesto rs and the go ds as the unquestio nable king o f the kings o f the Asante Natio n. Finger nails and a small co llectio n o f hair fro m each chief were co llected, all burnt and the ashes, so me smeared o n
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The Us e o f Kente and its S o c ial S ignific anc e Materials and Tec hniques o f Weaving The His to ry o f As ante Kente What is Kente?
king s and Q ue e nmo t he rs o f Asant e

kings o f As ante Q ueenmo thers o f As ante

the sto o l and the rest mixed in palm wine fo r all to drink.
R e st o rat io n o f Asant e C o nf e d e racy

Oko mfo Ano kye to ld them that the sto o l co ntained the spirit o f the Asante Natio n. The po tio n they drank meant that they had swo rn to the go ds, which meant they had taken an o ath to unit and fo rget their past individual histo ries. Osei Tutu to o k the o ath o f allegiance to the sto o l and the chiefs, and each chief in turn to o k an o ath o f allegiance to Nana Osei Tutu and an o ath never to raise arms against the Go lden Sto o l. That was the beginning o f Asante Kingdo m Nana Osei Tutu was therefo re made the first king o f the Asante kingdo m.

HIS TO RY O F AS ANTE CO NFEDERACY

Se ve nt y f ive Ye ars Af t e r t he R e st o rat io n o f Asant e man

His first task was to avenge the defeat the states had suffered fro m the Do rma peo ple. This was witho ut delay and in a fearful battle the Do rmaa peo ple were defeated and driven fro m Suntreso where they were, to a far away place. This was in abo ut 16 9 8 . Tho ugh the state was defeated and annexed into the Asante Kingdo m their king was made "the so ul Washer" o f Asantehene. Giving po st to a defeated chief was a new strategy the new state had ado pted. Oko mfo Ano kye had ruled that any state they wo uld defeat wo uld no t be called a defeated state with their peo ple regarded as servants but wo uld be treated as bro thers, with their chief being given an impo rtant po sitio n in the kingdo m. The next task was to wage war against their masters, the Denkyira peo ple. They had lo ng fo und o ut that Denkyira peo ple had been treating them with co ntempt. They were no t satisfied with even the co mmo dities they were asked to send to Denkyira every Akwasidae. Firewo o d fetching was the wo rk do ne by wo men. Red clay was used by wo men fo r ho use deco ratio n and this was no t the jo b fo r men. Plantain fibre was used as to ilet article and that to o was fetched by wo men. The Asantes therefo re understo o d the who le issued o f asking their men to send the co mmo dities to Denkyira as being regarded as wo men. All put to gether was an insult to the men Asante. It was during the time when this debate was go ing o n that Ntim Gyakari, the new o f Denkyira who succeeded the late Bo seanti, send messengers to them with so me demands which sparked the anger. The demands were:

S EVENTY FIVE YEARS AFTER THE RES TO RATIO N O F AS ANTEMAN

T he R o le o f Asant e man in t he Est ab lishme nt o f Scho o ls and imp act o n Ed ucat io n D e ve lo p me nt

As anteman
T he R o le o f Mo d e rn Trad it io nal C hie f s in D e ve lo p me nt in Af rica

The The Ro le o f Mo dern Traditio nal Chiefs in Develo pment in Afric a

Pre mp e h In Exile

a) That they were to send the Go lden Sto o l to him because he was the o verlo rd. b) That they sho uld disso lve their unio n because they did no t seek permissio n befo re its fo rmatio n. c) That they sho uld sto p talking against Denkyira men who had sex with their yo ung wo men who went serve at Denkyira, because it was a blessing fo r any wo man who became pregnant by a Denkyira man, since she wo uld get a baby with ro yal blo o d in him who wo uld better fitted to o ccupy a sto o l in Asante. d) That each chief was to cut o ff o ne o f his fingers and add to the go ld dust to be sent to Denkyira. e) That each chief was to send his favo urite wife to Denkyira to serve the king's co urt. To the chiefs, the go ld dust was no t difficult, but the demand fo r the Go lden sto o l which co ntained the spirit o f the natio n and which they had vo wed to pro tect. That was the last straw that bro ke the camel's back. Again no maimed perso n was allo wed to o ccupy a sto o l in the Asante Natio n, therefo re if that king was demanding their fingers, then he was desto o ling them. They also viewed the demand fo r their wives to serve at the king's co urt as do wnright disrespected fo r Asante manho o d.
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Prempeh 1 In Exile
List o f C hie f s who swo re an O at h o f alle g iance t o O t umf uo O se i Ag ye man Pre mp e h II,Asant e he ne D uring t he R e st o rat io n o f Asant e C o nf e d e racy

Lis t o f Chiefs

The Asante prefers death in war to such insult. At this po int they were silent fo r a while, then the o f Dwaben, Adaakwaa Yiado m, ro se up, co ndemned the who le message and swo re to avenge. All the o ther chiefs suppo rted him. They therefo re filled the brass basin with sto nes to be sent to Ntim Gyakari instead o f the go ld dust he was demanding. They o rdered executio ners to fingers o f the messengers and add to the sto nes and also to kill the warrio r amo ng the messengers. Their actio n meant that they had declared war o n Denkyira. What next? Was there any po ssibility that they co uld match their o verlo rd? They were sure their great priest and king o f Ago na, Nana Oko mfo Ano kye wo uld help so lve the pro blem fo r them. He had perfo rmed wo nders during their war with Do rmaa peo ple, so they knew he wo uld repeat the feat. Oko mfo Ano kye when co nsulted assured them that they wo uld be victo rio us pro vided so me men wo uld give themselves up fo r sacrifices. Three men wo uld be needed fo r the sacrifices. One wo uld be buried alive. His hands wo uld appear at the surface o f the earth and two brass pans full o f war medicine mixed in water wo uld be put in the two palms fo r the warrio rs to bath befo re they left fo r the war fro nt. The seco nd vo lunteer wo uld be butchered to death and his flesh thro wn away fo r vultures to take to Denkyira land. Wherever any piece o f the flesh wo uld fall the men o f the place wo uld lo se their bravery and beco me co wards. The third vo lunteer sho uld be a paramo unt chief. He wo uld be armed and he wo uld be in fro nt o f the marching so ldiers. He was no t a fire a sho t even if he met an enemy. He sho uld lo o k o n fo r the enemy to sho o t him. It was o nly when he fell that the Asante Natio n wo uld be victo rio us. If he did no t co nfo rm to that and he sho t a gun that wo uld be the do o m o f the Asante Natio n. Tho se who vo lunteered were: i. Nana Asenso Ko fo , chief o f Adwumkasekese. He was buried alive. ii. Nana Diko pim I, chief o f Edweso , gave himself up to be butchered to death. iii. Nana Twenebo a Ko dua, Paramo unt o f Kumawu, also gave himself up. He led the marching so ldiers. Tho ugh he was armed, he was fo rbidden to sho o t: therefo re he was killed. After all the purificatio ns and the necessary preparatio ns, Nana Osei Tutu prepared to leader the Natio n was War General. Oko mfo Ano kye asked Nana Osei Tutu to stay at ho me and ask ano ther to lead. His explainatio n was that tho ugh Asante Natio n wo uld win the war, who ever led as the War General wo uld no t live beyo nd seven days after the war. Here to o Nana Bo ahen Anantuo chief o f Mampo ng, vo lunteered to lead the so ldiers to the war. He, ho wever, asked that since he was taking the place o f Asantehene as War General, his sto o l sho uld be next to that o f Asantehene. Asantehene was o ccupying the Go lden Sto o l therefo re his state sho uld o ccupy a Silver Sto o l. This was granted. Like Bo ahen Anantuo , the first three vo lunteers also mad request. Asenso Ko fo requested that his death, no bo dy fro m
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his to wn, Adwumakasekese, sho uld ever be killed o r sacrificed in any fo rm. Diko pim, the chief o f Edweso , also requested that no bo dy fro m his clan, Aso na, sho uld be sacrificed in any fo rm. Nana Twenebo a Ko dua also requested that no bo dy fro m his state sho uld ever be sacrificed in any fo rm. Again, whenever a drummer fro m any o f the Asante states started drumming o n Atumpan drums, his appellatio n sho uld be so unded to remind future generatio ns that they to o sho uld sacrifice themselves fo r the Asante Natio n. When all was set, the chiefs swo re to Nana Osei Tutu that they wo uld fo rever push fo rward, never wo uld they retreat. The advance guard was led be Twenebo a Ko dua while Bo ahen Anantuo led them as War General. Oko mfo Ano kye himself was at the war fro nt and pro vided the magical antido tes. The battle was fierce but with determinatio n, the Asante Natio n. The battle was fierce but with determinatio n, the Asante Natio n was victo rio us. The king o f Denkyira, Ntim Gyakari, was captured at Feyiase and beheaded. Denkyira thus became subject to Asante. The chiefs who sat to gether to plan the Denkyira war were: Nana Osei Tutu I Nana Twenebo a Ko dua Nana Bo ahen Anantuo Nana Adaakwaa Yiado m Nana Ono mpau Nana Ko fi Dwaa Ayebo afo Nana Agyeman Ampo mfi Nana Oduro Panin Nana Wiafe Akenten Nana Diko pim Nana Kro bea Nana Oko mfo Ano kye king o f Asante chief o f Kumawu Chief o f Mampo ng Chief o f Dweben Chief o f Asumegya Chief o f Bekwai Chief o f Ko ko fu Chief o f Nsuta Chief o f Offinso Chief o f Edweso Chief o f Tafo Chief o f Ago na

After the Denkyira war, Asante Natio n co ntinued fighting to extend her bo rders. Acco rding to o ral traditio n, Adanse was a po werful state befo re Denkyira subdued it and made it her vassal. When the Asante states became united and decided to fight Denkyira, Adanse was co ntacted but she refused to jo in them and
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instead left fo r Akyem because she was no t prepared fo r war. Ho wever, after the defeat o f Denkyira, they came back to their land and agreed to fo rm part o f the Asante Kingdo m. This was during the reign o f Nana Osei Tutu. The two mo st impo rtant wars waged by Nana Osei Tutu were Do rmaa war and the Denkyira war. The defeat o f Denkyira earned Asante Natio n the do cuments o n the Elmina Castle which hitherto , were in the po ssessio n o f Denkyira. Nana Osei Tutu's reign was a great landmark in the histo ry o f Asante Kingdo m. It was during his reign that Asante Natio n sprang fro m independent small states to fo rm a stro ng unio n under o ne king and became a kingdo m. He o rganized the Natio n o n military base, gro uping the states into vario us war flanks. He built Kumase as the capital o f the kingdo m. It was during his reign that Elmina Castle became the pro perty o f the Asante Natio n. Many o f the laws go verning the kingdo m were made during his reign. Acco rding to o ral traditio n, he instituted the Odwira Festival in the kingdo m after the defeat o f Denkyira. Nana Osei Tutu laid a so lid fo undatio n fo r the Asante Natio n. Ho wever, he gave to o much freedo m to the co nquered states and allo wed their chiefs to rule o ver the subjects instead o f appo inting ambassado rs to the co nquered states. This po licy gave the states freedo m to o rganize their army to fight Asante again fo r their independence. One o f such rebellio ns was that raised by Bo adu Akefun, the chief o f Denkyira who succeeded Ntim Gyakari. Osei Tutu had to send his army to fight and co nquer Denkyira again, just a year after the first war.

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