Asante or Ashanti
(adapted from David Johnson, JR)
The Asante are members of the
Akan cluster of ethnic groups. Their language, variously known
as Asante or Twi, is also often called Akan, but is actually one
of a number of separate Akan languages, all of which belong to
the Kwa subgroup of the Niger-Congo language family. The Asante
are often considered the custodians of the nation's culture because
of the power, artistic splendor, and duration of their empire,
which covered nearly all of present-day Ghana by 1800.
Asante oral accounts of the group's origin vary.
According to one account, their ancestors are descended from the
rulers of the ancient Ghana empire, far to the north in present-day
Mali and Mauritania. This account forms the basis for the name
of the modern nation. Other accounts claim that their ancestors
emerged from the ground in their present homeland. Linguistic
and archaeological evidence suggests that ancestors of the Asante
have lived in their present homeland for at least 2000 years.
With the expansion of gold production and trade in the fourteenth
and fifteenth centuries, kingships began to emerge among the Akan.
The further expansion of trade in the sixteenth and seventeenth
centuries, following the arrival of Europeans along the coast,
spurred the development of powerful states in the Asante region.
By the early seventeenth century, the Denkyira kingdom had conquered
the independent Asante clans.
The political, military, and spiritual foundations
of the Asante nation date to the first Asante king, Osei Tutu.
He forged the Asante Union by bringing together several subgroups
from roughly 1670 to the 1690s. He also built a capital, Kumasi;
created the legend of the Golden Stool to legitimize his rule;
and began celebrating the Odwira, or yam festival, as a symbol
of national unity. From 1698 to 1701, the united Asante army defeated
the Denkyira people. Over the course of the eighteenth century,
Asante conquered most of the surrounding peoples, including the
Dagomba.
By the early nineteenth century, Asante territory
covered nearly all of present-day Ghana, including the coast,
where the Asante could trade directly with the British. In exchange
for guns and other European goods, the Asante sold gold and slaves,
usually either captured in war or accepted as tribute from conquered
peoples. As they prospered, Asante culture flourished. They became
famous for gold and brass craftsmanship, wood carving, furniture,
and brightly colored woven cloth, called kente. Although
the Asante maintained traditional beliefs, Muslim traders and
Christian missionaries won some converts among them to their respective
religions.
During the nineteenth century, Asante fought several
wars with the British, who sought to eliminate the slave trade
and expand their control in the region. A series of defeats at
the hands of the British gradually weakened and reduced the territory
of the Asante kingdom. After nearly a century of resistance to
British power, Asante was finally declared a Crown Colony in 1902
following the uprising known as the Yaa Asantewa War.
Before long, however, Asante reemerged to contribute
to the nationalist movement that would help shape modern Ghana.
The exiled Asante king was allowed to return to Kumasi in 1924,
and the British recognized the Asante Confederacy as a political
entity in 1935. Today, most Asante live in the Asante Region of
Ghana. They are primarily farmers, growing cocoa for export and
yams, plantains, and other produce for local consumption. The
Golden Stool, the Asante imperial palace, and artifacts at the
Museum of National Culture in Kumasi have become enduring symbols
of Ghana's illustrious past.
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