Akan - Pre-Ashanti

  General Description   The gold-producing region between the Comoé and Volta rivers has been inhabited by Akan-speaking people since the 13th century CE. This region has seen the emergence of various autonomous states, including Bono, Djomo, Akwamu, Fante, and Asante. Later in its history, the founders of the Ga and Ewe states arrived from what is now Nigeria. ^[1] In 1471, Portuguese sailors reached this stretch of coast and quickly established trade with the coastal Akan states, exchanging European goods for gold. ^[1] Trade routes soon connected the coast to the Niger bend region, along which descendants of the former Bonda and Kumbu kingdoms founded the Akyerekyere and Akumu-Akoto kingdoms respectively. The Portuguese referred to this latter kingdom as the ’Acanes’, which is the source of the name Akan. ^[2]
In 1701, the Asante rebelled against the dominant Denkyira state and formed a confederacy of Akan states who accepted Asante rule. This confederacy began to conquer the surrounding polities, and by 1764 the Greater Asante controlled an area nearly the size of present-day Ghana. ^[2]
Europeans continued to be drawn to the Ghanaian coast in search of gold and, by the 19th century, the British were the strongest European power in the region. In 1827, British-led troops defeated an Asante army at Katammanso. ^[2] In 1831, the British and Asante signed a peace treaty that allowed trade in all ports, and by 1844 the British gained control over criminal matters in the areas around trade forts. By 1872, the British had complete control of the coast, and when they did not recognize Asante sovereignty, the Asante attacked. The British were victorious, and after another war in 1895, the Asante king and chiefs were exiled. The entire region was declared a British territory in 1901. ^[2]
Population and political organization
During the pre-Asante period, each Akan state consisted of a single kingdom ruled by an omanhene, which literally translates to ’state-chief’. ^[2] This king came from a royal clan, and was elected by various officials, most notably the ohemmaa (’queen-mother’), who was a senior woman of the clan. The king was a sacred person who could not be observed eating or drinking; nor could he be heard to speak or be spoken to. ^[2]
After 1701, political organization within the region became far more bureaucratic and specialized. Kumasi became the capital of the union of Asante states and the seat of the empire. Appointed officials began to replace those wielding hereditary authority, and a treasury partly operated by literate Muslims was created. ^[3] However, while bureaucrats ran many of the day-to-day operations of the empire, the authority of the king was still absolute. ^[4]
Population estimates are not available for the pre-Asante period. The population of the entire Asante union in 1874 is estimated at three million people. ^[5]

[1]: (Fage et al. 2017) Fage, John D., Ernest Amano Boateng, Donna J. Maier, and Oliver Davies. 2017. "Ghana." Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/place/Ghana. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/XFKDKSW3.

[2]: (Gilbert, Lagacé and Skoggard 2000) Gilbert, Michelle, Robert O. Lagacé, and Ian Skoggard. 2000. "Culture Summary: Akan." eHRAF World Cultures. http://ehrafworldcultures.yale.edu/document?id=fe12-000. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/ZJ844XUN.

[3]: (McLeod 1981) McLeod, M. D. 1981. The Asante. London: British Museum Publications. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/RS692TAZ.

[4]: (Arhin 1986, 165-66) Arhin, Kwame. 1986. "The Asante Praise Poems: The Ideology of Patrimonialism." Paideuma, no. 32: 163-97. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/87N692IT.

[5]: (Obeng 1996, 20) Obeng, J. Pashington. 1996. Asante Catholicism: Religious and Cultural Reproduction among the Akan of Ghana. Leiden: E. J. Brill. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/P8MFGRGQ.