By David A. Granger
Several extensive empires arose in the western Sudan – that is, the savannah region of West Africa which lies between the Sahara desert to the North and the Guinea forests to the South – over the last millennium. The most powerful of these empires were Ghana (c. 1067-1240), Mali (c. 1255-1359) and Songhai (c. 1464-1691).
Several small states sprouted in the forested Guinea region to the South during the 17th century. Many of these states became involved in coastal trade with competing Western European states which eventually ‘weakened, divided or otherwise subverted’ them. Larger forest states flourished. They strengthened their institutions, consolidated their governments and expanded their territory beyond the coastland, out of reach of the Europeans. Asante, Dahomey and Oyo were among the strongest of these.
Several factors were responsible for the rise of the Asante Empire on the territory which became known as the Gold Coast and which, in 1957, became the main part of the Independent state which adopted the old imperial name of Ghana.
The Asante were a sub-group of the Twi-speaking Akan nation, the principal features of which were its agrarian base, matriclan system and distinctive political structure. The ethnic homogeneity of the Asante created a strong sense of kinship and cultural affinity based on their belief in a common ancestry and destiny. This common background engendered a spirit of solidarity which enabled the Asante to cooperate, rather than compete, with each other in the face of external danger.
Ethnicity was the basis of Asante’s polity and society. The eight matrilineal clans (abusua), through which descent was traced, were the matrix of the city states. It was the Oyoko clan which founded the five core states – Bekwae, Dwaben, Kumawu, Mampon and Nsuta – also provided the capital and cultural centre, at Kumasi, and produced the earliest and greatest rulers – Obiri Yeboa, Osei Tutu and Opoku Ware – of Ansanteman.
The heart of Asante’s society was the golden stool (Sika Dwa) which was regarded as ‘the repository of a national spirit transcending all local ties.’ It linked all Asante by a mystical bond and provided the spiritual basis for solidarity. The religious power of the ‘golden stool’ was reinforced by the annual odwira festival at which prayers were offered for the entire nation, disputes and misunderstandings among chiefs and people were settled, allegiance to the asantehene (ruler of the Asante nation) was renewed, and plans were made for the following year.
The ethnic and religious factors strengthened the constitution under which the asantehene was regarded as the principal among the amanahenfo, or kings of divisions, in its early stages. The Asante confederation was little more than an alliance among states and the power of the asantehene was restrained by the council. Under Osei Tutu’s constitution, however, each ruler surrendered his right to declare war on another, acknowledged the right of the asantehene to impose levies, accepted his obligation to contribute contingents of warriors and attend the annual odwira festival and granted his subjects the right to appeal to the high court in Kumasi. Such a constitution helped to quell rivalries, enhance the asantehene’s authority and strengthen Asante solidarity.
The rise of the Asante Empire was accelerated by the emergence of Osei Kofi Tutu, asantehene from c. 1670 to 1717. He was a gifted a statesman and soldier and, with the assistance of Okomfo Anokye, his shrewd friend and seer, formulated the 77 laws of the constitution, founded the capital city and introduced successful military formations and tactics which contributed to the consolidation of the confederation and the defeat of its enemies. He was followed by Opoku Ware (c. 1717-1750) who carried the frontiers of the empire to their farthest extent.
Asante economic power of the Asante was not based on the conquest; it rested on the five pillars of agriculture, craft manufacture, mining, taxation and trade. The Akan were initially and essentially an agrarian people and the harvesting of their yam crops and kola-nut formed the basis of trade. Crafts, such as pottery, cloth-making and brass and bronze-casting were improved; gold-mining and refining techniques were highly developed and provided the precious metal in great demand by European traders on the coast to the South and African traders from the savannah region to the North. The exaction of tribute in kind, in the form of cattle, shea butter, iron and salt were made annually and was supplemented by tolls, poll-taxes, death duties and revenue from the royal mines. Trade with the savannah and the coastal states brought in foreign goods which could not be produced within the imperial domain.
The prosperity of the Asante economy was determined, most obviously, by geographical factors. Although the centre of the empire was deep within the forest region, it lay astride the trade routes to both the savannah and the coast. The Asante had migrated into the auriferous zones of the Volta basin, known as the ‘Akan’ and ‘Lobi’ goldfields, which were vital to the North-South trade. The Asante’s occupation of the trade routes and goldfields was not accidental, but intentional, as it was the basis of its economic expansion.
These factors combined made the Asante empire one of the largest and most complex state systems in West Africa by the 18th century. The empire possessed a core population with a high degree of cohesion, a centralised monarchy, a council of state, a constitution, a capital city, extensive territory, a flourishing economy, important national festivals and powerful army.
It was not surprising, therefore, that enslaved persons of Akan descent who were brought to the West India and Guiana colonies – especially Berbice, Jamaica and Suriname – during that century, behaved the way they did. Their resistance to enslavement, the establishment of maroon settlements which were patterned on the political structure of the Asante states and their reversion to an agrarian livelihood after Emancipation exemplified the sophisticated culture, economy, polity and society from which they had been forcibly separated.
