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===Ashanti Diaspora===
===Ashanti Diaspora===
Due to the Trans Atlantic Slave Trade, a known diaspora of Asante exists in the caribbean, predominantly in numbers on the island of [[Jamaica]]. We know that they are Asante, because of all British forts that sent slaves from the former Gold Coast, such as Fort William(which has the highest number of slaves shipped) for over a 90 year period or from 1700-1790, to which was in British protected terrority that is native land of the [[Fante people|Fante]]. Asante are known to be very opposed to both the Fante and the British, as they only traded with the Dutch in times of their ascension to becoming a hegemony of most of the area. The name "Coromantee"(from [[Fort Amsterdam, Ghana|Fort Kormantse]], purchased by the Dutch in 1665) came from the original British fort on the Gold Coast to host Asante captives, despite this fort being used by the Dutch and having no records of trade to Jamaica while being under Dutch ownership.<ref>http://www.slavevoyages.org/tast/database/search.faces</ref> Evidence of Akan day names(but mispronounced by the British), Adinkra symbols on houses, Ananse stories and the dialect of Jamaican patois being heavily influenced by Asante-twi, can all be found on the island. [[Edward Long]] and white British planters before him, described "Coromantees" the same way that the British in the Gold Coast would the Asantes, which was to be "warlike". That others around them feared them the same way as they were feared in Jamaica and from the hinterlands of the Gold Coast.<ref>https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=xr0NAAAAQAAJ&printsec=frontcover&output=reader&hl=en_GB&pg=GBS.PP1</ref> According to BMC biology in 2012, the average Jamaican has 60% of Asante mtDNA(matrilineal DNA) and today is the only African tribe by name known to comptemporary Jamaicans.<ref>http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2148/12/24#</ref> Famous Jamaican individuals such as: [[Marcus Garvey]] and his 1st wife, [[Amy Ashwood Garvey]] are of Ashanti descent. It is commonplace for many black Jamaicans to have this descent.<ref>Comparative studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East, Vols 17-18, [[Duke University Press]], 1997, p. 124.</ref> Also are Jamaican freedom fighters during slavery: [[Nanny of the Maroons]](now a Jamaican National Heroine), [[Tacky's War|Tacky]] and Jack Mansong or 3 finger Jack. The names: Nanny and Tacky are British corruptions of the Asante words and names: "Nanny" is a corruption of the word ''Nana'' to mean "king/queen/grandparent", the name Tacky is a corruption of the Asante name ''Takyi'', and Mansong is a corruption of the Asante name ''Manso'', respectively.<ref>http://www.jamaicans.com/culture/articles_culture/tackys_rebellion.shtml</ref>
Due to the Trans Atlantic Slave Trade, a known diaspora of Asante exists in the caribbean, predominantly in numbers on the island of [[Jamaica]]. We know that they are Asante, because of all British forts that sent slaves from the former Gold Coast, such as Fort William(which has the highest number of slaves shipped) for over a 90 year period or from 1700-1790, to which was in British protected terrority that is native land of the [[Fante people|Fante]]. Asante are known to be very opposed to both the Fante and the British, as they only traded with the Dutch in times of their ascension to becoming a hegemony of most of the area. The name "Coromantee"(from [[Fort Amsterdam, Ghana|Fort Kormantse]], purchased by the Dutch in 1665) came from the original British fort on the Gold Coast to host Asante captives, despite this fort being used by the Dutch and having no records of trade to Jamaica while being under Dutch ownership.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.slavevoyages.org/tast/database/search.faces|title=Search the Voyages Database|work=slavevoyages.org}}</ref> Evidence of Akan day names(but mispronounced by the British), Adinkra symbols on houses, Ananse stories and the dialect of Jamaican patois being heavily influenced by Asante-twi, can all be found on the island. [[Edward Long]] and white British planters before him, described "Coromantees" the same way that the British in the Gold Coast would the Asantes, which was to be "warlike". That others around them feared them the same way as they were feared in Jamaica and from the hinterlands of the Gold Coast.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=xr0NAAAAQAAJ&printsec=frontcover&output=reader&hl=en_GB&pg=GBS.PP1|title=Google Play|work=google.com}}</ref> According to BMC biology in 2012, the average Jamaican has 60% of Asante mtDNA(matrilineal DNA) and today is the only African tribe by name known to comptemporary Jamaicans.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2148/12/24#|title=BMC Evolutionary Biology - Full text - Interdisciplinary approach to the demography of Jamaica|work=biomedcentral.com}}</ref> Famous Jamaican individuals such as: [[Marcus Garvey]] and his 1st wife, [[Amy Ashwood Garvey]] are of Ashanti descent. It is commonplace for many black Jamaicans to have this descent.<ref>Comparative studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East, Vols 17-18, [[Duke University Press]], 1997, p. 124.</ref> Also are Jamaican freedom fighters during slavery: [[Nanny of the Maroons]](now a Jamaican National Heroine), [[Tacky's War|Tacky]] and Jack Mansong or 3 finger Jack. The names: Nanny and Tacky are British corruptions of the Asante words and names: "Nanny" is a corruption of the word ''Nana'' to mean "king/queen/grandparent", the name Tacky is a corruption of the Asante name ''Takyi'', and Mansong is a corruption of the Asante name ''Manso'', respectively.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jamaicans.com/culture/articles_culture/tackys_rebellion.shtml|title=Jamaican Culture - Jamaicans.com|work=Jamaicans.com}}</ref>


==European colonization and independence==
==European colonization and independence==
Line 95: Line 95:


==See also==
==See also==
⚫
*[[Ashantiland]]
*[[Ashanti Empire]]
*[[Ashanti Empire]]
⚫
*[[Ashantiland]]
*[[War of the Golden Stool]]
*[[War of the Golden Stool]]
*[[List of rulers of Asante]]
*[[List of rulers of Asante]]

Revision as of 15:02, 28 July 2015

This article is about the nation and ethnic group Ashanti. For other people with the Ashanti surname and given name, see Asante (name). For other topics, see Ashanti (disambiguation) and Asante (disambiguation).
Ashantis
Asantefo
Ashanti flag
Regions with significant populations
Ashantiland (Kingdom of Ashanti)
South Ghana 11.5 million
Languages
Ashanti (Akan)
Religion
Non-religious, Akan, Christianity, Roman Catholicism, Islam and others
Related ethnic groups
Akan

Ashanti, or Asante (pronunciation: /ˈæʃɑːnˈtiː/ A-shahn-TEE), are a nation and ethnic group native to Ashantiland and the Kingdom of Ashanti of south Ghana. Ashanti are the largest sub-grouping of the Akan people. Ashanti speak Twi a dialect of the Akan language. Prior to European colonization, the Ashanti people developed a large and influential empire, the Ashanti Empire along the Gulf of Guinea. The Ashanti later developed the powerful Ashanti Confederacy or Asanteman and became the dominant presence on the Gulf of Guinea region. The Ashanti King Asantehene is the political and spiritual head of the Ashantis. The word Ashanti is a British misnomer and Asanti is the correct Twi. Asanti literally means "because of wars" (Asa - wars; Nti- because[of]).

Geography

Map of Ashantiland (Kingdom of Ashanti / South Ghana)

Template:Contains Ashanti text Ashantiland has a variable terrain, coasts and mountains, forests and grasslands, lush agricultural areas and near deserts. The territory Ashanti settled Ashantiland (Kingdom of Ashanti), is the southern and within the central part of present-day Ghana, about three hundred kilometres from the Gulf of Guinea and Atlantic Ocean coast. The Ashantiland (Kingdom of Ashanti) territory is densely forested, mostly fertile and to some extent mountainous. There are two seasons—the rainy season (April to November) and the dry season (December to March). The land has several streams; the dry season, however is extremely desiccated. It is hot year round.

Today Ashanti number close to 11.5 million people (11 million in Ashantiland/Kingdom of Ashanti), 98.7% of the Ashantiland/Kingdom of Ashanti population, speaking Ashanti language (also referred to as Twi, a member of the Central Tano languages within the Kwa languages). Ashanti political power has fluctuated since Ashantiland (and the Kingdom of Ashanti) state political union with Ghana, but the Ashanti remain largely influential. U.N. Ambassador Kofi Agyekum Kuffour is an Ashanti. The majority of Ashantis reside in Ashantiland (Kingdom of Ashanti) currently a sub-nation state within Ghana. Kumasi, the capital of Ashantiland (Kingdom of Ashanti), has also been the historic capital of the Ashanti Kingdom. Currently, Ashanti region has a population of 3,812,950.

Family

Ashanti soulwasher
An Ashanti girl wearing the Ashanti Kente clothing

Ashanti are one of Africa's matrilineal societies where line of descent is traced through the female. Historically, this mother progeny relationship determined land rights, inheritance of property, offices and titles. It is also true that the Ashanti inherit from the paternal side of the family. Property is defined as something inherited from the father, hence the name "agyapade", meaning inheritance from a good father. Normally, a poor father has nothing to give their children, and often marry into a family which has wealth from ancestors.

The father's role was to help the conception and provide the ɔkra or the soul of the child; that is, the child received its life force, character, and personality traits from the father. Though not considered as important as the mother, the male interaction continues in the place of birth after marriage.

Historically, an Ashanti girl was betrothed with a golden ring called "petia" (I love you), if not in childhood, immediately after the puberty ceremony. They did not regard marriage "awade" as an important ritual event, but as a state that follows soon and normally after the puberty ritual. The puberty rite was and is important as it signifies passage from childhood to adulthood in that chastity is encouraged before marriage. The Ashanti required that various goods be given by the boy's family to that of the girl, not as a 'bride price,' but to signify an agreement between the two families.

History

Ashanti Kingdom

Main article: Empire of Ashanti
Asanteman Coronation Durbar in the capital city of Kumasi. Otumfuo Prempeh II the Asantehene is seen with the Golden Stool of Asanteman and members of his retinue, in 1953.

In the 1670s the Ashanti went from being a tributary state to a centralized hierarchical kingdom. Osei Tutu, military leader and head of the Oyoko clan, founded the Ashanti kingdom.[1] He obtained the support of other clan chiefs and using Kumasi as the central base, subdued surrounding Akan states. He challenged and eventually defeated Denkyira in 1701. From this, the name Asante came to be.

Realizing the weakness of a loose confederation of Akan states, Osei Tutu strengthened centralization of the surrounding Akan groups and expanded the powers judiciary system within the centralized government. Thus, this loose confederation of small city-states grew into a kingdom or empire looking to expand its land. Newly conquered areas had the option of joining the empire or becoming tributary states.[2] Opoku Ware I, Osei Tutu's successor, extended the borders, embracing much of present day Ghana's territory.[3]

The Golden Stool

The legend of the Golden Stool (Sika 'dwa) is important as it is an account of the birth of the Ashanti Kingdom itself. In the seventeenth century, in order for the Ashanti to gain independence from Denkyira (another powerful contemporaneous Akan state), a meeting of all the clan heads of each of the Ashanti settlements was convened. In this meeting, the Golden Stool was called down from the heavens by Okomfo Anokye, the Priest or sage advisor to the very first Asantehene (Ashanti King), Osei Tutu I. The Golden Stool descended from the skies and rested on the lap of Osei Tutu I. Okomfo Anokye then declared the Stool to be the symbol of the new Ashanti Union (Asanteman), and allegiance was sworn to both the Golden Stool and to Osei Tutu as the Asantehene. The newly founded Asanteman went to war with Denkyira and subsequently defeated it.[4]

The Golden Stool is sacred to the Ashanti, as it is believed that it contains the Sunsum viz, the spirit or soul of the Ashanti people. Just as man cannot live without a soul, so the Ashanti would cease to exist if the Golden Stool were to be taken from them. The Golden Stool is regarded as sacred that not even the king was allowed to sit on it, a symbol of nationhood and unity.

The Golden Stool is a curved seat 46 cm high with a platform 61 cm wide and 30 cm deep. Its entire surface is inlaid with gold, and hung with bells to warn the king of impending danger. It is an Ashanti legend and has only been seen by the tribe's royalty. Only the king and trusted advisers know the hiding place of the stool. Replicas of the stool have been produced for the chiefs and at their funerals are ceremonially blackened with animal blood, a symbol of their power for generations.

The Ashanti have always defended their Golden Stool when it was under threat. In 1896, the Ashanti allowed their King, Prempeh I, to be exiled rather than risk losing a war and the Golden Stool in the process. The Governor of the Gold Coast, Sir Frederick Hodgson, demanded to sit on the stool in 1900. The Ashanti remained silent and when the assembly ended, they went home and prepared for war. Although they lost on the battle field, they claimed victory because they fought only to preserve the sanctity of the Golden Stool, and they had. Then in 1920, a group of African road builders accidentally found the Golden Stool and stripped it of its gold ornaments. They were tried by an Ashanti court, found guilty and sentenced to death, but the British intervened and their punishment was commuted to perpetual banishment.

The Ashanti have always been proud of the uniqueness of their Golden Stool, and it signified not only their independence, but a common bond between their people. When King Kwadwo Adinkra of Gyaaman made a golden stool for himself in their early 1800s, the reigning Asantehene was so annoyed that he led a massive army against him. Adinkra's forces were completely destroyed near Bondoukou, and he was decapitated. The Asantehene then ordered that the counterfeit golden stool be melted down and made into two masks representing Adinkra's "ugly" face. These masks still hang today on each side of the Golden Stool as a reminder of the incident.

Ashanti Diaspora

Due to the Trans Atlantic Slave Trade, a known diaspora of Asante exists in the caribbean, predominantly in numbers on the island of Jamaica. We know that they are Asante, because of all British forts that sent slaves from the former Gold Coast, such as Fort William(which has the highest number of slaves shipped) for over a 90 year period or from 1700-1790, to which was in British protected terrority that is native land of the Fante. Asante are known to be very opposed to both the Fante and the British, as they only traded with the Dutch in times of their ascension to becoming a hegemony of most of the area. The name "Coromantee"(from Fort Kormantse, purchased by the Dutch in 1665) came from the original British fort on the Gold Coast to host Asante captives, despite this fort being used by the Dutch and having no records of trade to Jamaica while being under Dutch ownership.[5] Evidence of Akan day names(but mispronounced by the British), Adinkra symbols on houses, Ananse stories and the dialect of Jamaican patois being heavily influenced by Asante-twi, can all be found on the island. Edward Long and white British planters before him, described "Coromantees" the same way that the British in the Gold Coast would the Asantes, which was to be "warlike". That others around them feared them the same way as they were feared in Jamaica and from the hinterlands of the Gold Coast.[6] According to BMC biology in 2012, the average Jamaican has 60% of Asante mtDNA(matrilineal DNA) and today is the only African tribe by name known to comptemporary Jamaicans.[7] Famous Jamaican individuals such as: Marcus Garvey and his 1st wife, Amy Ashwood Garvey are of Ashanti descent. It is commonplace for many black Jamaicans to have this descent.[8] Also are Jamaican freedom fighters during slavery: Nanny of the Maroons(now a Jamaican National Heroine), Tacky and Jack Mansong or 3 finger Jack. The names: Nanny and Tacky are British corruptions of the Asante words and names: "Nanny" is a corruption of the word Nana to mean "king/queen/grandparent", the name Tacky is a corruption of the Asante name Takyi, and Mansong is a corruption of the Asante name Manso, respectively.[9]

European colonization and independence

Ashanti yam ceremony, 19th century by Thomas E. Bowdich

The Ashanti state strongly resisted attempts by Europeans, mainly the British, to conquer them. The Ashanti limited British influence in the region. Britain annexed neighbouring areas. The Ashanti were described as a fierce organized people whose king "can bring 200,000 men into the field and whose warriors are evidently not cowed by Sniper rifles and 7-pounder guns"[10]

Ashanti was one of the few African states able to offer serious resistance to European colonizers. Between 1823 and 1896, Britain fought four wars against the Ashanti kings (the Anglo-Ashanti Wars). In 1901, the British finally defeated the kingdom and incorporated it into the Gold Coast colony as a protectorate.

Because of the long history of mutual interaction between Ashanti and European powers, the Ashanti have the greatest amount of historiography in sub-Saharan Africa.

The British touted the Ashanti as one of the more civilized African peoples, cataloguing their religious, familial, and legal systems in works like R.S. Rattray's Ashanti Law and Constitution.

Independence

Relations improved, however, and in 1926 the Ashanti was restored ceremonial control over Kumasi. In 1935, Asanteman and the full role of leader of the Ashanti people was restored.

Demographics and culture

The Ashanti comprise the majority of the population of Ghana, the Ashanti population make a plurality 57% of the population of Ghana. The former president John Kufuor is an Ashanti and was elected in part with their support. Ashanti culture celebrates Adae, Adae Kese, Akwasidae, Awukudae and Ashanti Yam festival. The Seperewa, a 10-14 stringed harp-lute, as well as the fontomfrom drums, are two of the typifying instruments associated with the Ashanti. Ashantis currently make up 98.7% of the Ashanti region's population, and it is estimated that the Ashantis are 60% to 70% of the Akan population which makes it the largest sub-grouping of the Akan.

Religion

Ashanti religions are increasingly Irreligion followed by Akan religion traditional religion which seems to be dying slowly but revived only on major special occasions, then Christianity (Roman Catholicism, Anglicanism and Protestantism) and Islam.[citation needed]

Gallery

See also

Literature

  • Robert B. Edgerton, 1995, The Fall of the Asante Empire. The Hundred-Year War for Africa's Gold Coast. New York, ISBN 0-02-908926-3
  • N. Kyeremateng, K. Nkansa, 1996, The Akans of Ghana: their history & culture, Accra, Sebewie Publishers
  • Alan Lloyd, 1964, The Drums of Kumasi, Panther, London
  • Ernest E. Obeng, 1986, Ancient Ashanti Chieftaincy, Ghana Publishing Corporation, ISBN 9964-1-0329-8
  • Quarcoo, Alfred Kofi, 1972, 1994 The Language of Adinkra Symbols Legon, Ghana: Sebewie Ventures (Publications) PO Box 222, Legon. ISBN 9988-7533-0-6
  • Kevin Shillington, 1995 (1989), History of Africa, St. Martin's Press, New York
  • D. Warren, The Akan of Ghana

References

  1. ^ Kevin Shillington, History of Africa, St.Martin's, New York, 1996 (1989), p. 194
  2. ^ Giblert, Erik Africa in World History: From Prehistory to the Present 2004
  3. ^ Shillington, loc. cit.
  4. ^ Alan Lloyd, The Drums of Kumasi, Panther, London, 1964, pp. 21-24
  5. ^ "Search the Voyages Database". slavevoyages.org.
  6. ^ "Google Play". google.com.
  7. ^ "BMC Evolutionary Biology - Full text - Interdisciplinary approach to the demography of Jamaica". biomedcentral.com.
  8. ^ Comparative studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East, Vols 17-18, Duke University Press, 1997, p. 124.
  9. ^ "Jamaican Culture - Jamaicans.com". Jamaicans.com.
  10. ^ Sir Garnet Wolseley's Despatches on the Ashanti War - "The Newfoundlander". December 16, 1873.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ashanti people.
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