The Asante Kingdom (1670-1957) was an African kingdom that was based in Ghana from the capital of Kumasi.
History[]
Map of the Asante Empire
The Asante Kingdom emerged in the area occupied by present-day Ghana. In the late 1600s, an able military leader, Osei Tutu, won control of the trading city of Kumasi. From there, he conquered neighboring peoples and unified the Asante Kingdom. The Aante faced a great challenge in Denkyera, a powerful neighboring enemy kingdom. Osei Tutu realized that in order to withstand the Denkerya, the people of his kingdom needed to be firmly united. To do this, he claimed that his right to rule came from heaven, and that people in the kingdom were linked by spiritual bonds. This strategy paid off when the Asante defeated the Denkerya in the late 1600s.
Under Osei Tutu, government officials, chosen by merit rather than by birth, supervised an efficient bureaucracy. They managed the royal monopolies on gold mining and the slave trade. The Asante traded with Europeans on the coast, exchanging gold and slaves for firearms. They also played rival Europeans against one another to protect themselves. In this way, they built a wealthy, powerful state.
In the mid-1800s, the United Kingdom came into conflict with the Asante Kingdom. In 1874, after the Battle of Amoafu, General Redvers Buller captured Kumasi and torched the city. By the 1890s, the empire was in British hands, and it remained a protectorate until Ghana became independent in 1957.