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Ashanti Empire

Kingdom of Ashanti
the Ashanti Kingdom  (Ashanti)
State union
1670–1902
1935–1957
Flag National Emblem
Map of the Kingdom of Ashanti
Capital Seal of Kumasi Kumasi
Languages Ashanti (Twi) (official)
Religion Ashanti (Akan religion)
Government Monarchy
King
 •  1670–1717 (first king) Osei Tutu
 •  1888–1896 (13th king of the indep. Ashanti Kingdom) Prempeh I
 •  1931–1957 (last king of the indep. Ashanti Kingdom) Prempeh II
 •  1999–present (Ashanti region absolute monarchy national state within Ghana) Osei Tutu II
Legislature Asante Kotoko (Council of Kumasi) & the Ashanti Kingdomhyiamu (National Assembly)
History
 •  Established 1670
 •  Independence from Denkyira 1701
 •  British protectorate 1896
 •  Self-Rule 1935
 •  State union as Ashanti Region with Ghana 1957
 •  State union Present
Area
 •  1874 259,000 km² (100,000 sq mi)
Population
 •  1874 est. 3,000,000 
     Density 11.6 /km²  (30 /sq mi)
Currency
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Denkyira
Bonoman
Gold Coast (British colony)
Ghana
Today part of Ghana

The Ashanti (also spelled Asante) Empire (1701–1957) was an Akan empire and kingdom in what is now modern-day Ghana. The Ashanti Empire expanded from Ashanti to include the Brong-Ahafo, Central region, Eastern region, Greater Accra region, and Western region, of present-day Ghana. The Ashanti benefited from early firearm adoption. Combined with effective strategy, they fashioned an empire that stretched from central Ghana to the present-day Ivory Coast. Due to the empire's military prowess, wealth, architecture, sophisticated hierarchy and culture, Ashanti has been extensively studied and has more historiographies by European, primarily British, authors than almost any other indigenous culture of Sub-Saharan Africa.

Starting in the late 17th century, the Ashanti king Osei Tutu (c. 1695 – 1717) and his advisor Okomfo Anokye, established the Ashanti Kingdom, with the Golden Stool of Asante as a sole unifying symbol. Osei Tutu oversaw a massive Ashanti territorial expansion, building up the army by introducing new organization and turning a disciplined royal and paramilitary army into an effective fighting machine. In 1701, the Ashanti army conquered Denkyira, giving the Ashanti access to the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean coastal trade with Europeans, notably the Dutch.

The Ashanti Kingdom is the home to Lake Bosumtwi, Ghana's only natural lake. The state's current economic revenue is derived mainly from trading in gold bars, cocoa, kola nuts and agriculture; forest has also been cleared to plant cassava, maize and yams.


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