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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. [9] The economy of the Asante Empire was mainly based on the trade of gold and agricultural exports [ 12 ] as well as slave trading , craft work and trade with markets further north .
The Asante believed that slaves would follow their masters into the afterlife. Slaves could sometimes own other slaves, and could also request a new master for severe mistreatment. [20] [21] [22] The modern-day Asante claim that slaves were seldom abused, [23] and that a person who abused a slave was held in high contempt by society. [24]
Twi is spoken by over nine million Asante people as their native language. [1] [2] [3] The Asante people developed the Ashanti Empire, along the Lake Volta and Gulf of Guinea. [4] The empire was founded in 1670, and the capital Kumase was founded in 1680 by Asantehene Osei Kofi Tutu I on the advice of Okomfo Anokye, his premier. [4]
The Ashanti were the main supplier of ivory as well as slaves to the Gold Coast. Most gold exports came from Ashanti and its tributaries, although that share was diminished after the Battle of Dodowa (but still probably "over half, perhaps three-quarters" of the Gold Coast total). [ 29 ]
Slaves were typically taken as captives from enemies in warfare. Perbi states that the Asante Empire was the largest slave owning state in the territory of modern Ghana during the Atlantic slave trade. [17] During the reign of Asantehene Osei Kwame Panyin (1777–1803), the sale of Asante citizens into slavery was banned. [18]
Kofi was an Ashanti slave of Akan heritage. [5] The Ashanti form of slavery was different from American chattel slavery, in a number of ways. Ashanti slaves had legal rights, could own property, inherit property and marry. At around 10 years old Kofi was either seized or sold to Fanti middlemen, the
It is said that the first town that changed allegiance from Ntim Gyakari to Osei Tutu was the Abooso people. Abooso was a town that lay in the vicinity of Adanse Akrokeri and Abankeseso. The inhabitants of this town were called Bontwumafo - the red clay people. The Denkyirahene made ten classes of men and women.
The capital was sacked in the process [5] [6] and Ashanti royals including Opoku Ware's mother, were taken into captivity or massacred. [6] This invasion was defeated by Opoku Ware. [3] Between 1719 and 1722, the Ashanti defeated the Aowin, claiming Ahafo which was an Aowin territory, as a part of the Ashanti Empire. [4]