S3E6: Opoku Ware - the Empire Builder

 

In this episode, we chart the life of Opoku Ware, a man who nobody expected to become the asantehene. He was not among the first in line to become the next king of the Ashanti, nor was he the commander of a strong military. In fact, calling him a man at the start of his reign is a bit misleading, as most estimates believe him to have been a teenager when he was first enstooled. Despite his young age, however, Opoku Ware would not only prove to be a surprisingly successful ruler, but would in fact rescue the Ashanti Empire from the brink of destruction.

James C. Lewis' Take on Opoku Ware

After the death of the first asantehene, Osei Tutu, when on campaign against the Akyem, the nascent Ashanti Empire quickly devolved into infighting. Multiple of Osei Tutu's nephews sought to take their uncle's place on the golden stool, while many local noblemen and military leaders endorsed and supported their favorite candidate. Soon, the question of who would succeed Osei Tutu devolved into a military crisis, and then a civil war. As the Ashanti took up arms against each other, their vassals, enemies, and allies alike sought to take advantage of the turmoil. In the southwest, the vassal king of the Wasa took the opportunity to declare independence from the Ashanti, instead aligning himself with the neighboring Aowin people. To the East, the Ashanti's Akwamu allies entrenched themselves in the conflict, providing arms and men to support their favorite faction in the civil war. However, the crisis reached its highest point in 1716, when the Aowin army launched a raid into Ashanti lands. With the Ashanti busy fighting each other, the Aowin marched uncontested to the Ashanti capital of Kumasi, sacking the city of its valuables and enslaving thousands of the city's inhabitants. The fact that a foreign army could march into an undefended Ashanti city and inflict such damage served as a wakeup call to many of the Ashanti elites. Understanding that the Ashanti had to end the conflict, the various factions of the civil war agreed to a settlement. None of the militant factions would take over. Rather, the next asantehene would be a teenage boy named Opoku Ware, Osei Tutu's grand-nephew. This teenager would, presumably, serve as a weak monarch, but restore the peace. Each faction in the civil war would be pardoned for their actions, and there would be no retribution for past wrongdoings.

With peace restored among the Ashanti, Opoku Ware and the Ashanti army began the long and arduous journey to dealing with their many external foes. The Akyem signed a peace treaty with the Ashanti, while the Aowin, Wasa, Bono, and Gonja were defeated with force of arms. The Akwamu were subdued through surreptitious means. Opoku Ware offered military support to a faction in an ongoing Akwamu succession crisis, reviving the alliance between the Ashanti and the victorious faction. A =fter the Ashanti intervention in the Akwamu succession crisis, many of the Akwamu aligned with the defeated faction were sold into slavery to the Danish at Accra. Finally Opoku Ware threatened the king of Dagbon into becoming a tributary of the Ashanti, an offer which the Dagomba king reluctantly accepted.

After being sold to the Danish, Akwamu slaves staged a nearly successful revolt on the Caribbean island of St. Thomas

By 1747, Opoku Ware had more than doubled Ashanti territory. To administrate his newly conquered states, he set up a new system of bureaucracy. Known as "amanhene", these bureaucrats essentially acted as governors of a conquered region. They had the power to enforce the law, act as judges, collect taxes, and raise local militias. However, their power was not limitless. Each year, these governors were required to make a return journey to Kumasi and take an annual pledge of loyalty to the asantehene.

Despite the frequent pledges of loyalty, the question of the power of the amanhene vs. the power of the central government at Kumasi will become an increasingly tense policy issue throughout the remainder of the podcast. The next episode will focus on how, after all this hard work expanding and strengthening the empire, Opoku Ware's reign will end with the contraction of the imperial territories and a regression back into civil war.