S4E2: Settlers from All Shores

 

An example of the type of outrigger canoe used by Austronesian sailors, later introduced to East Africa

This episode focuses on tracking the settlement of Madagascar by multiple groups of people, including a (possible) short-lived hunter gatherer population from East Africa before 500 BC, followed by the more concretely evidenced arrival of Austronesian and Bantu people in the 6th Century AD.

The status of human settlement on Madagascar prior to the later settlement of the island by Austronesian and Bantu colonization is not especially clear. In fact, it's unclear if there was even a sustainable population of people on the island.

Some examples of the purported tools found at Lakaton'i Anja

Some archeologists claim that evidence exists to establish the presence of some kind of hunter-gatherer population in pre-settlement Madagascar. While the evidence is fairly convincing, it's not clear as to whether these remains evidence a permanent population or a transient one. The lack of archaeological evidence for long-term shelter construction seemingly indicates that these people may have been transient nomads from the mainland who counted Madagascar among the territories they roamed. Regardless, if such a population did exist by the period of settlement, it was likely small enough that it had a marginal impact on Malagasy history. While some increasingly marginalized theorists believe that there is a link between these hunter gatherers and the semi-mythical Vazimba of early Madagascar, such a link is doubtful for reasons we'll get into in the next episode. 

An engraved image of a Javanese ship found at the temple of Borobodur

There is compelling genetic and linguistic evidence that the bulk of Austronesian settlers in Madagascar were from the Dayak peoples, particularly the Maanyan people of Western Borneo. Different narratives surrounding these Dayak arrivals argue that they were either enslaved workers for a larger Javanese state that sought to use them as labor on the burgeoning settlements in Madagascar, or that they were refugees fleeing the expansion of Indianized kingdoms on their home island.

Example of Tana Pottery

The arrival of Bantu people to Madagascar is similarly contentious, with scholars debating whether they were brought to Madagascar through slave raiding or migrated to the island of their own volition. While enslaved workers, some of whom were Bantu, were certainly traded by Austronesian merchants, there is good reason to be skeptical of the idea that the entirety of the Bantu arrival in Madagascar can be chocked up to enslavement. For example, the high prevalence of Bantu loanwords to describe domesticated animals implies that Bantu herdsmen were the dominant pastoralist culture on the island at some point, something you would certainly not expect from enslaved workers.

By the 13th century AD, the stage of Malagasy civilization was set, since much of the island was settled. Sadly, this had a devastating effect on island wildlife. Elephant birds were driven to extinction by diseases brought by domesticated poultry, while giant lemurs succumbed to a combination of habitat loss and overhunting.

 Next episode, we will see how the narrative based on archaeology and genetic data conflicts with and supports numerous ideas surrounding the islands mysterious first inhabitants according to Malagasy legendary histories: the Vazimba. 

S4E1: Madagascar - the Eighth Continent

 

A (simplified) map of Madagascar's climate zones

Due to its natural and climactic diversity, Madagascar is sometimes nicknamed the "eighth continent." Despite being a relatively small landmass, Madagascar hosts an unusually varied array of climate zones. 

Malagasy spiny forest

These climate zones consist of a tropical coastal rainforest, a largely treeless tropical highlands, a semi-arid savanna, dry broadleaf forests, and a unique type of semi-arid forest landscape dominated by succulents and other tall shrubs called the spiny forest. The landscape also features unique formations associated with the island, such as Lavakas: a unique form of erosion that forms a canyon-esque gorge in a hillside.

The unique broadleaf forests of northwest Madagascar. Notice the relative lack of undergrowth. Credit: Damon Ramsey

A Malagasy Lavaka.credit to Rhett Butler

While Madagascar is still known for its unique flora and fauna today, the island once hosted even more unusual animal life. These included enormous flightless birds: the aepyornids. They are better known by their common name of Elephant Birds, due to their enormous eggs likely serving as the inspiration to Marco Polo's claim of enormous elephant consuming eagles residing on the island. Madagascar also once hosted species of giant lemurs, the largest of which could grow to the size of a silverback gorilla.

Size comparison between a human, elephant bird, and ostrich.

In our next episode, we will examine the many contradictory theories and narratives surrounding the arrival of Madagascar's first permanent human inhabitants.

Sokoto E4: A West African Caliphate

 

Kano, one of the largest cities in the Sokoto Caliphate, pictured in 1860

By the 1810s, Shehu Usman Dan Fodio had succeeded in besting many of his enemies. The kingdoms of Kasar Hausa were conquered, while several other neighboring regions were also integrated into the growing imamate. With the "jihad" complete, now the next steps of Fodio's revolutionary playbook were on the agenda. Together with his allies in the Jamaa, Fodio began the steps of creating a society based on his ideals.

The new state that Fodio and his allies birthed into the world was one with an immensely complex political system. Arguably, the Sokoto governmental system is easier to understand if you think of the state as a series of aligned polities rather than a single unitary government. 

The head of state and (theoretically) of government was the Amir al-Muminin, or Commander of Believers. This position was intended to be chosen via electoral consensus by the Islamic community, and then serve for life. Of course, Usman Dan Fodio retained his title of Commander of Believers and served as the first leader of the new government. Additionally, to provide his state with further legitimacy and to clarify his mission, the Shehu declared that his new state was a caliphate. In an earlier writing, Masail al-Muhimma, Fodio defined a caliphate as any state governed by someone who sought to act as a successor to the Prophet Muhammad. As a result, the declaration of the Sokoto Caliphate did not represent any attempt by Fodio to position himself as the leader of the entire Islamic world, but rather to state that the mission of his government was to rule in the style of the Prophet Muhammad. Fodio himself rarely even referred to himself as caliph, preferring to retain his old title of Commander of Believers.

The Commander of Believers was largely uninvolved from direct statecraft. Rather, the true executives of the Sokoto Caliphate were the two viziers. The vizier of the west was Usman's brother Abdullahi, who ruled over the regions of Kebbi, Zamfara, and other western regions of the caliphate from his capital at Gwandu. Meanwhile, the eastern portions of the caliphate were overseen by Muhammad Bello from his capital at Sokoto. 

Gwandu remains the capital of its own emirate within modern Nigeria. Pictured here is the entrance to the Gwandu emir's palace.

Each vizier was given the power to appoint a qadi, or judge, for each region, and an emir. The emir essentially acted as the "face of government", performing and overseeing all of the typical responsibilities of the state, such as collecting taxes, enforcing laws, and distributing services. Unlike in the pre-jihad era, where most cities were run by heriditary Sarkis, the emir was, at least in theory, appointed based on merit rather than familial connections. Meanwhile, the qadi was meant to not only oversee judicial functions, but also to ensure that the emir's laws were all within the scholarly consensus of shari'ah.

The nascent caliphate initiated several new sets of reforms, including the creation of a new education system, a grain dole to help poor residents afford food, tax cuts on the working classes, and new regulations to ensure fair trading in the market. 

While the Sokoto Revolution may have seemed like an unimpeachably positive development, this was not necessarily true. Even during the life of Usman Dan Fodio, but especially after his death, the state soon began to slip away from its mission of creating a righteous and Quranic society. Perhaps the most visible failure occured in the immediate aftermath of Fodio's passing. While the succession of the position of Commander of Believers was, in theory, an elected one, the Shehu went out of his way to ensure that his son, Muhammad Bello, ruled the kingdom after him. While Fodio argued that Bello was still the most meritocratic option regardless of his descent, the decision set into motion the transformation of the Caliphate into a de facto hereditary monarchy. Almost immediately, Muhammad Bello implemented a series of new policies clearly designed to ward off potential rivals for power. He centralized the military while dramatically increasing its funds, forcing him to raise taxes on the working classes to compensate.

An 1857 illustration depicting a slave raid by a nobleman living in the caliphate

From a moral perspective, the issues of slavery and militarism forces us to reckon with the otherwise quite positive perception of the Caliphate. The successful conquests of the Caliphate in the south, especially in the former Oyo Empire, produced enormous numbers of war captives. The Sokoto Caliphate maintained the old system of slavery present in Kasar Hausa, involving large communities of enslaved workers concentrated in plantation-esque rural townships. Unlike in some other regions of Africa, slavery in the caliphate was often of the chattel variety, while notions of religious endorsement and psuedo-racialized concepts of "animalistic" southern populations justified the system's existence. In many ways, the economic boom of the early caliphate can be attributed to the system of human misery that underpinned it.

A "slave village" in rural Sokoto

If your interest in the Sokoto Revolution was motivated by a desire to find a historical revolution without hypocrisies, then I'm sorry to disappoint you. However, rather than motivating us to lose interest in the past and its denizens, I believe that morally complex figures like Usman Dan Fodio can be useful guideposts in evaluating our own moral standing. When viewing the past, it is tempting and easy to self-righteously decry the evils some by men and women of yesteryear. What is more challenging but far more enlightening is to remember that we will be in the same position someday, and to use our knowledge of history to better ourselves. Our perceptions are shaped by the paradigms of our day. History can help us identify these paradigms, their moral strengths and shortcomings. What are some things we do today that will provoke similar self-righteous condemnation from our descendants? 

Sokoto E3 - From Shehu to Revolutionary

Map of the Sokoto Imamate at its height

In the latest episode of the History of Africa podcast, we cover an abridged summary of Usman and Abdullahi Dan Fodio's war against Gobir, and the gradual expansion of the Sokoto Jihad from a minor local rebellion into a region-wide upheaval.

This episode was a little bit shorter and more summary focused than I prefer. This is because, on my first draft of the series, we ended up spending almost two hours discussing the military history of the Fodio and his allies conquests of his neighbors. While that history is certainly interesting, I wanted to speed through it so that we could more quickly get to the far more interesting elements of the history, including the details of the civic, religious, educational, and economic changes that followed the Sokoto Jihad.

Sokoto E2: Fodio, Student and Teacher

 

This 18th Century West-African manuscript on mathematics is the type of material that Usman Dan Fodio studied during his youth.

In this episode, we learn about the early life and education of the future Mujaddid, Usman Dan Fodio. While the exact location of his birth is unknown, Usman Dan Fodio's family had long roots in Kasar Hausa, with their migration into the area likely dating back at least 300 years. In his first years, Fodio's family moved to the city of Degel, a small town with a mid-sized Islamic University. His father, a wealthy merchant, ensured that Fodio received the best available education by hiring a series of private tutors. These tutors strongly influenced the young Fodio's views. One, a Hausa scholar named Jibril ibn Umar, was a controversial and radical figure in Sahelian Islamic academia. Umar had previously worked in the nearby sultanate of Agadez but had been kicked out of Agadez after the local sultan suspected that he was encouraging Muslims to rebel against their king. Umar was, in some ways, even too radical for his young student, as Fodio disagreed with his teacher's unorthodox views on polygamy, how to view Muslims who struggled with following the faith's rules, and other matters of Islamic law.

Alongside Umar, numerous scholars and teachers played a role in influencing the views of Fodio on matters of Islamic law and theology. Around this time, he was also initiated into the Qadri Sufi order, a major Sufi organization active in multiple regions throughout the Islamic world. By the time he completed his education, Fodio was considered educated enough to begin teaching in his own right. He worked as an iterant scholar, traveling from school to school and into rural villages to spread Islamic education. During this time, Fodio began to develop the beginnings of what would eventually become a major following. This early following was the first step in the formation of the Jamaa, the close followers of Usman Dan Fodio who would eventually serve as his revolutionary vanguard.

At first, Fodio tried hard to brand his teachings as ostensibly apolitical, avoiding criticism of specific kings or nobles and refusing to attend in-person meetings with these elites. At the time, the elites that ruled Degel were subservient to the most powerful Hausa kingdom of its era: the Kingdom of Gobir. Since before the birth of Fodio, Gobir enjoyed a long period of gradual empowerment at the expense of its neighbors. Surrounded by warlike enemies on all sides, the Hausa of Gobir had been forced to develop their own martial culture. 

An example of lifida - the quilted armor worn by mounted noble cavalry in the eastern Sahel

The kings of Gobir used this army to become a center of local power in their own right. Throughout the mid to late 18th century, Gobir's armies overwhelmed several of their neighbors, including the equally martial kingdoms of Zamfara and Kebbi. Gobir armies also raided south and east, extracting tribute from the kingdom of Bornu, as well as fellow Hausa cities like Kano, Katsina, Zazzau, and more.

Map of Kasar Hausa (purple) and its surrounding kingdoms (blue)

Sokoto E1: The Seven Cities and the Seven Bastards

Welcome to the History of Africa Podcast's special series on the Sokoto Jihad, one of the most important events in West African history. Join us as we learn about the causes, course, and effects of the largest revolution in the history of Pre-Colonial Africa.

Our episode today gives an abridged summary of the history of our setting: Kasar Hausa. Located in modern day Northern Nigeria, as well as parts of Cameroon, Chad, and Niger, Kasar Hausa is the traditional homeland of the Hausa people.

The origins of the Hausa people are steeped in a complex web of mythology and history. Traditional Hausa historians and laypeople often credit the Epic of Bayajidda as telling the origin of the Hausa people. According to the epic legend, the ancestors of the Hausa had recently settled in the territory of Daura, and were terrorized by the great serpent Sarki, who refused to let them drink from the well without his permission. An exiled Arab prince named Abu Yazid rode into town one day, slew the beast, and married the queen. The queen at first refused to sleep with Abu Yazid, and instead gave him a slave girl to fulfill his sexual needs. However, Yazid's concubine made it clear that she sought for her son to become  the next king of Daura, the queen understood that her position was in danger, and decided to sleep with Yazid. Yazid's son with the queen would become the ancestor of all future Hausa monarchs, while the concubine's son became the ancestor of the Yoruba, Nupe, Gbari, Gungawa, and Ijaw nations, as well as the future Hausa kings of Kebbi and Zamfara. 

A modern illustration of Abu Yazid (Bayajidda) slaying Sarki

Nigerian and Western historians alike generally don't take the legend seriously as a source of history. At most, some will make a tenuous connection between the figure of Abu Yazid, and a north African Amazigh cleric who led a rebellion against the Fatimids in roughly the same time period. But even this connection is dubious. Rather, most academic historians believe the Hausa are descended from the Proto-Chadic people, the basal ancestor of the Chadic-speaking peoples of West Africa. Hausa culture also shows notable influence from two of its neighbors: the Kanuri people of modern Chad and the Amazigh people from much of northern and western Africa.

Daura, where the Epic of Bayajidda takes place

The Islamic faith was likely introduced into Kasar Hausa through a gradual process of cultural and mercantile exchange with North Africa and the Western Sahel. By the 14th Century, many of the Sarki of Hausa cities were at least nominally Muslim. Some, like the Sarki of Kano Yaji, proved to be incredibly dedicated to their faith, building mosques and fighting conflicts with local pagan nobility. Islam in Kasar Hausa, though, varied greatly in its practice. Many members of the Ulema, the Islamic religious class, practiced their faith along the orthodox guidelines laid out in the Qur'an and guided by scholarly writers of the Maliki school of jurisprudence. However, among commoners and nobles alike, Islamic practice was often quite nominal and syncretized, especially in the countryside.

Incomplete map of Kasar Hausa in the 16th Century

The economic system of Kasar Hausa relied on a complex system of hierarchical taxation. The kings of major cities typically held major sway over nearby towns and villages, extracting tribute and tax money from local nobles. Meanwhile, wealthy private landholders sometimes collected revenue through the institution of the rinji, or slave village. The landowner hired an overseer to ensure that the residents of the rinji dedicated a portion of their labor towards subsistence farming to support their own caloric needs, and dedicate surplus labor to harvesting crops for commercial sale. The industry was highly lucrative, though not for the people doing the actual work.

Between the urban settlements of Kasar Hausa, the largely pastoral Fulbe people migrated their herds between grazing lands. The Fulbe, also known as the Fulani or Peul, migrated throughout many areas of Sahelian West Africa when their homeland in northern Senegal and southern Mauretania/Algeria became too dry to support their cattle and goat herds. Today, Fulbe live as a dispersed minority group throughout the entirety of the Sahel, from the Gambia and Senegal, to Nigeria, even as far as Sudan.

A Fulbe man wearing traditional attire

Like pastoral nomads throughout the world, Fulbe nomads played an important role in the economy of Kasar Hausa. Due to their frequent movements, Fulbe rarely set up permanent homes, typically relying instead on temporary shelters called Bukkaru. While moving between pastures, Fulbe often carried trade goods that they happened to pick up along the way. For many Fulbe, the potential profits in trading proved so valuable that some abandoned herding altogether in favor of working as full-time merchants. Additionally, the Fulbe had a relatively high penetration of Islamic practice compared to their neighbors. As a result, many local Islamic universities found great success recruiting among Fulbe populations. 

A trio of Bukkaru, the temporary shelters designed to be easy for herdsmen to disassemble and rebuild while on the move.

With the abridged introduction to life in pre-revolutionary Kasar Hausa complete, next episode we will begin our examination of the life of the central figure of the jihad: Shehu Usman Dan Fodio. 

S3E30: The War of the Golden Stool

 Part 1:

Fort Kumasi in 1900

In the spring of 1900, the majority of Ashanti nobility and bureaucrats drank to the spirits, an Ashanti social event that symbolized an unbreakable vow. Together, they vowed that they would sooner die than allow the British to seize the Golden Stool and humiliate their nation. On April 3rd, the British arrested the suspected ringleaders of the meeting, including Opoku Mensa, which set the war into motion the next day. The Ashanti notables each raised militias, an unorganized but united front against the British. The largest militia was commanded by the former army officer Kwasi Boadu, while the closest person that the Ashanti had to a universally recognized leader was Ejisuhemaa Yaa Asantewaa. The war started when Ashanti militias began to attack the occupying British armies, forcing the unprepared British to fall back to either Cape Coast or Fort Kumasi. Fort Kumasi and its surrounding neighborhoods were soon the last part of Asanteman under British control. The governor, who himself was now trapped in Fort Kumasi, sent out a telegram at the very last minute before the Ashanti cut the fort's cable. 

The Ashanti set to work constructing large stockades throughout the country. These stockades were usually between 8 to 12 feet (2.4-3.6 meters) high, with the largest defenses stretching in a zig-zag pattern for several kilometers. The most impressive things about these stockades were their battlefield effectiveness and the speed of their construction. Despite stretching for such long distances, the stockades were built using a quick engineering method of lashing logs together with rope and telegraph wire, using bamboo to construct areas for marksmen to stand inside, and then filling the rest with straw and leaves. This internal structure gave the stockades unusual flexibility that made them extra resistant to artillery and mortar barrages.

Image showing the edge of an Ashanti stockade during the war, showcasing its internal structure.

    Early in the war, the Ashanti clearly held a surprising advantage. The British colonial government did not receive the reinforcements they expected due to the British military being occupied with wars in South Africa and China. Meanwhile, early fighting revealed that the typical British tactic of the period, an artillery and machine gun barrage followed by an infantry charge, was ineffective against Ashanti stockades. The successful infiltration of Kumasi by an isolated British force in northern Ghana had allowed the trapped garrison in Fort Kumasi some breathing room in terms of supplies. But after a failed breakout attempt that resulted in the death of many British soldiers and officers, Governor Hodgeson was forced to resign to peace talks.

    However, the Ashanti leadership made at least one enormous mistake during negotiations: they allowed the British to receive food and supplies from local merchants during the ceasefire. This essentially conceded any leverage that the Ashanti had while allowing the British to extend their holdout in the fort. In May, the Ashanti resumed fighting when Asantewaa and Boadu suspected that Hodgeson was simply stalling.

Part 2

The British officers, Nigerian soldiers, and Ashanti collaborators trapped within Fort Kumasi were in increasingly desperate shape in the summer of 1900. With food supplies running low, they were often forced into eating leather clothing, rats, grass, and old bones. To keep order, some of the officers even resorted to giving people hot water, which they called "soup" to make people think it was food. 

To alleviate the siege, the recently arrived British colonel James Willcocks attempted a major offensive at the city of Kokofu, the site of one of the largest and best-engineered stockades. After an unsuccessful artillery and machine gun barrage, the Nigerian soldiers were ordered to fling themselves at the undamaged stockade. The result of the battle was an enormous British defeat. The neutral king of Adansi, fearing that his neutrality would not bear well with the imminently victorious Ashanti, decided to join their fight against the British. His forces joined the militia of Opoku Mensa. Meanwhile, the king of Bekwai, a collaborationist omanhene who had allied with the British, decided to end support for the British in favor of neutrality.  

The Bekwaihene meeting with British soldiers before the battle of Kokofu

The turning point of the war, however, came after Governor Hodgeson orchestrated a desperate and shocking escape attempt from Fort Kumasi. Choosing an indirect route that veered northwest before turning south, the governor and a large entourage of fellow escapees managed to narrowly avoid the pursuing Ashanti (though several dozen carriers and soldiers likely died in the chase)

Hodgeson pictured at the end of the war

With the pressure to lift the siege no longer a factor, the British armies in southern Ghana could now more thoroughly plan their attacks. Willcocks and Meliss, no longer constrained by time, planned out more intricate tactics to overcome Ashanti stockades. These included deceptive maneuvers to make the Ashanti think that they were making camp right before an attack, as well as maneuvers that sent units around the stockades to attack weaker stockades at the rear.

The Ashanti militias, which were not centralized or coordinated enough to mount a successful counterattack, were gradually divided and picked off. A few leaders, including Yaa Asantewaa managed to keep up the fight into the autumn and early winter, but even they eventually fell. Most of the ringleaders were exiled to Sierra Leone, while a few like Asantewaa were exiled to Seychelles.

Yaa Asantewaa's cell in Seychelles

While the War of the Golden Stool ended in a military victory for Britain, the Ashanti had not fought in vain. The war had convinced the British government that it had to use more tact when dealing with traditional African monarchies in the future, especially the Ashanti. As a result, the British would develop a reputation of allowing the continuation of a surprisingly high number of local African monarchies compared to their fellow European colonizers. Asanteman remained especially autonomous. In 1920, when a British work crew stumbled upon the location of the Golden Stool, threats from the Asantemanhyiamu (then reorganized as the "Kumasi Council of Chiefs") were enough to convince the British government to end the project. Although they lived under colonial rule, it's readily obvious that the Ashanti were never willing to accept being a powerless people. After decades of lobbying, Asantehene Prempeh was allowed to return to Kumasi a few years later and was even built a new palace by the British. By now, the British had realized that colonialism in Ghana would be more effective if they collaborated with local pre-colonial elites, rather than trying to crush their social authority. While Prempeh ruled under the diminished title of "Kumasihene", his nephew, Prempeh II, convinced the British to let him restore an informal Ashanti state. Asanteman remained a British colony, but Prempeh II oversaw the preservation of many traditions and reinvigorated many of the old governing institutions. The current Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, continues to live and work in Kumasi. 

Asantehene Otomfuo Osei Tutu II.

Even though the state no longer exists, the legacy of the Ashanti Empire can still be felt throughout modern Ghana. Ghana, despite some bumps in the road, has generally maintained a path of peaceful, constitutional government, ranking far higher in terms of governmental stability and political democracy than other West African states. This success can in part be attributed to the legacy of the Ashanti state, itself a constitutional state governed by the rule of law and independent institutions. Even in a direct sense, the current asantehene has played a role in preventing and mitigating conflict within his home country. In 2002, the asantehene played a pivotal role in negotiations to end a brewing conflict in Dagbon.

Even when the empire is gone, the great tree still shades his people from the harsh sun.

Thank you for listening, and thank you for enjoying this podcast throughout its third season. We now move on to a special episode about the Sokoto Jihad, before moving to our next long-term area of study, Madagascar.

S3E29: Yaa Asantewaa

Outside of Ghana, Yaa Asantewaa is the most famous Ashanti historical figure by a wide margin. The queen-mother of Ejisu is widely cited as the pre-eminent symbol of Afro-feminism, a black African woman who advocated for the position of women and led Ashanti society in its last major resistance against British colonialism.

These depictions, while not necessarily incorrect, miss out on much of the context behind the rise of Yaa Asantewaa. They also often misunderstand the purpose of the rebellion she led, her role within that rebellion, and the context behind its beginning. So, who was Yaa Asantewaa? Why did she become such a dominant figure in Ashanti history? And how did the war of the Gold Stool begin?

Ashanti Goldfields Corporation mining facility in Obuasi - Taken 1910. From the Mary Evans picture library

After the British invasion of Asanteman in 1896, the Ashanti region was in a state of political paralysis. The British, while ostensibly now in control of the country, were initially largely absent. Though Prempeh was gone, the regional omanhenes continued to govern their territories as if nothing had changed at all. That all changed in 1897, when the Ashanti Goldfields Corporation moved in. Suddenly, with the influx of mining activity in Obuasi and the potential promise of expansion north, the British began to invest more heavily in their presence in Asanteman. Ghana saw its first inland railroad built, travelling from Cape Coast to Kumasi. The British increased the standards for road clearness to allow the movement of gold south, while abolishing the old systems of debt peonage and slavery. To replace these labor systems, though, they introduced a new system of conscript labor which resembled slavery in all but name to work on these new infrastructure projects. The British also began sending more soldiers to enforce this new occupation, including a garrison at the new fort build on the rubble of the Aban Dan, Fort Kumasi.

Today, Fort Kumasi is a military museum

Ashanti resistance to the British occupation was slow to develop. In the early years of the occupation, most of the Ashanti nobility were under the impression that the British presence was a short term thing. Surely the British would return the exiled Asantehene back to Asanteman and leave, albeit leaving the Ashanti as a de facto British puppet state. But, this is not what happened. The British governor, Frederick Mitchell Hodgeson, instead made a speech to the assembled asantemanhyiamu that he intended to rule Asanteman directly as a representative of queen Victoria, and that thusly he should be allowed to sit on the Golden Stool. While the demand for the stool would become the more infamous, perhaps more enraging was the governor's promise that Prempeh would never return. This confirmed to the Ashanti nobles present at the Asantemanhyiamu that the British occupation was not a temporary affair, but the first step of permanent conquest.

Ejisuhemaa and later Ejisuhene Yaa Asantewaa* 

Not everyone in the Asantemanhyiamu was sure what to do next. Doves, like Opoku Mensa, held out hope that negotiation with the British could lead to them withdrawing their forces and regranting Ashanti autonomy. The pro-war faction, on the other hand, supported organizing armed resistance against the British. One of the most prominent pro-war voices was Yaa Asantewaa, an important noblewoman from the town of Ejisu.

Yaa Asantewaa first rose to prominence due to her brother's loyal support of Prempeh during the later years of the Ashanti Civil War, adding their family into the inner circle of Prempeh's government. However, this strong relationship to Prempeh also led to her brother getting exiled alongside Prempeh after the British occupation of Kumasi. With her grandson too young to take up the mantle of Ejisuhene, no male relatives capable of taking the position, and a headstrong personality backing her up, Yaa Asantewaa instead became the omanhene of Ejisu, the only documented example of a female omanhene. Her title as omanhene allowed her to attend the asantemanhyiamu of 1900 as a key member, an opportunity she made the most of. During the meeting she persuasively scolded the other omanhenes present, questioning the masculinity of those who refused to support her policy of violent resistance to British occupation. Her rhetoric proved effective, and soon many of the moderate doves (including Opoku Mensa) decided to switch allegiance. Soon, they would organize militias in a war of resistance against the British. We will cover this war, its contentious outcome, and its legacy, in our next episode.

*This image is of dubious status. The image is very widely and popularly shared as Yaa Asantewaa, but is also often disputed as depicting an American art student. The veracity of either claim is very difficult to parse, as, after extensive searching, I was unable to discover the original source of this image. 

S3E28: Prempeh, the last Independent King of the Ashanti

 

Asantehene Prempeh I and some attendants (1900)

In this episode of the History of Africa Podcast, we examine the reign of Asantehene Prempeh I, the last man to rule the Ashanti kingdom as an independent state.

Agyeman Prempeh I was born under the name Kwaku Dua III, and had a difficult road to the Gold Stool. Born during a period of civil war, Kwaku Dua's parents, Owusu Koko and Yaa Akyaa, had previously enjoyed a brief position of privilege due to Prempeh's older brother, Kwaku Dua II, briefly holding the golden stool. However, in the aftermath of Kwaku Dua's short and disastrous reign, the family had to struggle to stay in a position of power. It wasn't until after his father's death at the hands of assassins that Prempeh was forced to step up and take charge as the new face of the Kumasi clique, a loosely associated group of generals, politicians, and businessmen who held power in the capital city. Throughout the first years of his unofficial reign, Prempeh had to endure wars against many of his rivals, including the kings of Bekwai, Kokofu, and Mampong. While not easy, Prempeh's allies eventually overcame his rivals, allowing him to officially become the first man in 4 years to hold the title of the king of a united Asanteman. 

Many of the industries that Prempeh sought to introduce to the Ashanti Empire, like cocoa production, remain staples of Asanteman's economy to this day

Prempeh's plan for invigorating the flailing Ashanti state began with re-empowering the region's economy. He planned for the introduction of three industries that, with some state support, could gradually grow to become self-sufficient private enterprises. These three industries, coffee, cocoa, and rubber, would find dramatically varying degrees of success. Coffee proved to be a dud, with international competition being too intense for the Ashanti to find a niche. Rubber proved more successful. Industry in Europe was rapidly expanding, and rubber was a necessity for many new industrial devices. But it was cocoa that proved the most successful. Cocoa was a product with enormous demand in Europe and very few large scale suppliers. As a result, the product proved incredibly profitable. Cocoa plantations arose with great speed across Asanteman.

Throughout Prempeh's rule, the Ashanti economy expanded considerably but also wracked up a large foreign debt. This debt would provide the British Empire an excuse to expand into Asanteman. British ambitions in Asanteman were motivated primarily by fear of other European powers expanding into the region. In 1884, the Germans created their first colonies in Togoland, while France began expanding its influence in the Ivory Coast. Britain had long sought to expand their own influence into the regions north of Asanteman, namely towards the city of Salaga. Not only did French threaten the British route to Salaga, but they also threatened British access to Ashanti cocoa production. The French already possessed the equally cocoa-rich area of the Ivory Coast, and possession of Asanteman would give French merchants an enormous competitive advantage over British cocoa sellers. At first, the British and French each sought to limit the other's expansion by supporting their enemies. The British, through their ports in Sierra Leone, helped the great Mande general Samori Toure fight his wars against the French by providing his armies with guns and ammunition. On the other hand, the British were afraid to attack Prempeh due to the fear that the French would similarly support the Asantehene to foil their own expansionist ambitions. The British and French eventually agreed to stop funding each other's enemies, and Asanteman was fair game for British expansion. The governor of the Gold Coast marched an army towards Kumasi. Prempeh, seeking to avoid a destructive sacking of the city, capitulated before fighting could begin. 

Prempeh is forced to genuflect before British colonial troops just before his arrest in 1896.

After his capitulation, the British arrested Prempeh and exiled him to the Seychelles, marking the official end of the Ashanti Kingdom. But, the end of the kingdom is not the end of the Ashanti history. Next episode, we will introduce a famous Ashanti noblewoman who will lead a rebellion to preserve Ashanti nationhood: Yaa Asantewaa.

S3E27: The Ashanti Civil War

The short-reigning Asantehene Kwaku Dua II pictured in the center of the frame. He was the first asantehene to be photographed during his rule.

The Ashanti civil war was rooted in the aftermath of the impeachment of Asantehene Mensa Bonsu. Following the old king's exile, a short succession dispute broke out between Mensa Bonsu's brother (also a previously impeached Asantehene) Kofi Kakari, and the official heir to the stool elected by the asantemanhyiamu, Kwaku Dua II. Kwaku Dua II, with the help of his father Owusu Koko, managed to defeat Kakari's supporters. Rather than reconciling with his defeated enemies, Kwaku Dua II lured Kakari's remaining supporters into a trap by promising amnesty before mass-executing them all. Kakari himself was killed shortly after, marking the first time in history that a former Asantehene was executed.

The rebuilt royal compound at Bekwai (pictured in 1900.)

The brutal killing of Kakari's supporters restored stability for a brief period. However, Kwaku Dua II died of (ostensibly) natural causes shortly thereafter. Due to the brutal trap that the king had sprung on Kakari's supporters, few Ashanti elites were willing to risk travelling to Kumasi to elect a new asantehene. As a result, for the first time since the foundation of the state, the golden stool was empty in 1884, and would remain so for four years. This time is periodized as the "Civil Wars" era of Ashanti history, and for good reason. The lack of a central authority resulted in Asanteman collapsing into a series of localized conflicts. Conflicts that ordinarily would have been small, brief disputes, such as questions of the succession of minor omanhene stools, escalated into outright wars when there was no central authority to arbitrate them. Omanhenes also engaged in freebooting conflicts, such as when the omanhene of Bekwai decided to try and reconquer the breakaway province of Adansi. The Adansi king managed to frustrate the Bekwaihene's attempt, and even launched a counterattack on Bekwai, killing the Bekwaihene in the process. The new Bekwaihene managed to reverse course though, and conquered Adansi in a particularly bloody fashion, depopulating much of the region in the process.

Ashanti kingdom in 1886

The Ashanti kingdom remained disunited until 1888, when a political movement led by the future Asantehene Kwaku Dua III, more commonly known by his later nickname Agyeman Prempeh I, reunited the state and ended the period of civil war.

S3E26: Reformers and Reactionaries: the Rise and Fall of the "God's Creativity Cult" in the Ashanti Empire

 

Last episode, we focused on the early military successes during the rule of Mensa Bonsu, including the successful defeat of a rebellion by the king of Juaben. Defeating this uprising temporarily restored order to the Ashanti state, but it did not guarantee a return to long-term success. The rest of Mensa Bonsu's rule will be defined by the struggle between Mensa Bonsu and other elements of the Ashanti state that sought to derail his many efforts at monetary and social reform.

"John" Owusu Ansah, Mensa Bonsu's progressive advisor and important statesman.

    One of the main influences that pushed Mensa Bonsu towards a direction of progressive reform was his uncle, the Ashanti diplomat Owusu Ansah. Ansah, who had been educated in a monastery, converted to Christianity, and even visited Great Britain on multiple occasions, was a true cosmopolitan. He was influenced by the ideas not only of British progressives, but also Fante and Ga reformers from the 1860s. He was a staunch opponent of slavery, debt bondage, and other forms of involuntary servitude despised the Ashanti government's reliance on capital punishment and sought to replace the Ashanti education system of apprenticeship with one of formalized, bureaucratic education in the western style.

The extent to which Owusu Ansah's influence had an effect on Mensa Bonsu is unclear. The asantehene did implement some policies that seemingly align with the goals of Ansah. For example, he did declare that only murder could be a crime that received capital punishment. However, it's not clear if this was based on a humanitarian desire to reduce the number of executions, or rather as an attempt to increase revenue generation through legal fines, the primary alternative punishment to execution. 

This decision angered some reactionary members of Ashanti society. Executions in Asanteman were often of an overtly religious nature, leading many foreigners to confuse criminal punishments with "human sacrifice." Regardless of if they should be labeled as sacrifices or not, the fact that the number of prisoners being offered to the ancestors declined was a bad omen for religious conservatives in Asanteman.

The reactionary backlash against Mensa Bonsu's reforms, but more generally the decline of Ashanti power and stability, took the form of a man named Kwaku. Kwaku, who claimed to be possessed by the spirit of the great Ashanti religious leader Anokye, declared himself to be the new religious leader, or Okomfo, of Asanteman. Kwaku alleged that the blame for the decline of Ashanti society could be firmly placed at the hands of a conspiracy of witches.

1925 carving of a "Sasabonsam", a supernatural creature said to act as an ally of witches

    The Ashanti view of witchcraft should not be mistaken for the Akom religion as a whole. Rather, witches were viewed as people who abused supernatural magics for evil purposes. This usually took for the form of poisoning pregnant women. As a result, witchcraft mythology in Asanteman largely functioned as an explanation for traumatic events like miscarriages or bearing children with severe defects. Witches in Akan folklore are also unusually monstrous, sometimes resembling the western myth of a "vampire" more than western conceptions of witches. 

    Kwaku preached that, if the Ashanti could destroy the conspiracy of witches, then they could reinvigorate Ashanti society as a whole. Mensa Bonsu initially supported this movement, viewing it as a potentially useful political ally. However, when the Domankama began to set up a rival court for trying accused witches, they became a threat not only to the king's authority as the primary lawgiver in the country, but also to one of his primary revenue sources. 

A site of judgment in Kranka, modern Brong-Ahafo, rumored to be a place where accused witches were punished.

The relationship could not last. In 1879, members of the Domankama marched on the Ashanti palace on the orders of Okomfo Kwaku. They planned to overthrow Mensa Bonsu, who was clearly a stooge for the cabal witches or, even worse, in league with them. The attempt failed, but not before one of the mob had the opportunity to fire one of their weapons at the asantehene's head. The assassination attempt, which narrowly failed, would leave a permanent mark on the psyche of Mensa Bonsu. The asantehene's worst traits would become more intense as his once moderate paranoia began to consume him.

S3E25: The Juaben War

Mensa Bonsu Posing with his Mother

The latest episode of the History of Africa podcast picks up where our last one left off. Kofi Kakari, after leading his nation to a defeat in a war that he was never especially enthusiastic about in the first place, was impeached after he was caught robbing graves in order to pay for a war indemnity to the British. He was exiled from Kumasi to begin what was, ostensibly, a quiet, apolitical life, and replaced by his brother.

Kakari's brother, a quiet, unassuming man named Mensa Bonsu, immediately faced a major challenge upon ascending to the Golden Stool. The king of Juaben, a man by the name of Asafo Agyei, had many reasons to be opposed to Mensa Bonsu's rule. Not only had the kings of Juaben faced mistreatment and persecution by the Asantehenes of the past, but the rise of Mensa Bonsu, in particular, was threatening. Agyei, due to disagreeing with the battle plans supported by Kakari, had refused to take part in the battle of Amofo. This move, which deprived the Ashanti army of many of its best equipped veteran soldiers, played a major role in turning the battle into a British victory. Asafo Agyei feared that Kakari's brother would attempt to prosecute him for this choice. When the Asantemanhyiamu voted to confirm Mensa Bonsu's enstoolment, Agyei and several allied towns chose to secede from the Ashanti Empire, forming a long federation that stretched from the outskirts of Mampong in the north to Bekwai in the south. 

Despite some early successes, Agyei and his armies were eventually defeated by a force led by the Gyaasehene Adu Bofour. This allowed Mensa Bonsu to maintain the existing integrity of the Ashanti Empire, as well as showcasing that membership in the Ashanti state was not voluntary. Despite this, the important gold mining region of Adansi managed to slip away from Ashanti influence for more than a decade, becoming a British protectorate.

Map of Ghana after the crushing of the Juaben Revolt

Despite this victory, Mensa Bonsu's rule would not be one of prosperity and peace. Internal unrest would continue to haunt the Ashanti for the remainder of their days. The latter half of his reign will potentially cement his position as the worst man to ever rule the Ashanti Empire and a terrible person more generally. 

With the end of the Ashanti Empire rapidly approaching, now seems like a good time to announce that we are commencing a poll about the topic of our next season. Next season will take place somewhere in South or Central Africa, and will be determined by a vote by the show's Patreon supporters. So, if you'd like to take part in the vote, join us and support the show at Patreon.com/historyofafrica.

S3E24: The Third Anglo-Ashanti War part 2: The Burning of Kumasi

 

The Ashanti Aban Kesie palace, just before its destruction

With the Ashanti retreating from their failed offensive, January of 1874 was when the British general Garnet Wolesly started planning his invasion into Asanteman. The British would take two paths. One, larger army, led by Wolesly himself, headed north through Adansi, straight toward the Ashanti capital of Kumasi. Another would trek northwest from Akyem Swedru, take Juaben, and then converge at the capital.

Map of showing British invasion columns and major battles

An Ashanti slip of paper featuring a Quranic verse, intended for insertion into a locket.

With the Ashanti general Amankwatia having thoroughly lost any support he once enjoyed in Kumasi, he was demoted to an officer rank. In his place, another aging general, a man named Nkwanta, was elevated to the commander of the Ashanti army. This decision was not unanimous though, as Amankwatia's ally, the king of Juaben, decided to withhold the well-armed 20,000 soldiers at his disposal in protest of Nkwanta's promotion. Nkwanta, in an effort to boost the shattered morale of his men, handed out lockets containing verses from the Quran, which he claimed would protect them at bullets. Nkwanta's plan was to lure the British deep into Asanteman, then ambush and encircle them when they overextended.

Ashanti soldiers fight the encircled British at Amofo

Nkwanta's plan went well at first. Wolesly's army attacked the Ashanti outside of Bekwai, where they drove the Ashanti back at the battle of Egginasi. Nkwanta's army dragged the pursuing British further inland, into the generals trap. At the town of Amofo, the Ashanti suddenly surrounded the isolated Black Guard, the regiment serving as the British forward guard. Using a unique technique of volley fire, the Ashanti out the Black Guard under immense pressure, and nearly destroyed them altogether. According to the later writings of Wolesly, more than a fourth of the men in the regiment were either killed or grievously injured. However, a severe ammunition shortage stopped the Ashanti from finishing off the reeling British. The British ordered a counterattack, which destroyed the overextended and low on ammunition Ashanti wings. Amankwatia, as well as the king of Mampong, were both killed in battle. The battle of Amofo was a devastating defeat for the Ashanti. Despite early promise, the army had been largely destroyed, and the path to Kumasi was now open. 

British soldiers sacked and burned much of Kumasi

With the city now undefended, the British completely trashed the Ashanti capital of Kumasi. The royal palace was looted and then destroyed, as were many of the city's most famous monuments and streets.

One of the crowns looted from the Kumasi palace

Some of the objects looted from the palace included multiple Ashanti crowns, golden jewelry, daggers, ceremonial swords, soul washing plates, and sculptures. Other objects, which the British did not have room to carry, were destroyed alongside the building, including paintings of various Ashanti royals, the royal library and its many books, and many other precious relics, furniture, and pieces of jewelry.

Chair looted from the palace 

Dagger and Sheathe (possibly) looted from the palace

Map of Ghana after the Treaty of Fomena (1874)

As the British returned to Cape Coast with a caravan of looted goods, they met with an Ashanti messenger that negotiated a peace treaty on behalf of Asantehene Kofi Kakari. The treaty signed away Ashanti claims of sovereignty over Elmina, Denkyira, Akyeman, and other southern Ashanti territories. It also mandated an enormous gold indemnity to the British, and prohibited the Ashanti from performing ritualized criminal executions.