S3E10: The Abura Crisis

 

In the modern era, Abura has merged with the nearby town of Dunkwa, and is a small town in South-Central Ghana.

The latest podcast episode followed the foreign policy of the asantehene Osei Kwadwo. As we'll see throughout this episode, Kwadwo's foreign policy strategy involved a stronger emphasis on diplomacy and craftiness instead of brute force. Particularly, Kwadwo often used the tactic of diplomatically isolating his enemies, making them easier to conquer, while cultivating alliances when strategically advantageous.

Ashanti foreign policy had been a mess under his predecessor, Kusi Obodom. During his predecessors rule, many of the empire's peripheral provinces, including the southern states of Akyem, Wasa, and Twifo, as well as the northern vassals of Bonoman and Dagbon slipped away from Ashanti influence. This left the Ashanti in a difficult position, as now both of their primary avenues for foreign trade were commanded by hostile states. To make matters worse, any attempt to reconquer the southern breakaways would be difficult, as the breakaway states had aligned with the powerful southern confederation of Fante. However, this southern alliance would not last long. The allied states really only shared one thing in common - their mutual fear of the Ashanti, but apart from that the interests and needs of each state varied. 

The rupture in the southern alliance that Osei Kwadwo would take advantage of arose when the Wasa kingdom of the southwest reignited its practice of raiding Fante border towns. While minor at first, this eventually became a large enough problem that some in the Fante state were convinced that the Wasa were a bigger threat than the Ashanti. The Fante were generally divided into two factions: a pro-Ashanti party, led by the king of Mankessim (the de jure head of the Fante alliance), and the anti-Ashanti party, led by a man name Kwegil. Kwegil was the head of the Asafo military companies of Fante, meaning that he was the de facto military leader of the confederation. In 1765, two Ashanti noblemen arrived in the Fante town of Abora. They claimed that they were there to negotiate an alliance, and would stay as hostages as a sign of good will. Despite initial suspicion, the Fante ultimately agreed to an alliance with the Ashanti to deal with the Akyem and Wasa. At the end of the year, both countries invaded the Akyem kingdom, with the Akyem king becoming a Fante prisoner. However, when Ashanti armies moved suspiciously close to the Fante border, the alliance between the Fante and Ashanti almost immediately broke down. The Asafo companies mobilized to meet the Ashanti near Abora, with the two engaging in a standstill. The Fante didn't want to fight the Ashanti, while the Ashanti were worried that the start of a new war could result in the execution of their hostage diplomats. This standstill persisted until 1772.

In 1772, after several years of failure in negotiating the release of the hostages, Osei Kwadwo settled on a new plan. He would again try to drive a wedge between the Fante and their allies. This time, he sought to drive a wedge between the Fante and their European ally - the British. To do this, he would first need to secure Ashanti access to the sea. In 1772, an Ashanti army marched to Accra, the largest and wealthiest Ga city. There, he offered the Ga an alliance against the Fante, who had become increasingly domineering towards the Ga. The king of Accra accepted. Next, Kwadwo reached out to the Dutch and Danish, the Ashanti's European allies. He asked for them to strongarm the British by pledging support for the Ashanti if war broke out. As a result, the British backed down, convinced that war between the Fante and Ashanti would harm their trade on the coast. Without British support, the diplomatically isolated Fante relented and released the Ashanti hostages.

War between the Fante and Ashanti broke out later that year. In the end, little changed. The Ashanti protected their allies in the Ga cities of Accra and Appalonia, while mounting a semi-successful invasion of the Wasa. Meanwhile, Ashanti armies in the east were defeated by the Krobo, a Ga group which chose to align with the Fante. In 1776, the two sides agreed to peace. With Accra and Appalonia now firmly under their influence, the Ashanti could resume trade on the coast, including importation of firearms. Now that they could purchase firearms again to supplement their domestic firearm industry, the better armed Ashanti army turned north, and reasserted control over the northern territories of Bonoman and Dagbon.

Osei Kwadwo died in 1777. His reign was one of the most successful in Ashanti history, marked by necessary reforms to the Ashanti government and successful ventures in foreign policy. But, despite his successes, his reign would be followed (like many others in Ashanti history) by chaos and infighting. Next episode, we'll focus on yet another Ashanti civil conflict, in which an important noblewoman tries to place her son on the throne, but faces opposition from the richest man in the Ashanti empire.

S3E9: The Kwadwoan Revolution

The period that lasted from the late 18th Century until the mid 19th Century is often labelled the Age of Revolutions. Visualizing this time period provokes images of the various revolutions of Europe and the Americas, and the likeness of George Washington, Simon Bolivar, Maximillian Robespierre.

In the West African Empire of Ashanti, the late 18th Century was also a time of revolution. In 1763, a crowd of bureaucrats, nobles, and common people alike convened in the empire's capital of Kumasi. There, they declared the impeachment of the current Asantehene, the elderly and unpopular Kusi Obodom. The crowd had many bones to pick with Obodom: his cession of power to provincial governors, his failed military record, and the general moribundity of his rule. In his place, the assembled citizens elected the energetic reformer prince, Osei Kwadwo.

Despite his unpopularity, Kusi Obodom was still given a traditional black funerary stool. His was kept separately from the other kings' stools though, and is thus not pictured here.

Due to the many radical reforms implemented during his rule, as well as the fact that he was the first elected asantehene, the period of Kwadwo's rule would go down in history as the Kwadwoan Revolution. And revolutionary it was. By the time Kwadwo's reign ended, every aspect of Ashanti government had been radically transformed. While the asantehene had never been a true autocrat in practice, Kwadwo's reforms would significantly limit executive power, making the Ashanti Empire into a true constitutional monarchy.

The first area of government which Kwadwo reformed was the Kotoko, the cabinet of local kings that advised the asantehene on matters of state. The fact that local kings served on the Kotoko was vital for state stability, but was also somewhat of a relic of Osei Tutu's era. Promoting unity within the Ashanti state was still important, but the loyalty of the kings of Juaben, Bekwai, and Mampong was no longer the pressing issue it once was. In fact, having local kings in this important administrative system caused more trouble than it was worth. During the recent failed war against the Dahomey, the potential dangers of including unqualified nobles in government was made clear. Odankua, a constituent king on the Kotoko, performed poorly during the war, and his unwise decision making contributed to the Ashanti's defeat. Kwadwo did not abolish the inclusion of local kings on the Kotoko, but rather limited their role. In addition to the three kings, new positions filled by professional bureaucrats were added to the council. These included a designated minister of war, minister of finance, and governor of Kumasi. These positions were not hereditary, but rather appointed based on merit. Kwadwo also shook up the bureaucracy more generally, abolishing hereditary bureaucratic offices and replacing them with meritocratic positions.

However, the most pressing issue for Kwadwo to reform was the balance of power within the Ashanti government. For the last several decades, conflicts between the Nsafohene (national bureaucrats from Kumasi), and amanhene (provincial governors) had contributed to instability within the Ashanti state. At its worst, this feud had contributed to the civil war that brought Kusi Obodom to power. To reduce the potential instability of these conflicts, Kwadwo decided to create an alternative means for these two groups to settle disputes. He created a parliamentary body called the Asantemanhyiamu, or "Meeting of the Ashanti Nation." This parliament was attended by both Nsafohenes and Amanhenes, as well as the asantehene himself and the members of the Kotoko. The creation of the Asantemanhyiamu allowed the Amanhene and Nsafohene to settle their disputes through deliberation and argumentation, rather than civil war. 

While they now lack any formal legal power, the traditional bureaucrats, amanhene, and local nobility continue to meet at the Asantemanhyiamu (now held at the Manhyia Palace, Kumasi)

Kwadwo also ordered the creation of another parliamentary body, the Mpanyimfo. This body, rather than attended by bureaucrats and governors, was supposed to represent the interests of the Ashanti commoners. Each attendee was a respected elder from a village or city within the empire, and, in theory, represented the interests of their constituency. While not democratic per say, the Mpanyimfo did provide Ashanti commoners with something resembling governmental representation. While not elected, these local elders were more receptive and accountable to common people's policy needs than, say, government bureaucrats. 

S3E8: The Dahomey War

In 1763, war broke out between the Ashanti and Dahomey empires. These two empires, the most important states in the region of modern Ghana, Togo, and Benin, clashed at the small village of Atakpame. The result would forever change both empires.

In 1763, the Dahomey was still a relative newcomer as a great power. The empire's capital of Abomey began expanding into neighboring regions around 1720, and would eventually seize control of the Akwamu empire's easternmost vassal: the coastal city state of Ouidah. The Akwamu, preoccupied with internal disputes and numerous other wars, were unconcerned with this rising power to their East. However, after a brief lull in expansion, the Dahomey once again pushed west towards Akwamu. In the 1740s, they destroyed the formerly significant kingdom, reducing its area of influence only to its capital city of Akwamufie.

While Dahomey expansion concerned the Ashanti, it possessed little priority compared to other, more pressing issues. Namely, the southern states of Twifo, Fante, Akyem, and Wasa, as well as their vassal kingdoms, united into an alliance to combat Ashanti influence in the south of Ghana. Together, they formed a significant bulwark. However, the Ashanti managed to take advantage of disunity in this faction, declaring war on the Akyem and occupying much of their lost territory. The Ashanti, however, soon recognized evidence for Dahomey support for these rebellions. The unpopular and elderly Ashanti king, Kusi Obodom, was pressured by the Juabenhen, Odankua, into declaring a punitive war against the Dahomey.

Odankua would lead this expedition, and formulated a simple plan: march an army straight into the Dahomey capital city of Abomey, show Ashanti strength, and then retreat having sent a message of not messing with the Ashanti. Convinced that the Dahomey would not be capable of mounting any serious resistance, Odankua's army marched hastily through the Dahomey's recently conquered territories. Encountering no opposition, the Ashanti army stopped to rest at the village of Atakpame before they would continue their march to the capital.

Today, Atakpame is a tranquil town in the Togo countryside. In 1763, it was the site of a major battle.

However, upon waking the next day, the Ashanti army was startled to encounter a vast force of not only the Dahomey army, but also forces from the empire of Oyo, a state from modern day Nigeria, and allied regiments from the anti-Ashanti alliance in southern Ghana. Included among these forces was the Mino, also known as the "Dahomey Amazons." This all-female force would prove decisive in the engagement, exploiting a break in the Ashanti lines to chase them back to Kumasi in a bloody retreat. Throughout this pursuit, the Dahomey and their allies captured or killed most of the Ashanti army, including Odankua himself. This battle would go down as the worst defeat in Ashanti history until this point, and would retain this status for the rest of the 18th Century.

The Mino, or "Dahomey Amazons": Pictured posing with their rifles in the 19th Century.

In the end, the battle and its fallout would change Ashanti history. The ailing king Obodom was impeached from power, and a new king would have to be elected. And, while the Dahomey's conquests in the west would not last long, the defeat of the Ashanti at Atakpame would always remain a point of pride for the empire's inhabitants.

S3E7: Kusi Obodom - The Enlightened Ashanti King?

 

Map showing the general areas of control of various factions, including in gold the areas that broke away from Ashanti influence (The Gonja region is said to have rebelled, but that the rebellion was put down pretty quickly)

This episode begins with the collapse of the Ashanti government. As will continue to be a major factor throughout this series, power disputes between the newly created Nsafohene (government bureaucrats) and Amanhene (local governors) came to a head around the end of Opoku Ware's time on the throne. His precarious efforts to balance power between these two institutions resulted in him receiving the favor of neither, and a 1748 coup in Kumasi forced the asantehene to flee from the capital city to Juaben.

When Opoku Ware died in 1750, the tensions between the nsafohene and amanhene boiled over into an outright civil war. The nsafohene supported Dako, Opoku Ware's assigned heir who promised to continue his uncle's policy of centralizing the government's power. The amanhene sided with Kusi Obodom, a half-blind, elderly, and alcoholic ruler who sought to allow more self-government to the amanhene. While the details of the war are lost, after seven years of hard fighting, the amanhenes' faction came out on top.

Despite keeping his promise to delegate much of his power to the amanhenes, Kusi Obodom did actively reform many aspects of Ashanti life, including the empire's law code. Many aspects of Ashanti Law which he viewed as unnecessarily harsh or draconian, including the right to hold accused people in jail before their trial indefinitely, and the punishment of executing people for insulting the golden stool, were abolished, as limits to pre-trial jailtime were instituted and the penalty for insulting the stool was lowered to time in prison. 

Additionally, Ashanti laws at this time were modified to include additional punishments committed by members of abusua (tribes) against members of other abusua. This was done to prevent intertribal conflicts from escalating into cycles of familial violence, and to increase the confidence among tribal families in the ability of the Ashanti state to dole out proper justice.

When reading through Ashanti law-codes, I saw an interesting passage in the section on incest. Ashanti law prohibits sexual activity not only with blood relatives, but with relatives by marriage as well. As the law code lists off which in-laws are off limits, they include a reference to a "sister's wife" as someone you should not court. This provoked further interest in the Ashanti's stance on homosexuality, which I cover in the latest premium episode available on Patreon. The answer is unlikely to be what you expect, as Ashanti society had dramatically different stances on lesbianism and homosexuality among men.

In the end, however, the civil war resulted in the amanhenes controlling much of the true power in the Ashanti Empire. As we'll see, the issue of control between the amanhenes and nsafohenes will not be resolved by this civil war, and remain a common theme throughout Ashanti history.

Ghana continues to have traditional amanhene today, who act as local traditional leaders. Pictured here is the amanhene of Gyadam, a town in Ghana's eastern region.

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.

S3E5: The Ashanti Empire is Born at Feyiase

Hope you enjoy the latest episode of the History of Africa podcast. This episode, we picked up right where we left off last time. Osei Tutu is a fugitive prince who has just returned to his hometown of Kumasi, with his Denkyira former captors too busy with wars in the South to pursue him north. However, a lull in the violence in the Denkyira's south allowed them to turn their attention back to the North, and finally focus on recapturing the renegade prince in Kumasi.

However, Osei Tutu was not in a capitulary mood. He had spent the last several years building a powerful army, one which used modern organization, tactics, and bureaucratization. This new force, he hoped, would finally be enough to equal the Denkyira's strength. 

The famous Ashanti golden stool

After luring the Denkyira deeper and deeper into Ashanti territory, the Ashanti army ambushed the Denkiyra at the small village of Feyiase. The shocked Denkyira were routed, and their king was killed in battle. After his victory, Osei Tutu had secured victory for the Ashanti and neutralized the Denkyira threat. With this new, united army at his disposal, he quickly elevated his status from the king of Kumasi to the king of all of the Ashanti, or Asantehene. However, rather than vesting power in himself, the forward looking Osei Tutu decided to technically vest the power into an artifact which would outlive him. The golden stool, a throne which supposedly descended onto Osei Tutu's lap from heaven, would be the true symbol of power in the Ashanti empire. Now that power had been invested into a physical object, Osei Tutu's empire was more likely to outlast his death.

After winning his people's independence, Osei tutu expanded in multiple directions. The remaining Denkyira were turned into vassals, as were the Twifo and Wasa people of the southwest. Then, he invaded the Akyem kingdom to his south east, seizing the half of their kingdom north of the Pra river. However, either while crossing the river or due to the betrayal of his Akwamu advisors, Osei Tutu was ambushed and killed. While a succession dispute would soon cause his kingdom to lose much of its territory, Osei Tutu's forward thinking decision to vest power not in himself but in the golden stool ensured that the political entity of the Ashanti Empire lived on.

Today, Feyiase is a small town in Ghana's Ashanti region. In 1701 it was the site of a dramatic clash between Ashanti and Denkyira armies.

Join us for our next episode, when Osei Tutu's successor will double the Ashanti's territory and reform the empire's government. 

S3E4: A New Ashanti Army

French Illustration of an Ashanti Scout (1884)

I hope you enjoyed this week's episode of the History of Africa podcast. This episode focused on the reorganization of the Ashanti army that took place after Osei Tutu's return in 1695. As of his return, the Ashanti people were still disunited. While the multiple Ashanti kingdoms fought as allies against their common enemy the Dormaa, they were still esssentially multiple armies under one banner. However, Osei Tutu sought to transform this status quo. In order to prepare for the inevitable war against the Denkyira, the King of Kumasi, Osei Tutu, ordered the reorganization of the Ashanti's current cobbled together army of local militias into a single, unified force of professional soldiers. Additionally, Osei Tutu sought to educate this new army in modern Akan tactics, replacing the old manner of traditional battle.

Fante soldiers, which practiced similar modern, firearm dependent tactics to the Denkyira or Akwamu.

These new tactics would be necessary if the Ashanti were going to stand up to the Denkyira. Like the other states in the southern region of Ghana, the Denkyira had adopted modern tactics and fully integrated firearm use into their wartime strategies. If the Ashanti tried to face the modern, gun-wielding tactics of the Denkyira with traditional, sword-wielding Akan tactics, they would be crushed. 

To teach his army in this modern way of warfare, Osei Tutu conscripted the Akwamu soldiers who had accompanied him on his return to Kumasi. Like the Denkyira, the Akwamu had long adapted modern firearms focused tactics and had used them in their own successful wars of conquest. 

The Ashanti army was drilled in the Akwamu strategic doctrine. Akwamu strategy hinged on encircling the enemy. The army was divided into several components. A scouting regiment tracked enemy forces, sabotaged their paths, and launched guerrilla style sniper attacks. The forward guard, composed of the best trained members of the Ashanti army would fiercely attack the enemy, forcing the enemy into a static defensive position. The four wings would then move around the pinned enemy, attempting to encircle the enemy. The main body provided a manpower reserve for whichever part of the army needed reinforcements. Meanwhile, the rear guard of the army sat at the back of the force, protecting against encirclement. Officers and nobility were protected by a specialized group of bodyguards meant to protect these critical people from being hurt or killed in a potential defeat. Finally, the army was accompanied by a horde of medics, engineers, supply transporters, and foragers, meant to support the army in non-combat matters.

While the Ashanti were still new to this type of warfare were far from perfectly implementing this doctrine. Despite this, the Ashanti put this new style of warfare to great use against the Dormaa, decisively defeating their eastern rival when the Dormaa tried to invade Kumasi. But, compared to the coming threat, the Dormaa were small change. During our next episode, we'll see how this new army fares against the centuries old hegemons of the Ghanaian forest region, the Denkyira.