The Bono State (or Bonoman) was an early Akan polity located in what is today the Bono Region and Bono East Region of Ghana. Archaeological and oral evidence situate its origins at Amowi near Nkoranza, with later expansion to Bono Manso, which became its capital during its formative period. The state functioned as an intermediary between savanna and forest trade networks.[7][8][9]
Bono was located in the northern forest fringes of the Akan world, south of the Black Volta.[10][11] The location facilitated frequent caravans from Djenné, Timbuktu, and other trade centers across Sudan and Egypt, making it a major commercial hub.[12] Gold from Begho was sent north through Kong and Bobo-Dioulasso, where it was carried to the Djenné–Timbuktu corridor and across the Sahara.[13]
Etymology
According to Takyiman oral traditions, the Bono consider themselves the first organized Akan group to develop in the region, with other Akan states emerging later. This belief is reflected in an Akan expression in which a woman’s firstborn child is referred to as abɔnɔwoo. The name Bono means a pioneer or the first of its kind, and to referred specifically to the ancestors of the Takyiman people.
Another interpretation, connects the name to the Bono word Bɔɔ, meaning “hole.” This version holds that the ancestors of the Takyiman people emerged from a hole and were given the name because they originally lived in rock shelters. The tradition states that the name Bono exclusively refers to the Takyiman people.[14][15] The name of the capital, Bono Manso, translates to ɔman (“nation, town”) and so (“on” or “at”) or “the seat of Bono.”[16] According to Effah-Gyamfi, the expression “Bono Manso State” would be tautological. [17] The term Bonoman combines Bono (“the Bono people”) with ɔman (“nation” or “state”), and which means “the Bono nation” or “land of the Bono.”[16]
History
Origins
The earliest ancestors of the Bono people originated from a sacred rock-shelter known as Amowi, which was situated near Pinihi in the modern Nkoransa area and had been inhabited since at least the 5th century CE.[18][14][19] The site is remembered as the place from which the first people of the land are said to have emerged and began to farm in the area.[15] From Amowi, the early settlers, led by the ancestral figure named Nana Asaman, who moved in short distances to Yɛfri(Yefri) and later to Manso, which became the capital of their state.[1] Excavations at Amowi I, Amowi II, and Bono Manso revealed extended periods of continuous occupation, with pottery remains forming more than 99 percent of all recovered materials. Most ceramics were locally made, but some imported vessels originated from the Banda and Bole regions.[20] More excavations near Bono Manso identified early iron-smelting activities dating to 300 CE at Abam[21] and to the 6th century CE in the surrounding area. Researchers believe the evidence indicates that the Bono of the Bono Manso region had established permanent communities that later developed into a proto-urban settlement.[21][22]
Growth and expansion
Bono expanded gradually through incorporation of earlier minority groups, intermarriage, immigration, the establishment of nnan (hunting camps) that later developed into villages, and warfare.[23]Bono Manso was not the earliest large settlement in the region, but it became the first to establish political supremacy over neighboring towns through processes of assimilation and consolidation.[18][2] Small hunter and farmer camps evolved into permanent settlements that formed the foundations of the state. Communities such as Akumadan are said to have originated from a hunter’s camp, while Besedan developed as a kola-growing settlement established by dependents of a Bono queen.[23] As Bono authority expanded, neighboring groups were incorporated into its political structure. Some groups such as the Dewoman and Gyamma claimed distinct origins but were later integrated into the Bono state. The Dewoman ruler was sometimes referred to as the “son” of the Bono king, while the Gyamma became custodians of the Bono stool despite being regarded as earlier inhabitants of the area. Some settlements originated from hunting camps like Akumadan, which derives from the name of a hunter, Ankoma, combined with nnan (camp), which later developed into a permanent settlement. Similarly, Besedan began as a kola-growing camp established by dependents of a Bono queen. Population growth and territorial expansion led to the Bono ruler being referred to “Bono Kyempim Duoduakwa Hene mu Hene,” meaning “King of the countless Bono who were planted everywhere,” or “king of kings.” [23]
Trade and Prosperity
According to Adu Boahen, Bonoman rose because there was a need to protect and regulate gold extraction and develop commercial routes linking the forest lands to the Middle Niger.[24] The nearby town of Begho (also known as Nsɔkɔ) emerged as a complementary trading hub where regional goods like gold, kola, ivory, and forest products were exchanged for textiles, salt, and metal goods brought by Wangara merchants.[25] Located at the southern end of the northwestern trade route from the Middle Niger, Bono was a key exchange point for northern traders who relied on donkeys and horses, animals that could not survive farther south in the dense forest.[26] Two early rulers, Ameyaw and Obunumankoma, oversaw Bonoman's territorial expansion and commercial growth in the latter half of the 15th century. Between the 16th and 17th centuries, Bono Manso developed into a major commercial and cultural center, with its commerce being controlled by Bono elites. The population was largely Akan and ethnically homogeneous, and Bono's internal administration maintained control of trade and craft production.[22] The state's cohesion benefitted from long periods of peace. Disputes (akokoakoko) mentioned in traditions were family quarrels and secessions rather than large scale wars. Until the seventeenth century, Bono's authority remained unchallenged in the region, with subordinate states such as Dewuman and Nyafoman owing allegiance to its king.[27] However, some accounts recall external pressures from rival states such as the Gonja kingdom.[28][29]
Growing decline
The decline of Bonoman was gradual and driven by internal and external factors. Signs of demographic and economic decline began in the 17th century, due to droughts, dynastic instability, and shifting trade networks.[30] As southern Akan states like Akyem, Denkyira, and eventually the Asante Empire secured greater access to coastal markets and European firearms, Bonoman, located inland and lacking direct access to Atlantic trade, was surpassed in regional commerce.[31] Internally, excessive taxation, succession disputes, and elite misconduct contributed to weakening central authority. Oral histories collected from Bono informants describe widespread discontent under Ameyaw Kwakye I, the last Bonohene. Traditions describe him as neglecting ritual obligations and increasing taxation.[32] Before the Asante invasion, disillusioned citizens refused to defend the capital, expressing their frustration with the phrase: “Se hene Ameyaw anya ne ko a onko nhye” ("If king Ameyaw has got his war, let him fight it all").[33]
Bono's prosperity and mineral wealth attracted Asante expansion. Documentary sources date the invasion to 1722–1723 AD. A letter from the Dutch West India Company in 1724 described Asante defeating “a district three times stronger” through treachery. The Kitab Ghunja notes "Bawo's (Bafo Pim) attack on Takyiman" in 1722/23.[34] The Bono king and queen were captured and taken to Kumasi, and Bono craftsmen were absorbed into Asante workshops, where they taught their arts to the Asante.[35] Much of Bono territory was incorporated into the Nkoransa state under Baffo Pim, while Takyiman, originally a subordinate village, became the new seat of Bono's surviving royal line.[36] The royal lineage was later re-established in Takyiman under Asante suzerainty by 1740.[37] Attempts to restore the old state failed, and relations with Asante and Nkoransa remained strained thereafter. Refugees from Bono moved northwest where they were integrated into Gyaman, while others regrouped in Dormaa, Nkoranza, and Berekum.[38]Techiman, as successor to Bono-Manso, preserved many of the surviving traditions.
Divisions
In its height Bono's territories bordered Bonduku and Banda to the west, Gonja and Yendi to the north, Mampong and Offinso to the south, and Kete-Krakye to the east.[39] Bono's towns were culturally homogeneous Akan communities rather than ethnically mixed trading colonies like Begho or Wenchi. The capital served simultaneously as royal residence, market centre, and ritual hub, and was remembered in tradition as “the town with one-hundred-and-seventy-seven streets.”[40] Below the capital was a structured hierarchy of settlements reflected in naming conventions. The designation Manso referred to the supreme capital, while the suffix -man identified provincial chiefdom capitals such as Takyiman, Amoman, and Dewoman, each described in tradition as having “seventy-seven streets.” Subordinate towns were called krom, including Kramokrom and Forikrom, and smaller nkuraa villages such as Akyemhatae and Besedan performed specialized functions within the state. Akyemhatae guarded the royal gold regalia, Besedan maintained the queen-mother’s kola groves, and Akyeremade housed the drummers of Dewoman.[41]
Amowi Cave
Amowi Cave was identified as the point of emergence of the earliest ancestors of the state and has been radiocarbon dated to approximately AD 370–510.[22] The emergence is commemorated in songs performed during the Apɔɔ festival at Takyiman, which repeatedly affirm that the people “came from Amowi.”[42] The traditions further state that an early ruler disappeared back into the hole after an encounter with a hunter, leaving behind regalia at the entrance. Leadership then passed through Queen Ameyaa, whose son Asaman later established a new settlement that became Bono Manso.[43] The narrative also maintains that the Gyamma people were already living in the area and later became custodians of the Bono stool, a role symbolically preserved in ritual practice at Takyiman.[44]
Effah-Gyamfi argues that traditions of emergence from holes function as claims of autochthony, expressing the idea that the people were the first occupants of the land. He notes that no neighboring communities claim prior settlement before those associated with Amowi. He offers two interpretations. The first is historical: the tradition may preserve memory of an early period when people occupied caves or rock shelters during the Early Iron Age. Since the Bono term bono or boo can refer to both a hole and a cave, the narrative may reflect an actual settlement pattern later symbolized by the sacred hole at Amowi. The second interpretation is symbolic, a cave linked to a stream or dark rock formation may have served as a ritual landscape marking ancestral beginnings. Accounts of rulers who “disappeared” into holes or streams may therefore represent sudden death or crisis rather than literal events, possibly recalling upheavals that led to relocation.[45]
Bono Manso
Bono Manso (literally "great town of Bono") was the capital of Bonoman and a major trading hub. It was located south of the Black Volta River and was a key node in the Trans-Saharan trade, connecting the Akan goldfields to major Sahelian markets like Djenné and Timbuktu. Bono Manso traded gold, kola nuts, salt, leather, and cloth. According to Effah-Gyamfi, the town was already settled by the 13th century and was a commercial and ritual center by the 14th and 15th centuries.[46] It covered an area of between 150 and 230 hectares and supported a population of approximately 5,000 inhabitants, based on architectural remains and settlement density estimates.[47] Its strategic location near the Tano River placed it at the southernmost range of safe caravan travel, where the tsetse fly made pack animal transport unviable.[48]
The ahenfie (royal palace) was described as a walled complex composed of several courtyards and specialized sections, including pramaso (main courtyard), pramakan (first court), prama II (second court), mmam (harem), dabekan (bedroom), dabekyire (inner bedroom), and nkotimso (servants’ quarters). Traditions emphasize that the king maintained numerous slaves and attendants within the ahenfie, reflecting the scale of royal authority. Bono Manso was said to have been bounded by streams, including the Pankana stream to the north and west, which served as the principal water source, and the Abam stream to the east.[49] The capital is described in tradition as having 177 streets, a figure that likely signifies a large and socially complex settlement rather than a literal street count.[50]
Nyafoman
Blacksmiths (atomfoo) were numerous at Nyafoman, with one hundred and fifty said to have been drafted to the royal court at Bono Manso to supply tools and weapons.[51] Traditions recount that one Bono king instructed his son, the Nyafoman king, to send skilled craftsmen to the capital, and hundreds of blacksmiths under Kwabena Kra were dispatched to serve in the royal court. [52]
Dewoman
Dewoman was one of the principal provincial centers of the Bono state and functioned both as a political and ritual capital of its own chiefdom. The suffix -man in its name means that it had high status as a chiefdom capital within the wider Bono hierarchy. As a shrine center, Dewoman also played an important religious role, and its ruler maintained ritual obligations.[53]
Asekye
Asekye is identified in oral traditions as one of the early large settlements in the Bono Manso area. It main occupation was tentatively dated between the thirteenth and sixteenth centuries. It was grouped in tradition among the more substantial towns associated with royal or chiefly authority. Like other important settlements in the Bono hierarchy, it is sometimes described as having “seventy-seven streets,” a symbolic expression referring to its size and political standing rather than a literal count.[53]
Kranka Dada
Kranka Dada was a village settlement northeast of Bono Manso. It played an essential role in Bono Manso's political and economic systems. Excavations conducted between 2009 and 2012 uncovered household remains, ritual features, and long-distance trade artifacts.[54] The site consisted of residential mounds occupied from the late 13th to the Asante Empire conquest in 1723.[55] According to Anne Compton, it contained wattle-and-daub structures, granaries, iron-smelting debris, and ceremonial hearths. It had locally made artifacts like brass fragments, glass beads, imported ceramics, and terracotta rasps.[56] Kranka Dada functioned as a satellite settlement, supplying agricultural produce, labor, and ritual expertise to the capital. Compton places it within a four-tiered settlement hierarchy, reflecting the integration of smaller communities into centralized Bono administration.[47] Oral traditions recall shrine priestess that still remained in the area after the town's collapse.[33]
Begho
Begho (also Bighu, Bitu, Bew, or Nsokɔ) was a medieval market town south of the Black Volta.[57] It served as a cultural and linguistic bridge between Akan and Mande societies. Although not politically subordinate to the Bonohene,[58] Begho was governed by an Akan elite over a multiethnic population, including a substantial Muslim Wangara merchant community.[59][60] Numerous Akan language terms for trade and status like kramo (Muslim), oponko (horse), gyata (lion), and adaka (box), derive from Mandé languages.[61] Begho emerged as an entrepôt for northern caravans beginning around 1100 AD. Goods included ivory, salt, leather, gold, kola nuts, cloth, and copper alloys.[62][63] Begho had an estimated population exceeding 12,000 inhabitants during the 15th century, comparable to major Sahelian cities.[64] Bono Manso has been estimated at around 5,000 inhabitants, indicating a substantial urban concentration within the region.[65]
Islamic sources claim the Mali Empire launched a punitive expedition against Begho in the mid-16th century after disruptions in the gold trade.[66] Oral traditions recorded by Odoom state that the invading horsemen were driven away by the combined forces of the people of Begho and the Brong, suggesting that local authority remained in place.[67] Excavations at Begho uncovered residential compounds, iron-smelting furnaces at nearby Dapaa, pottery, and tobacco pipes dating primarily between the thirteenth and eighteenth centuries. [68][69][70] According to Posnansky, the city was estimated population exceeding 10,000 at its height, it was one of the largest urban centers in West Africa by the time the Portuguese arrived in 1471.[71]
Government
Central Authority
Bono's administration was conducted under the authority of the king and his wing chiefs. The symbol of royal authority was the state golden stool, known as the puduo, which was said to have been brought from Amowi. It was made of gold, then kept in a box called seseg and only opened on ceremonial occasions. The stool was hidden in a cave near Buoyem during the Asante invasion, where it was later captured. The queenmother resided at Amoman, about eight kilometers north of the capital. The royal mausoleum, known as Nnaaham, was located at Amoman, though some traditions state that another nnaaham existed at the capital. The queenmother visited the capital only on special occasions, while the king frequently rode to Amoman for consultations with her. According to local traditions, successive kings ruled varied. Some were remembered as quiet and sober, while others were described as oppressive. Local traditions portray Ameyaw Akumfi I as particularly oppressive, claiming that when angered by someone from a household, he ordered all its members killed. This reputation earned him the epithet Ameyaw kum sifa yi (shortened to Akumfi), meaning “Ameyaw, killer of inmates.”[72]
Administrative structure
Settlements were scattered across Bono, with the effective area of occupation being concentrated within a radius of approximately 30 to 40 kilometers of the capital. Each village was ruled either by a “son” of the king or by a wing chief. For example, the Koonahene or Kurontirehene ruled Nkwaakuru, Baafi, and Tanoboase; the Atomfohene, chief of the blacksmiths’ clan, ruled Nyafoman; and the Dewoman chief priest ruled Dewoman, Dapaafu, Abolisae, and Asuokawkoma. Rulers of larger chiefdoms such as Nyafoman and Dewoman resided permanently in their capitals. In contrast, rulers of smaller chiefdoms such as Asekye and Tiframu made regular visits to the capital to present reports on their territories and to attend state council meetings. These visits also applied to royal sons who were not sub-chiefs or chiefs. One son of the king, for example, is said to have stayed permanently at Asekye but visited the capital regularly. [73]
Regular communication between the capital and subordinate settlements was facilitated by the use of horses. Horses were brought from the north, especially by Mande-speaking traders and from the Gonja area. Wing chiefs, sons, and grandsons of kings used horses, and elders in several towns could identify the roads and bridges that connected their settlements to the capital or to the Dwabirim market. The Apokosu stream, where horses were watered near the capital are still traceable. They were used for transport and as a mark of high social status, and were restricted to nobles and royals. Although they could be used in wartime, they were not numerous and did not form a large cavalry force. In times of war, their use was restricted to nobles and royals, who served as commanders of the army.[74]
Society
Social structure
Early Bono settlements were organized by streets and quarters rather than by matrilineal clans. Effah-Gyamfi believed it was an early form of social organization before the development of the abusua (clan) system.[75] One ancient quarter at Bono Manso, associated with the Dwomoo clan survived in local traditions.[76] In 1929 Rattray recorded that the Bono of Takyiman were “apparently wholly ignorant of the Ashanti and Fanteclan names,” and that instead of identifying by clans such as Oyoko or Agona, they referred to streets or quarters (Abronno) in their towns. Rattray theorized the Bono originally had an older social system based on residence and occupation rather than the abusua clan structure developed among southern Akan groups and spread through Asante influence.[77] Further evidence gathered by Boachie-Ansah explains that the Asante and southern Akan clans were based on animal totems, while the clans of Wenchi and Takyiman were based on quarters where their ancestors first settled. The quarters were named after trees or landmarks rather than lineage groups. According to Boachi-Ansah, the differences indicated that Bono societies were separated from the Akan of southern regions for a long time, and that it was after this separation that the clan system and the semi-military system of government evolved among the Akan of the southern forests.[78]
Settlement layout
According to Effah-Gyamfi, the location of villages and towns was determined by four main considerations: availability of fertile agricultural land and game, access to water, proximity to the capital, and consultation with the principal deity of the people. Local traditions also indicate that settlements were oriented along a north–south axis so that the main street would align with the movement of the sun.[79]
Architecture
Most houses were constructed using wattle-and-daub techniques and were thatched. However, there are references to flat-roofed houses known as abam, which were reportedly reserved for kings and important nobles. The structures were not thatched but were roofed with boards made from mmaa kube trunks, sealed with daub and finished with clay and plaster. Drainage channels were incorporated into the roof design. Effah-Gyamfi notes that the restriction of flat-roofed houses to royalty may suggest northern architectural influence, but traditions deny northern origins for the ruling lineage. He believes that features may have been a by product of cultural contact or the work of immigrant builders rather than evidence of migration.[80]
A complete house of an average man was rectangular in plan and organized around a central courtyard. The structure contained between four and six rooms. The family head slept either on a raised clay platform or on a wooden bed supported by short poles, while women and children commonly slept on beaten clay floors covered with raffia mats. Hunters sometimes supplemented their sleeping mats with animal skins from game they had killed. Doorways did not have wooden doors but were covered with hanging raffia mats. One of the rooms was reserved as a kitchen and was often built on a raised clay platform. Water pots, cooking utensils, and other domestic containers were kept there. Fireplaces were sometimes constructed in the kitchen, but they were also frequently located in the central courtyard. Permanent bukyia (hearths) were commonly made in the kitchen to protect fires during rainfall. They could consist of three laterite blocks, three molded clay supports, or three perforated pots designed to prevent cracking from heat. The hearths were occasionally cleaned with clay as part of routine domestic maintenance rather than ritual practice.[81]
Burial practices
Except for kings, there were no public cemeteries. Children below the age of five were buried in rubbish dumps, inside pots, a practice known as kuku ba, meaning “pot child.” Adults were buried inside their rooms in L-shaped graves called daka (grave pit). The horizontal section served as the burial chamber, which was sealed with sticks before the vertical shaft was filled with earth. Death was understood as a transition to the spirit world rather than an end of existence. For this reason, personal belongings such as water, clothing, food, and sponges were buried with the deceased. The rims of pots used for offerings were deliberately broken, but the meaning of this act is unclear. Men were laid facing east, symbolically associated with rising to go to the farm, while women were laid facing west, linked in tradition to the preparation of the evening meal. Kings and queens were buried in a similar manner, but slaves and servants were sometimes killed and interred with them to serve in the spirit world. In such cases, the heads of attendants were placed in the vertical section of the grave. [82]
Religion
Religion was an important part of Bono political life. The authority of the Bonohene rested on ritual responsibility and he functioned as both ruler and spiritual head of the state.[83] Religious life focused on river deities such as Tano, as well as ancestral reverence for Asaase Yaa and belief in Nyame. The beliefs were closely linked to governance and social organization.[84] Akan religious belief centers on Nyame, who is believed to act through lesser deities known as the abosom. Shrines are generally associated either with forest spirits or with the source of the Tano River, which is regarded as the origin of Tano-related deities. The most important of is Taa Kora, which is worshipped at a rock shrine near Tanoboase, where representatives from other Akan states traditionally offer sacrifices and collect sacred water used in state and ancestral rituals.[85] Bono religious traditions linked to Tano River deities such as Taa Mensa and Taa Kora continue to influence Akan beliefs, including indigenous healing practices led by priests (ɔbosomfoɔ) and spirit mediums (ɔkɔmfoɔ).[86]
Taboos
Amowi is regarded as a sacred site and remains subject to strict ritual prohibitions. Traditions state that no Bono king was permitted to visit the sacred hole, and this restriction is still observed by the Omanhene of Takyiman. Because the emergence from Amowi is said to have occurred on a Friday (Nkyei), farming on Fridays became taboo, and the annual Apɔɔ festival reaches its climax on that day in remembrance of the ancestral emergence.[87] No person is allowed to use land within roughly seventy-five metres of the sacred hole, and entry into the area requires the presence or permission of the chief priest (ɔbosomfoɔ) of the deity Biakru. Violation of the rules is believed to bring misfortune.[88] According to Effah-Gyamfi, similar taboos are associated with the caves of the Gyamma people, who are regarded in tradition as earlier inhabitants of the area. Their ancestral settlement is linked with early iron working, and certain ritual restrictions, including prohibitions on visiting the caves on Fridays, continue to be observed.[89]
Economy
The region’s gold deposits further supported its importance in trade, allowing Bono merchants to act as intermediaries for forest goods traded to northern markets.[90] The Bono state organized its economic activities into two broad categories: primary and secondary. Primary activities involved direct interaction with the land and included collecting, agriculture, fishing, and hunting. Secondary activities developed from these and included weaving, iron working, gold working, and pottery.[91] Each settlement had designated quarters for craftsmen, traders, and ritual specialists. [51]
Gold working
Gold production in the Bono state consisted of two main activities: mining and panning, and the smelting and fashioning of gold into objects of value. Traditions indicate that the bulk of Bono gold did not come from the immediate vicinity of the capital but from the Banda area and along the Tain River, particularly at Obuase in the Tain region. Around the capital, gold was obtained from streams such as the Adwoa Sika near Buoyem, Asuo Sika near Bonkwae, and Tano; the names Adwoa Sika and Asuo Sika reflect their association with gold, since sika means gold. In the Tain and Buoyem areas gold was mined through shafts known as nkɔron (mine shafts), circular pits sunk into the ground using special mining mattocks called soroko (mining mattock). These shafts are still remembered in the Nsoko area. Mining labor was often carried out by slaves on behalf of the king. Excavated earth was washed in a wooden bowl called posie (washing bowl), which was shaken repeatedly until gold settled at the bottom. Panning along nearby streams was also common. The proceeds of gold were divided into thirds: one third to the king, one to the village head (odikro), and one to the miner. Gold nuggets known as pokua (gold nuggets) were reserved for the king, and unauthorized mining was punishable by death. Mining in the Tain area was said to be so regular that each week the Bono king received a brass bowl filled with gold.
Goldsmithing traditions declined after the Asante invasion, but accounts by locals indicate that goldsmiths formed a specialized group attached to the royal court. They produced regalia and ornaments including mpempɛsoɔ (finials of state chairs) and afona (state sword). The principal technique was the lost-wax method, similar to that described for brass casting. It was claimed that metal objects in the royal court were made of pure gold, though this may be exaggerated. The wealth of the Bono kings in gold is further reflected in traditions that Ameyaw Kwaku I constructed a gold storehouse at Akyemhatae called Sika puduo (barn for gold), and that even the tail of the king’s horse was decorated with gold nuggets.[92] The unit of currency was gold, measured using standardized gold weights. Chiefs and elders regulated the value of commodities by fixing gold quantities corresponding to units such as peredwan, doma, and dwoa.[6]
Craft production
Weaving was one of the most widespread craft industries in the Bono state and engaged a considerable portion of the population. While the precise origin of weaving in the state was uncertain, some traditions maintained that it was indigenous, whereas others linked its introduction to northern groups such as the Yabo (Gonja) or the Nkrila (Dyula) traders. Every able-bodied man was expected to learn weaving, and women were responsible for spinning. Children between eight and ten years old were trained in these skills. Cotton, known locally as nsawa (cotton), was grown in the area, and spindle whorls called gyane or gyaneboo (spindle whorls) were obtained from local potters and from northern Dyula traders. With the exception of Asokye, whose inhabitants were regarded as professional weavers for Bono kings, weaving was generally practiced part-time and carried out during leisure hours, especially after farming. The production of cloth was extensive, and traditions state that whenever a Bono man’s kye kye (local cloth) was about six months old it was discarded and replaced, suggesting high output. Earlier kye kye cloths were described as coarser and less colorful than later kente cloths. Certain types of cloth were reserved for kings and nobles, notably Gagawuga and Bew. The name Gagawuga may indicate links with Gao in the Middle Niger region, suggesting long-distance trade connections. The cloth called Bew may either have given its name to Begho or derived its name from the town, which was an important trading center in the medieval period. Local traditions maintain that weaving techniques later spread from Bono to other Akan states further south.[93]
Blacksmithing was central to Bono society, and the atomfoo (blacksmiths) formed a respected and socially distinct group. At the height of Bono power, Nyafoman was regarded as the most important center of the atoo (iron-working industry). Iron ore, referred to as atwetweboɔ (laterite ore), was obtained locally from ferruginized deposits, though some traditions mention iron bars imported from Kong in present-day Ivory Coast. The smelting process, though largely forgotten, is described in detail. A circular depression was dug at the furnace site and channels were carved into it according to the desired size of iron pieces. Fresh sticks were laid across the depression and covered with charcoal. The ore was placed on top and covered again with charcoal, effectively sandwiching it between two layers. Four bellows were inserted around the furnace. After lighting the charcoal, air was pumped at intervals until the ore bloomed and settled into the carved channels. The furnace structure was then broken, water was used to cool the iron, and the slag known as dadebini (slag) was removed. The iron was reheated and forged into tools. Among the principal implements produced were adro (short cutlass), aso (hoe), oso (mattock), soroko (mining mattock), agyane (arrowhead), and pea (sword). The furnace and tools were objects of ritual reverence, and offerings were made to them in a practice called asase hwɛ which is still observed during the Apɔɔ festival. According to Gyamfi, the craft was hereditary and practiced in isolation from settlements, which may explain why it declined more rapidly under European competition than weaving or pottery.[94]
Pottery was practiced almost exclusively by women, though women could also be commissioned to produce special pots for festivals or for the royal court. Because it was an open craft, at least one potter could be found in nearly every village in the Bono state, although certain settlements such as Longoro (Donkoro) Nkwanta, Bonsaaso, and Krobo were noted in tradition for their pottery production. In most places the craft was practiced on a part-time basis, but among the Mɔ (Degɔ speaking) potters of Longoro Nkwanta it was more specialized. The industry was hereditary, with particular houses becoming known for pottery across generations until competition from European imports weakened local production. Clay, called boo (clay), was obtained from sources located between five and twenty kilometers from settlements. Before collecting clay, simple rites were performed, and it was forbidden to engage in sexual intercourse prior to entering the clay site, as violation was believed to cause pots to crack during firing or even lead to collapse of the clay pit. Occasionally a fowl was sacrificed to boo to ensure successful production. Clay was gathered by the potter and her children, though it could also be transported to the Dwasibirim (market) and sold to other potters, a practice still observed in Takyiman where clay is brought from Nsuta, about twenty kilometers away. Two principal manufacturing techniques were used: the molding method,where a lump of clay was shaped into a vessel, and the coil method, in which rolled strips of clay were layered to build up the walls of a pot, with the molding method being more common. Pots were traded over distances ranging from twenty to fifty kilometers. In some areas a tuber of yam could be exchanged for an ahina (water pot), with price differences depending on whether the customer traveled to the potter or vice versa. In addition to pots and bowls, potters also produced abua (smoking pipes) and gyaneboo or gyane (spindle whorls).[95]
Beads in the Bono state were associated with conflicting traditions about their origin and manufacture. Some accounts claimed that beads could multiply, that they were found in streams, dug from the ground, or even made by dwarfs, while others maintained that many were brought into the state by foreign traders. At the same time, it was generally accepted that local smiths also produced beads. Because smithing was a restricted and specialized craft, the secrecy surrounding its techniques may have contributed to myths that attributed bead production to supernatural sources rather than identifiable craftsmen.[96] Locally made beads were divided into two main categories: stone and seed beads, and other beads made by smiths. Stone beads, regarded as among the earliest in the Bono state, were made of quartz, shaped round or flat, perforated, and strung together. Very hard seeds such as Adia and Akonkonanini were collected, boiled, perforated, and strung. Other beads said to be locally made included Bota, Tiwa, Bodom, and Tete Aso. However, the origin of Bodom beads has been suggested to lie in the eastern Mediterranean, from where they may have been brought across the Sahara in precolonial times. If so, traditions claiming Bodom beads were locally made may reflect local imitation of imported examples rather than original manufacture.[97]
The beads that were said to have been imported into the state were called Amankwatia, Neyannee, Akommero, and Anenkyenemma. They were worn by women, though chiefs and priests also wore them during ceremonial occasions. In earlier times, certain beads were restricted to particular clans. The women of the Oyoko clan wore Bodom beads, while women in the Ekoona clan of the Kurontire wore Bota beads. According to Effah-Gyamfi many of these restrictions had later been forgotten.[98] Outside of ornamental wear, they also served ritual and medicinal purposes. Bodom, Bota, and Tete Aso were primarily used for ornamentation. In contrast, Amankwatia and Abia were associated with ease in childbirth, Akommero was linked to curing sleeping sickness, convulsions, and impotence, and Tiwa was used to ward off evil spirits. Locally classified beads were ornamental, while those considered imported were more often associated with ritual and medicinal functions.[99]
Agrarian production
Bono’s location gave access to both forest and savanna products, such as rice, yams, sorghum, wild game, and other foods.[90] An Akan folktale recounts how Ntikuma, son of Kwaku Ananse, was instructed by an old woman in a hole to harvest and cook habayere. The narrative is interpreted as preserving memory of an early stage in yam cultivation, suggesting that cultivated yam developed from prolonged collection of wild varieties.[100]Bayere (yam) was described as the principal and most ancient indigenous crop of the Bono state. Traditions preserve two main accounts of its early cultivation, one centered on Menji and another on Taa Mensah. In the Menji version, cultivation began during a famine after a deity instructed the people to harvest and cook the plant. From that time, yam cultivation spread to other areas and became associated with annual festivals marking its arrival. Yams were closely connected with ritual life, and their antiquity is reflected in their association with the ancient Apɔɔ and Fokɔ festivals. By contrast, crops such as cocoyam, maize, bananas, and plantains are not associated with early myths or ritual traditions, which suggests they were later introductions that eventually became important.[101]
Other wild foods included forest fruits likekuro (Bosqueia sp.) and akontoma (Carpodinus hirsutus), as well as savanna fruits like aboboma (Annona arenaria), akonlɔ (Strychnos spinosa), and abotoɔ (Griffonia sp.). Mushrooms (Agaricus bisporus), snails (Achatina sp.), and palm nuts (Elaeis guineensis) were also collected, particularly in wetter environments.[100] Wild food collection formed an important component of subsistence. Food items gathered in their natural state included kookoo (Colocasia antiquorum), akɛm (Dioscorea bulbifera), nkramfoɔ (Dioscorea cayenensis), and habayere (Dioscorea sp.). These were found in forest and semi-forest environments, and traditions describe people roaming the forest in search of them, especially during times of famine.[100]
Fishing was important in the local economy, particularly along the rivers Fia, Pru, and Tano. Three main methods are described. Basket traps (apuwie) were used in shallow waters. River poisoning (dompo) involved pounding the bark of the potrodom tree (Erythrophleum guineense) and mixing it into the water to stun fish. In smaller streams, women temporarily dammed sections and bailed out water (ko ahwe) until fish and crabs were exposed and collected. Hunting (abɔ or abayo) held high social status and is frequently associated in tradition with the founding of villages and towns. In times of war, hunters formed the rank and file of the army and were credited with discovering new settlements and food resources. Two main forms are identified: big-game and small-game hunting. Big-game hunting included animals such as elephant (sono), hippopotamus (susumo), and buffalo (kɔkɔ). Small-game hunting involved duikers, antelopes, and grasscutters and was more frequent. Weapons included locally made short guns, bows and arrows, traps, and concealed pits. Later, muzzle-loaded Dane guns (ananta) increased the effectiveness of hunting and made big-game hunting more common.[102]
Trade activity
Trade operated at internal and external levels. Internal trade involved the exchange of products within the Bono state and between Bono and neighboring states in the area now known as Ghana. Intra-state trade was conducted in markets such as Longoro Nkwanta, Nyafoman, and Dewoman, where foodstuffs like yams and sorghum and craft products such as pots, baskets, farm implements, and local cloth were sold. Inter-state trade involved the exchange of commodities not produced locally, such as salt obtained from Krakye, Daboya, or the coast, while traders from Owhim, Kaase, and Denkyira acquired local cloth from Bono or Nsoko.[103]
External trade connected Bono with more distant regions. At its height, external trade was conducted at the market of Dwabirim, located about sixteen kilometers south of the capital, where traders from within and outside the state converged. The market was organized by the “sons” of the king, who rode horses from the capital to Dwabirim on market days. Foreign traders included Mossi, Dyula, Hausa, and merchants from Bontuku. Their main route passed through Bontuku, linking Kong, Bouna, and Jenne with the Middle Niger region, and traders are said to have stopped at Nsoko (Begho) before reaching Dwabirim. Imported goods included cloth, brass objects, tobacco, and beads, while gold and kola were exchanged from the Bono side.[104]
The principal form of exchange were barter, cowries, and gold dust. Barter was the most ancient method and was common in intra-state trade. Iron objects called nabuo are said to have been among the earliest forms of currency, while gold dust was prominent in inter-state and external trade, with gold dust measured using standardized gold weights for exchange.[105]
Interpretations and debates
Dennis M. Warren
Dennis M. Warren re-examined the writings of Eva Meyerowitz on the Techiman-Bono (Brong) people and found serious methodological and chronological problems in her reconstruction of Bono history. She had proposed that the Bono-Manso was founded as early as 1295 CE and other scholars regarded the date as unsupported by evidence.[106] Warren argued that her precise dating and extensive king lists rested on weak field techniques, linguistic errors, and unverified oral data.[107] He noted that her alleged list of thirty-seven Bono rulers from 1295 to 1950 could not be corroborated by Techiman elders, and that even her informants denied supplying the names she published.[108] Physical checks of the Techiman stool rooms revealed only eight ancestral stools, none dating earlier than the eighteenth century, and no evidence of the “gold-nugget containers” she claimed were used to record reign lengths.[109]
Warren also demonstrated that many of her names were duplicated under variant spellings, her translations inconsistent, and several chronological sequences impossible. Chiefs she dated to the fifteenth century ruled after the Asante-Bono wars of 1722–1723.[110] He concluded that her data represented isolated statements rather than genuine oral traditions, and that her reconstructions invented “traditions” like the Bono migrating from Timbuktu.[111] Oral traditions recorded by Dennis M. Warren trace Bono origins to local sacred sites like Amowi cave, rather than to migration from distant regions.[112] According to Warren, the inaccuracies had major effects, since later school textbooks and popular histories repeated her works, which promoted misinformation about Akan origins.[113] He recommended that Techiman-Bono chronology be re-established only from verifiable 18th- and 19th-century evidence.[114]
Colin Flight
Colin Flight also conducted a re-evaluation of Meyerowitz's Bono-Manso chronology using statistical analysis and corroborating Arabic and colonial records.[115] He confirmed that her fieldwork at Techiman in the 1940s relied heavily on the cooperation of Nana Akumfi Ameyaw III, who sought to use her publications to strengthen Techiman's political position within the Ashanti Confederacy.[116] Flight noted that her data were based on an alleged ritual system in which each king annually deposited a gold nugget in a brass vessel (kuduo) and each queenmother placed a silver bead or cowry in a decorated pot to record the years of reign.[117] They were reportedly counted in 1945 by Kofi Antubam, Meyerowitz's interpreter, and the results sent to her as numerical data for reconstructing the Bono-Manso dynasty.[118]
Kwame Arhin
Kwame Arhin reinforces the interpretation of Bono as an early political center whose institutions influenced the formation of later Akan states, including Denkyira, Akyem, and Asante.[119]
F. K. Buah
F. K. Buah draws on earlier scholarship and Akan oral traditions in presenting Bono as a nucleus of Akan political development. He describes Bono as one of the earliest organized Akan states, while others like Denkyira, Akyem, and Asante emerged through migration and political diffusion associated from Bono. He also reports traditions that connect the founders of Bono to northern regions such as Borno and to areas associated with Sudanic peoples like the Mossi.[120] At the same time, he notes that other oral traditions, which have persisted to the present, identify Adanse in the present Asante Region as the home and centre of Akan dispersion and, in legend, the place where God began the creation of the world.[121]
Kwaku Effah-Gyamfi
Effah-Gyamfi emphasized the methodological importance of critically evaluating oral traditions rather than dismissing them outright. He argued that oral traditions, when subjected to historical analysis and cross-checked against archaeological evidence, could serve as valuable historical sources.[122] He aligned his approach with scholars like as Jan Vansina and R. Oliver, who maintained that oral traditions are useful when examined through the historical method.[123] At the same time, he acknowledged the distortions in politically charged narratives.[124] Effah-Gyamfi also noted that earlier reconstructions of Bono history, like those of Meyerowitz, needed reassessment because of methodological issues and unverified oral data.[125] His fieldwork relied on structured questionnaires, recorded interviews, and archaeological corroboration in order to produce a more critically grounded reconstruction of Bono history.[126]
His research was based on interviews conducted in thirteen villages and two towns, involving about fifty informants drawn from different social groups, including stool custodians, chiefs, sub-chiefs, artisans, palace officials, elders, and members of royal houses. By comparing information across the categories, he worked to identify consistencies and isolate distortions.[127] Traditions concerning political authority, kingship, and conquest were more likely to contain exaggeration, like in areas affected by the Asante invasion. He noted that some Nkoransa accounts overstated the achievements of Baffo Pim, while certain Takyiman traditions exaggerated the wealth and power of Bono rulers.[128] In comparison, he noticed traditions relating to domestic life, economy, trade, industries, and settlement structure were more reliable because they were less shaped by later political conflict. For this reason, he treated political narratives with caution and considered many of them to be blends of historical memory and later embellishment.[129]
Effah-Gyamfi’s excavations revealed that iron smelting was practiced in the Bono Manso area as early as the third century CE.[130] He reports that sites such as Amowi and Atwetwebooso were occupied long before the period associated with the Sahelian empires.[130] At Bono Manso, archaeological evidence points to sustained settlement, farming activity, and iron production prior to documented northern commercial influence.[46]
Merrick Posnansky
In Posnansky’s excavations at Begho identified distinct Kramo quarters occupied by Mande-speaking Muslims, separate from the Brong quarters. While acknowledging their role in long-distance trade, he does not present them as political rulers of the town.[131]
Brian C. Vivian
Brian C. Vivian reported that excavations at Adansemanso demonstrated that complex Akan settlements developed in the central forest region between the 13th and 15th centuries. He noted that earlier scholars had located the origins of the Akan states northern forest fringes. However, the excavations at Adansemanso show that central forest settlements were already established and developing at the same time as Begho and Bono Manso. [132]
Adu Boahen
According to Adu Boahen, there was no evidence for a migration from either the Ghana Empire or the Sahara.[133]
Irene Odotei and A. K. Awedoba
In their interpretations, Irene Odotei and A. K. Awedoba describe Bono as the earliest cradle of Akan civilization, portraying it as a foundational center from which later Akan political institutions emerged.[134]
Kwasi Konadu
Kwasi Konadu has argued consistently for the native development of Bono within present-day Ghana and Ivory Coast. In The Akan Diaspora in the Americas, he situates Bono within a broader network of early Akan-speaking societies whose political and ritual institutions emerged locally through long-term interaction, trade, and ecological adaptation rather than external imposition.[135] He emphasizes that Akan kinship systems (abusua), ritual authority, and regalia were rooted in forest-based societies and cannot be attributed to Mandé or Islamic diffusion.[136]
In his later work, Konadu rejects earlier claims that the Bono migrated from the Ghana Empire. He points out that traditions recorded at Techiman and Begho trace origins to local sacred sites such as Amowi, not to the western Sudan.[137] He further argues that the migration theory developed from interpretations that equated long-distance trade with political or cultural dependence.[138] He maintains that such interpretations reflect colonial historiography rather than archaeological or linguistic findings. In his assessment, the presence of Muslim merchants in the region did not translate into political authority or institutional transformation. He points out that elements central to the Bono gold economy, including gold-weighing systems and regalia, were already in place before the peak of Muslim commercial activity in the area.[139] Konadu further questions the linguistic foundations of the so-called “Mande loan element” in Twi, arguing that the limited number of proposed loanwords does not support claims of deep cultural influence. He observes that loanwords indicate contact but not necessarily institutional transfer, and that the Bono, who retain some of the oldest Akan linguistic features, show no evidence of sustained Manding linguistic dominance.[140] He also re-examines claims that key gold terminology derived from Manding or Arabic sources and concludes that such etymologies are unconvincing when measured against historical linguistics and early European records of Akan usage.[141] For Konadu, the gold economy of the forest zone developed within Akan societies and later intersected with trans-Saharan commerce, rather than emerging as a product of it.[142]
Politically, the Bono legacy survived centuries of Asante domination and colonial rule after Manso's fall. In 1948, Bono-Takyiman formally disengaged from the Asante Confederacy, leading to the formation of the Bono Federation in 1951. The government of Ghana later created the Brong-Ahafo Region and the Brong-Ahafo House of Chiefs in 1960, institutionalizing Bono traditional authority within the modern state.[143] In the late twentieth century, Bono scholars and traditional leaders established the Bonoman Resource Center for Indigenous Knowledge (BRCIK) in Takyiman to document, preserve, and promote Bono medicinal practices, oral traditions, and cosmological knowledge. The center represents a continuation of the intellectual and cultural heritage of Bonoman.[144]
Ameyaw, Nana Kwakye (1979). "Bono-Manso and Techiman". In Arhin, Kwame (ed.). A Profile of Brong Kyempim: Essays on the Archaeology, History, Language and Politics of the Brong Peoples of Ghana. Legon: Institute of Development Studies and Partner Organisations. Retrieved 27 February 2026.
Anquandah, James (1993). "Urbanization and State Formation in Ghana During the Iron Age". In Shaw, Thurston; Sinclair, Paul; Andah, Bassey; Okpoko, Alex (eds.). The Archaeology of Africa: Food, Metals and Towns. London: Routledge. pp.642–650.
Gomez, Michael A. (2000). Exchanging Our Country Marks: The Transformation of African Identities in the Colonial and Antebellum South. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press.
Odoom, K. O. (1979). "A Note on the History of Islam in Brong-Ahafo". In Arhin, Kwame (ed.). A Profile of Brong Kyempim. Institute of Development Studies. Retrieved 24 April 2025.
Ofosu-Mensah, E. A.; Agyei, J. (2009). "Historical Overview of Internal Migration in Ghana". In Anarfi, John Kwasi; Kwankye, Stephen O. (eds.). Independent Migration of Children in Ghana. Accra: Sundel Services. ISBN9789964750756. Retrieved 11 June 2025.
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