Konadu Yaadom | |
|---|---|
 Emblem of the Ashanti Empire | |
| Born | c.1750 |
| Died | 1809 |
| Other names | Kwadu; Yiadom |
| Years active | c.1770 - 1809 |
| Title | Asantehemaa |
| Successor | Adoma Akosua |
Konadu Yaadom, also Kwadu Yaadom (c.1750 - 1809) was the fourth Asantehemaa of the Ashanti Empire, whose multiple marriages and spiritual influence meant that she became an important and powerful ruler in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.
Yaadom was born around 1750. [1] Her parents were the Mamponhene Asumgyima Penemo and her mother was Yaa Aberefi, their marriage was made as a political arrangement in order for Penemo's clan - the Bretuo - to gain power in the region which was otherwise controlled by the Oyoko clan, which Aberefi was from. [1] Her mother, Yaa Aberefi, was also enstooled as Asantehemaa. [2]
When Yaadom was approximately ten years old, a similarly strategic marriage was arranged for her to Apahene Owusu of Mampon. [3] According to the tradition, her second husband was Safo Katanka the Mamponhene. [3] However, historian Ivor Wilks believed this marriage to have been between Katanka and one of Yaadom's sisters - in the received chronology of her marriages, there is not enough time for her to bear three children by him before she married her third husband. [3] [4]
According to tradition, her third marriage was to Adu Twum of Kumasi, who she had four children with: Opoku Kwame; Yaa Dufie; Akua Akrukruwaa; Opoku Fofie. [3] Yaa Dufie became Asantehemaa in later life; Opoku Fofie became Asantehene. [3] According to tradition, Yaadom's fourth husband was Asokore-Mamponhene Owusu Ansa, who she had three children with: Osei Kofi; Osei Bonsu; Osei Badu. [3] Osei Bonsu later became Asantehene. [3]
According to tradition, Yaadom's fifth husband was Owusu Yaw, of Anowo in Kumase. [5] They had two children: Osei Yaw, who later became Asantehene and an unnamed child. Both Yaadom and this final child died as a result of complications during the birth. [3]
The date that Yaadom was enstooled as the Asantehemaa is debated. Historian Katherine von Hammerstein estimates she took up the role circa 1778. [6] However David Owusu-Ansah makes the date 1770. [1] Both agree that Yaadom held the role until her death in 1809. [6] [1]
In 1798, Yaadom led the deposition and un-enstoolment of the Asantehene Osei Kwame, along with other influential figures in the kingdom. She was convinced that he had poisoned her son, who was a rival to his power. [7] In addition to the supposed poisoning, one of the reasons given for her actions is that she was opposed to Osei Kwame's closeness to Muslims from outside the kingdom, and his intention to establish "Koranic law for the civil code". [8] [9] Additionally if Kwame's conversion to Islam had continued it would have challenged the matrilineal inheritance policy of the people: instead of uncle to sister's son, it may have moved to a father-to-son model. [10] [7] Some sources suggest that Osei Kwame "was a believer at heart", but that Islam would not coalesce with the Asante's traditional social structures. [7] After his de-enstoolment he fled to Kumasi. [7]
This episode also led to a consolidation of Yaadom's power and the role of the Asantehemaa. [3] According to Ivor Wilks, Yaadom encouraged a revision of the royal genealogies, removing any reference to Osei Kwame's biological mother Akyaama, who could have potentially been a rival of Yaadom's for the Asantehemaaship. [3]
There have been two subsequent rulers, who have taken Yaadom's name (with variant spelling). Konadu Yaadom II was Asantehemaa from 1917 to 1944, ruling alongside Prempeh I and Prempeh II. [2] Nana Konadu Yiadom III became Asantehemaa in 2017. [11]
Asantehemaa Konadu Yaadom is an important figure in Asante history for several reasons. Firstly, her marriages illustrate the competing power structures at work in the royal lineages of the Asante. [1] Secondly, according to Ivor Wilks, her marriage to Adu Twum she established the "dominance of the Houses of Osei Tutu and Opoku Ware to the Golden Stool". [1] Thirdly, she "contributed to the rise of a strong “centre” in the politics of the Asante union", according to David Owusu-Ansah. [1] Some sources refer to Yaadom as Kwadu, rather than Konadu, or Yiadom rather than Yaadom. [5] [4]
Yaadom features in the novel Ama by Manu Herbstein, which tells the story of a young Asante woman who is a victim of the Atlantic slave trade. [12] She also features in the sequel to Ama, which is called Brave Music of a Distant Drum. [13] Her great-grandson Kwame Poku features in a novel by Arthur Japin, set during Dutch expansion into West Africa in the nineteenth century and telling the story of two Asante princes who were presented to the Dutch royal court in 1837. [14]
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The Asante Empire, today commonly called the Ashanti Empire, was an Akan state that lasted from 1701 to 1901, in what is now modern-day Ghana. It expanded from the Ashanti Region to include most of Ghana as well as parts of Ivory Coast and Togo. Due to the empire's military prowess, wealth, architecture, sophisticated hierarchy and culture, the Ashanti Empire has been extensively studied and has more historic records written by European, primarily British, authors than any other indigenous culture of sub-Saharan Africa.
Prempeh I was the thirteenth king ruler of the Ashanti Empire and the Oyoko Abohyen Dynasty. King Prempeh I ruled from March 26, 1888 until his death in 1931, and fought an Ashanti war against Britain in 1893.
Otumfuo Opoku Ware II was the 15th Asantehene. He succeeded his uncle Osei Tutu Agyeman Prempeh II on 27 July 1970. He ruled for 29 years until his death in February 1999. He was succeeded by Otumfuo Nana Osei Tutu II.
The Manhyia Palace is the seat of the Asantehene, as well as his official residence. It is located at Kumasi, the capital of the Ashanti Region. The first palace is now a museum. Otumfuor Opoku Ware II built the new palace, which is close to the old one and is used by the current Asantehene, Otumfuor Osei Tutu II.
Prempeh II, was the 14th Asantehene, or king of the Ashanti, reigning from 22 June 1931 to 27 May 1970.
An Akrafena is an Ashanti sword, originally meant for warfare but also forming part of Ashanti heraldry. The foremost example of an akrafena is the Mponponsuo, which belonged to Opoku Ware II. It has survived to the present day because it is still occasionally used in ceremonies, such as the Akwasidae Festival.
Afua Kobi was an Asantehemaa of the Ashanti Empire.
Adoma Akosua was the fifth Asantehemaa of the Ashanti kingdom in West Africa. Born in 1773 into the Oyoko clan, where the kingdom's rulers are traditionally chosen, she came from a branch that had been banished and excluded from the succession. In 1807, due to a lack of male heirs in the other lineages, the clan ended its exile; Adoma and her relatives were once again allowed to reside in the capital. In 1809, she ascended to the throne of Asantehemaa, Queen Mother. From 1817, she conspired to overthrow the king, who had departed on a military campaign against the Gyaman.
The political organization of the historical Ashanti Empire was characterized by stools which denoted "offices" that were associated with a particular authority. The Golden Stool was the most powerful of all, because it was the office of the King of the Ashanti Empire. Scholars such as Jan Vansina have described the governance of the Ashanti Empire as a federation where state affairs were regulated by a council of elders headed by the king, who was simply primus inter pares.
Nana Konadu Yiadom III is the 14th Asantehemaa of the Asante people.
The Asantehemaa is the queen mother according to West African custom, who rules the Asante people alongside the Asantehene. African queen mothers generally play an important role in local government; they exercise both political and social power. Their power and influence have declined considerably since pre-colonial times, but still persist in the 21st century.