Kwaku Dua I Panyin

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Kwaku Dua I
Asantehene of Asanteman; Kumasehene of Kumasi
King of the Kingdom of Ashanti
Reign25 August 1834 – 27 April 1867
Coronation 25 August 1834
Predecessor Osei Yaw Akoto
Successor Kofi Karikari
Bornc.1797
Kumasi, Ashanti
Died27 April 1867 (aged 70)
Kumasi, Ashanti
Full name
Otumfuo Nana Kwaku Dua I Panyin
House House of Beretuo Dynasty

Kwaku Dua I (Kwaku Dua I Panyin, or Barima Fredua Agyeman, c.1797 – 27 April 1867) was the eighth King of the Ashanti) from August 25, 1834 until Asantehene Kwaku Dua I death in 1867. [1]

Ashanti, also known as Asante, are an ethnic group native to the Ashanti Region of modern-day Ghana. The Asante speak Twi. The language is spoken by over nine million ethnic Asante people as a first or second language. Asante is often assumed to mean "because of wars".

Contents

Biography

King Asantehene Kwaku Dua I of the Kingdom of Ashanti took part in the fighting against the Gyaman in 1818–19, and commanded an Ashanti division in the Battle of Katamanso in 1826 as a Prince. [1]

In 1834, King Asantehene Kwaku Dua I of the Ashanti succeeded Osei Yaw Akoto. King Asantehene Kwaku Dua I's wives included the Kingdom of Ashanti Nana Takyiau and Nana Konadu Somprema (sister of Nana Takyiau). [1]

Osei Yaw Akoto, was the seventh King of the Kingdom of Ashanti reigning from 1824 to King Asantehene Osei Yaw Akoto death on 21 February 1834.

Reign as King of the Kingdom of Ashanti

Witnessing the frequent human sacrifices in Ashanti, the Dutch were convinced that the Ashanti and had vast manpower, some of which could be made available to the Dutch army. On 18 March 1837, Kwaku Dua I, signed an agreement with King William I of the Netherlands to provide recruits, called Belanda Hitam. 1,000 recruits would join the Dutch East Indies Army within a year in exchange for 2,000 guns immediately and 4,000 later. Jacob Huydecoper, a mulatto from Elmina opened a recruitment agency in Kumasi to this end. As recruitment was still supposed to be voluntary, slaves offered to the recruiting agent received an advance payment to purchase their freedom. As part of the deal two Ashanti princes, (Kwasi Boakye and Kwame Poku) were to be educated in the Netherlands. [1]

William I of the Netherlands King of the Netherlands and Grand Duke of Luxembourg 1815 - 1840

William I was a Prince of Orange and the first King of the Netherlands and Grand Duke of Luxembourg.

Netherlands Constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Europe

The Netherlands is a country located mainly in Northwestern Europe. The European portion of the Netherlands consists of twelve separate provinces that border Germany to the east, Belgium to the south, and the North Sea to the northwest, with maritime borders in the North Sea with Belgium, Germany and the United Kingdom. Together with three island territories in the Caribbean Sea—Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba— it forms a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The official language is Dutch, but a secondary official language in the province of Friesland is West Frisian.

Belanda Hitam Black recruits of the Dutch army from Elmina

Belanda Hitam were a group of African recruits in the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army during the colonial period.

Wars and succession

From 1841 to 1844, Kwaku Dua I fought against the Gonja and Dagomba to the north. In 1863, the Ashanti invaded territory to their south which was then under British protection, which soured relations with the British. [2]

This page discusses the Ghanaian kingdom of Gonja; for uses for the word Ganja, see Ganja (disambiguation)

The Dagombas are an ethnic group of northern Ghana, numbering about 931,000 (2012). They inhabit the Northern Region of Ghana in the sparse savanna region below the sahelian belt, known as the Sudan. They speak the Dagbani language which belongs to the More-Dagbani sub-group of the Gur languages. There are around 1 million speakers of Dagbani. The Dagomba are historically related to the Mossi people. The More/Mossi now have their homeland in central present-day Burkina Faso. The homeland of the Dagomba is called Dagbon and covers about 20,000 km2 in area.

Kwaku Dua I died in 1867 and was succeeded by Kofi Karikari. [1]

Kofi Karikari King of Ashanti

Kofi Karikari was the tenth King of the Kingdom of Ashanti, grandnephew of Kwaku Dua I, whose sudden death in April 1867 sparked internal strife about the succession. Kofi Karikari was chosen by electoral majority, reigning from 28 May 1867 until his forced abdication on 26 October 1874. A notable achievement of King Asantehene Kofi Karikari was the intentional neglect of the armed forces, a step taken to avoid the escalation of war.

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 T. C. McCaskie, State and Society in Pre-Colonial Asante, Cambridge University Press, 2003, p. 69-70
  2. Daniel Miles McFarland, Historical Dictionary of Ghana, Scarecrow Press, 1995, p. 112
Asantehene Genealogical Tree Timeline History
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Genealogical tree of the Asantehenes the Emperors of the Ashanti people and Ashanti City-State and Ashantiland and Empire of Ashanti