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Osei Kofi Tutu I was one of the founders of the Ashanti Empire, assisted by Okomfo Anokye, his chief priest and a distant relative from the town of Awukugua–Akuapem. The Asante comes from the Akan ethnic group of West Africa. Osei Tutu I led an alliance of Asante states against the regional hegemony, the Denkyira, completely defeating them. He ruled the Kwaman State between c.1680/c.1695 and 1701 and he ruled the Ashanti Empire from late 1701 to around 1717.
Osei Bonsu also known as Osei Tutu Kwame was the Asantehene. He reigned either from 1800 to 1824 or from 1804 to 1824. During his reign as the king, the Ashanti fought the Fante confederation and ended up dominating Gold Coast trade. In Akan, Bonsu means whale, and is symbolic of his achievement of extending the Ashanti Empire to the coast. He died in Kumasi, and was succeeded by Osei Yaw Akoto.
Kusi Obodom was the 3rd Asantehene of the Ashanti Empire from 1750 to 1764. He was elected as the successor to Opoku Ware I as opposed to the nominee suggested by Opoku Ware I. Obodom's reign was inaugurated with a civil war in response to his election until stability ensued by 1751.
Opoku Ware I was the 2nd Asantehene of Oyoko heritage, who ruled the Ashanti Empire. Between 1718 and 1722, Opoku Ware became Asantehene during a period of civil disorder after the death of the 1st Asanthene. From 1720 to 1721, Opoku established his power.
Osei Kwadwo was the 4th Asantehene of the Ashanti Empire who reigned from 1764 to 1777. Osei Kwadwo was elected in replacement of Kusi Obodom who was removed out of power.
Osei is both a surname and a given name. It is the fourth most common surname in Ghana. Notable people with the name include:
The Asante Empire, also known as 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 and also parts of Ivory Coast and Togo. Due to the empire's military prowess, wealth, architecture, sophisticated hierarchy and culture, the Asante 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.
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 in Tafo, Kumasi, the capital of the Ashanti Region of Ghana. The first palace is now a museum. Otumfuor Opoku Ware II built the new palace, which is close to the old one and is where the current Asantehene, Otumfuor Osei Tutu II, resides.
Juaben is a small town in the Ejisu-Juaben Municipal District, a district in the Ashanti Region of Ghana.
Prempeh II, was the 14th Asantehene, or king of the Ashanti, reigning from 22 June 1931 to 27 May 1970.
Opoku is both a given Akan name and a surname. Notable people with the name include:
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.
Adoma Akosua was the fifth Asantehemaa of the Ashanti kingdom in West Africa. Born in about 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 Asante 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 Asante Empire. Scholars such as Jan Vansina have described the governance of the Asante Empire as a federation where state affairs were regulated by a council of elders headed by the king, who was simply primus inter pares.
Konadu Yaadom, also Kwadu Yaadom 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.
The Economy of the Asante Empire was largely a pre-industrial and agrarian economy. The Asante established different procedures for mobilizing state revenue and utilizing public finance. Asante trade extended upon two main trade routes; one at the North and the other at the South. The Northern trade route was dominated by the trade in Kola nuts and at the South, the Asante engaged in the Atlantic Slave Trade. A variety of economic industries such as cloth-weaving and metal working industries existed. The Asante originally farmed in subsistence until agriculture became extensive during the 19th century.
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.
Opoku Fofie, born around 1775 and died in March 1804, was the sixth asantehene (monarch) of the Ashanti Empire, belonging to the dynastic house of Opoku Ware of the Oyoko clan. The youngest son of the asantehemaa Konadu Yaadom and Adu Twum Kaakyire, he acceded to the throne by the principle of dynastic alternation in force since the founding of the empire, after the crisis that opposed his mother to her predecessor Osei Kwame from 1797 to 1803.
References
- Akyeampong, Emmanuel Kwaku; Gates, Henry Louis (2012). Dictionary of African Biography. Vol. 6. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-195382-075.