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Asante Empire

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The Ashanti, or Asante, are a major ethnic group in Ghana. Prior to European colonization, the Ashanti people developed a large and influential empire in West Africa. The Ashanti later developed the powerful Ashanti Confederacy and became the dominant presence in the region.

The Ashanti Empire

The Ashanti or Asante established their state in its historically known location shortly in the late 16th century. Some of its features -- military and economic -- evolved directly out of its wars and disarticulation caused by foreign European powers, who covetously sought the well-known gold deposits, which gave the coastal area its name The Gold Coast, now known as Ghana. During the 16th century when the Portuguese were operating in west of Africa, the Asante manifested themselves just merely as small bands of independent chiefdoms, each with its very own capital and political organization. European interference commenced, however, market competition and civil turbulence.

The History and Culture

Osei Tutu and his chief priest Komfo Anokye unified the independent chiefdoms into a powerful political and military power in the region. The new national spirit and dynasty developed through the invention of the Golden Stool, which Komfo Anokye according to legend caused it to be cast down from the heavens. The Golden stool represents all the people of the Ashanti nation, living, dead, and yet to be born. Moreover, upon the great unifying symbol that is the Golden Stool, Osei Tutu, and his Chief priest Komfo Anokye established the Ashanti Empire. This new state, with the help of firearms and gunpowder, were able to subdue the opposition states and chiefdoms, thereby solidifying their power and creating a powerful confederacy. The Empire buckled only in 1874 before the military and imperialistic might of the British Empire, which in that time, controlled 1/8 of the world’s surface. The Ashanti became one people and have remained so even to today.

Geography and Demography

Ghana has a variable terrain, coasts and mountains, forests and grasslands, lush agricultural areas and near deserts. The Ashanti territory is inland and located centrally -- mostly fertile and to some extent mountainous. There are two seasons -- the rainy season (April to November) and the dry season (December to March). The land has several streams; the dry season, however is extremely desiccated. It is hot year round.

Ashanti is generally healthier than the coast. Nevertheless, typical to West Africa, malaria remains a bane and there are numerous fevers -- backwater, yellow fever, relapsing, typhoid, typhus, cholera, and others. Leprosy, elephantiasis, and sleeping sickness are the more incredible diseases; intestinal and skin parasites however are recurrent.

Today Ashanti number close to 7 million people (about 30% of the Ghanaian population), speaking Asante, also referred to as Twi, a member of the Niger-Congo language group. Their political power has waned since Ghana become the first modern independent sub-Saharan nation), but they remain largely influential. The current president of Ghana, John Agyekum Kufuor is Ashanti.

Farming

The Ashanti are mainly an agricultural people, and farmed the land so extensively that hunting rarely played a principal role in their society. They obtained fish typically through trade from coastal groups specialized as anglers. Dogs, goats, and fowl are frequently found, especially chicken, for the Ashanti used them in sacrifices and religious ceremonies as well as food. In some quarters, sheep, pigs, and cattle are kept.

The Ashanti prepared the fields by burning before the onset of the rainy season and cultivated with an iron hoe. Fields are fallowed for a couple years, usually after two to four years of cultivation. Plants cultivated include plantains, yams, manioc, corn, sweet potatoes, millet, beans, onions, peanuts, tomatoes, and many fruits. Manioc and corn are New World transplants introduced during the Atlantic European trade.

Many of these vegetables crops could be harvested twice a year and the cassava (manioc), after a two-year growth, provides a starchy root. The Ashanti transformed palm wine, maize and millet into beer, a favorite drink; and made use of the oil from palm for many culinary and domestic uses.

Craft Work

The Ashanti were expert artisans. Ironworkingby bellows and charcoal fire was a specialized craft. Their blacksmiths made work tools such as axes, hoe blades, knives, daggers, projectiles, nails, hammers; and in addition, many ornaments such as bells, chains, just to name a few. Handmade pottery was also a focused craft, as well as woodcarving, which rivals figurines and stools collected in both Europe and Americas.

Clothing

The main cloth of the Ashanti was the kente cloth, known locally as nwentoma. Clothing production was typically gender specialized. Women grew and picked the cotton needed to spin it in a thread. The weaving performed along family lines is men's work. Customarily, the Ashanti weaver used a small horizontal loom and produces a narrow bolt. They weaved artistic designs into the fabric or stamp it with dye. The great ceremonial umbrellas that chiefs wore received special attention from these expert artisans. Related to the Golden Stool, the umbrella called Katamanso, "The Covering of the State," is made of camel's hair and wool. An ornamental figurine, plated with gold or silver, topped all ceremonial umbrellas.

Communication

The Ashanti also invented a "talking drum." They drummed messages to the extents of over 200 miles (321.8 kilometers), as rapidly as a telegraph. Twi, the language of the Ashanti is tonal and more meaning is generated by tone than in English. The drumsreproduced these tones, punctuations, and the accents of a phrase so that the cultivated ear hears the entirety of the phrase itself. The Ashantireadily hear and understood the phrases produced by these “talking drums.”Standard phrases called for meetings of the chiefs or to arms, warned of danger, and broadcasted announcements of the death of important figures. Some drums were used for proverbs and ceremonial presentations.

Family, Females, and Children

The household, the basis of economic and social life, was often polygynous. The Ashanti female line (matrilineal) was of enormous importance .This relationship of mother to son, or mother to daughter determined land rights, inheritance of property, offices and titles. One may also derive from this matrilineal line social and political status, and the focus of ancestor cult, upon which ritual activity was based. The blood produces emotional ties, for it is the mother's blood that creates the child's body.

The father catalyzes the conception and provides the soul (nkra) of the child, that is, the child receives its life force from the father. Its character and personality traits reflect that of the father. Though not considered as important as the mother, the male interaction continues in the place of birth after marriage, that is, the wife leaves her family home. The male line in effect creates a patrilineal village. In a sense, every person has two lines one provides the blood, land, and inheritance, (Mother) and the other, the soul. (Father)

The female line also establishes the family, abusua, all who descend from a common female ancestor. The nkra and abusua lines are totemic (associated with plant or animal that worked with or helped the ancestors) and practice foods taboos and prohibit marriageswith fellow members.Incest was strictly forbidden in the kingdom.

[[The abusua ancestorsowned the land and were buried in it. Typically, not many individual Ashanti owned land, but rather occupied that which came down from a previous ancestor. The products produced from the land can be independently owned however. However, the occupier of the land cannot be removed from the land, nor can the land be sold, nor can the occupier determine which of his descendants gets a major share. Because the land is matrilineal, a man's goods are passed down to his brother, if he dies young, or passed to his sister's sons, certain goods, if agreed by the abusua, can be passed from father to son, or in some cases, father to daughter.

Both men and women can possess property made or acquired by individual efforts. Heirlooms and carved stools -- all possessions of family and lineage property -- may be disposed of by individuals if they choose to do so.

Trade occurred at both the state and local levels. The state ran the import-export business and other local trade typically took place in local market towns, where handicraftsand food products are exchanged. This minor trade tends to be conducted by women, normally in the interest of the household. Traditionally, local trade involves much haggling whether exchanges occur through direct barter or cowry shells as money. Staterepresentatives regulated these local markets and exacted taxes.

In addition, by tradition, Ashanti bought and sold slaves. (Normally slaves were not Ashanti themselves, but rather members of other groups whom some Ashanti considered inferior).Those enslaved included prisoners of war and criminals, but also those place in servitude as pawns for debt. Pawn work was interest on a loan. When possible the debtors redeemed these pawns, the pawns retained their clan affiliations, and their offspring suffered no stigma. This tradein slaves tended to occur not in the market but through personal transactions.

Slaves, the Ashanti report, were seldom abused. A person who abuses a slave was held in high contempt by society. They further demonstrate the “humanity” of Ashanti slavery (in relation to slavery in the Americas) by pointing out those slaves were allowed to marry, and the children of slaves were born free. If found desirable a female slave may become a wife, the master preferred such a status to that of a free woman in a conventional marriage, because this type of marriage allowed the children to inherit some of the father's property and status.

This favored arrangement occurred primarily because of conflict with the matrilineal system. The Ashanti slave master felt more comfortable with a slave girl or pawn wife who had no abusua to intercede on her behalf every time the couple argued. With the wife's slave status, the man controlled his children unquestionably with the mother isolated from her own kin.

Political Order & Status

Standing among families was largely political. The royal family typically tops the hierarchy, followed by the families of the chiefs of territorial divisions. In each chiefdom, a particular female line provides the chief. A committee from among several men eligible for the post elects that chief.


The election of chiefs followed a pattern. The senior female of the chiefly lineage nominated the eligible males. This senior female then consulted the elders, male and female, of that line. The final candidate is then selected. That nomination is then sent to a council of elders, who represent other lineages in the town or district. The Elders then present the nomination to the assembled people.

If the assembled citizens disapprove of the nominee, the process is restarted. Chosen, the new chief is en-stooled by the Elders, who admonish him with expectations.

The chosen chief swears a solemn oath to the Earth Goddess and to his ancestors to fulfill his duties honorably in which he “sacrifices” himself and his life for the betterment of the Oman. (State)

This elected and en-stooled chief enjoys a great majestic ceremony with much spectacle and celebration. He reigns with much despotic power, including the ability to make judgments of life and death on his subjects. However, he does not enjoy absolute rule. Upon the stool, the Chief is sacred, the holy intermediary between people and ancestors. His powers theoretically are more apparent than real. His powers hinge on his attention to the advice and decisions of the Council of Elders. The chief can be impeached, de-stooled, if the Eldersand the people turn against him. He can be reduced to man, subject to derision for his failure. There are numerous Ashanti sayings that reflect the attitudes of the Ashanti towards government.

"When a king has good counselors, his reign is peaceful"

"One man does not rule a nation"

"The reign of vice does not last"

The Ashantihene (King of all Ashanti) reigns over all and chief of the division of Kumasi, the nation’s capital. He is elected in the same manner as all other chiefs. In this hierarchical structure, every chief swear fealty to the one above him -- from village and subdivision to division to the chief of Kumasi, and the Ashantihene swears fealty to the State.

The elders and the people (public opinion) circumscribe the power of the Ashantihene, and the chiefs of other divisions considerably check the power of the King. This in practical effect creates a system of checks and balances. Nevertheless, as the symbol of the nation, the Ashantihene receives significant deference ritually for the context is religious in that he is a symbol of the people, living, dead or yet to be born, in the flesh. When the king commits an act not approved of by the counsel of elders or the people, he could possibly be impeached, and made into a common man.

The existence of aristocratic organizations and the council of elders is evidence of an oligarchic tendency in Ashanti political life. Though older men tend to monopolize political power, Ashanti instituted an organization of young men, the nmerante, that tend to democratize and liberalize the political process. The council of elders undertake actions only after consulting a representative of the Young Men. Their views must be taken seriously and added into the conversation.

The Ashanti state, in effect, is thus a theocracy. It invokes religious rather than secular-legal postulates. What the modern state views as crimes, Ashanti view as sins. Antisocial acts disrespect the ancestors, and only secondarily harmful to the community. If the chief or King fail to punish such acts, he invokes the anger of the ancestors, and is therefore in danger of impeachment. The penalty for some crimes (sins) is death, but this is seldom imposed, rather banishment or imprisonment.

The King typically exacts or commutes all capital cases. These commuted sentences by King and chiefs sometimes occur by ransomor bribe; they are regulated in such a way that they should not be mistaken for fines, but are considered as revenue to the state, which for the most part welcomes quarrels and litigation. Commutations tend to be far more frequent than executions.

[[==Ashanti are repulsed by murder, and suicide is considered murder. They decapitate those who commit suicide, the conventional punishment for murder. The suicide thus had contempt for the court, for only the King may kill an Ashanti.

In a murder trial, intent must be established. If thehomicide is accidental, the murderer pays compensation to the lineage of the deceased. The insane cannot be executed because of the absence of responsible intent. Except for murder or cursing the King; in the case of cursing the king, drunkenness is a valid defense. Capital crimes include murder, incest within the female or male line, and intercourse with a menstruating woman, rape of a married woman, and adultery with any of the wives of a chief or the King. Assaults or insults of a chief or the courtor the King also carried capital punishment.

Cursing the King, calling down powers to harm the King is considered an unspeakable act and carries the weight of death. One who invokes another to commit such an act must pay a heavy indemnity. Practitioners of sorcery and witchcraft receive death but not by decapitation, for their blood must not be shed. They receive execution by strangling, burning, or drowning.

Ordinarily, families or lineages settle disputes between individuals. Nevertheless, such disputes can be brought to trial before a chief by uttering the taboooath of a chief or the King. In the end, the King's Court is the sentencing court, for only the King can order the death penalty. Before the Council of Elders and the King's Court, the litigants orate comprehensively. Anyone present can cross-examine the defendant or the accuser, and if the proceedings do not lead to a verdict, a special witness is called to provide additional testimony. If there is only one witness, whose oath sworn assures the truth is told. Moreover, that he favors or is hostile to either litigant is unthinkable. Cases with no witness, like sorcery or adultery are settled by ordeals, like drinking poison.

Ancestor worship establishes the Ashanti moral system, and it provides thus the principle foundation for governmental sanctions. The link between mother and child centers the entire network, which includes ancestors and fellow men as well. Its judicial systememphasizes the Ashanti conception of rectitude and good behavior, which favors harmony among the people. The rules were made by Nyame (God) and the ancestors and one must behave accordingly.

Conception

The mingling during intercourse of the male spirit (krah) with the female blood causes conception. In the eighth month, the mother goes to her mother's house. This period of childbirth normally excluded males. The mother was assisted by four midwives gave birth in a sitting position. The child receives its name at birth, given the particular day of its birth. The midwives cut the umbilical cord against a piece of wood and the infant is then bathed. Unlike other cultures, the afterbirth is discarded without ritual burial.

During the first eight days, the Ashanti consider the baby a ghost child, uncertain whether the "child will live or die. It is believed, that a ghost mother in the spirit world lost this child and will attempt to get it back. If the child lives, the family holds a ceremony to affirm that the child is a true human baby and the child receives a patronym of a paternal grandfather or grandmother and thus binds it to its father’s line, the ntoro. The day name remains important and is used more frequently, but it’s not mandatory.

The Ashanti killed twins only in the royal family. Ordinarily, boy twins become fly switchers at court and twin girl’s potential wives of the King. If the twins are a boy and girl, no particular career awaits them. Women who bear triplets are greatly honored because three is regarded as a lucky number. Special rituals ensue for the third, sixth, and ninth child. The fifth child (unlucky five) can expect misfortune. Families with many children are well respected and barren women scoffed. [[ Tolerant parents are typical among the Ashanti. Childhood is considered a happy time and children cannot be responsible for their actions. The child is not responsible for their actions until after puberty. A child is harmless and there is no worry for the control of its soul, the original purpose of all funeral rites, so the ritual funerals typically given to the deceased Ashanti are not as lavish for the children.

The Ashanti hold puberty rites only for females. Fathers instruct their sons without public observance. The privacy of boys was respected in the Ashanti kingdom. As menstruation approaches, a girl goes to her mother's house. When the girl's menstruation is disclosed, the mother announces the good news in the village beating an iron hoe with a stone. Old women come out and sang Bara (menstrual) songs. The mother spills a libation of palm wine on the earth and recites the following prayer:

'“Supreme Sky God, who alone is great,

Upon whom men lean and do not fall,

Receive this wine and drink." '


'"Earth Goddess, whose day ,

Of worship is Thursday,

Receive this wine and drink,

Spirit of our ancestors,

Receive this wine and drink"'


'"O Spirit Mother do not come,

And take her away,

And do not permit her,

To menstruate only to die.”'

Menstruating women suffer numerous restrictions. The Ashanti viewed them as ritually unclean. They cook for no male, nor eat any food cooked for a man. If a menstruating woman enters the ancestral stool house, she was arrested, and the punishment was typically death. If this punishment is not exacted, the Ashanti believe, the ghost of the ancestors would strangle the chief. She crosses the threshold of no man's house and thus she lives in a special house during these periods. She swears no oath and none swears an oathagainst or for her. She doesn’t per take in any of the ceremonial observances and she doesn’t visit any sacred places.

Marriage

The Ashanti betroth a girl, if not in childhood, immediately after the puberty ceremony. They do not regard marriage as an important ritualevent, but as a state that follows soon and normally after the puberty ritual. A man marries a cross cousin -- his father's sister's daughter or his mother's brother's daughter. Parallel cousins are members of the same abusua group and hence prohibited as marriage partners. Sometimes nuptial arrangements are arranged before the birth of the couple. Parents allow boys some initiative, but he must receive the consent of the households, the only formalities required. The Ashanti require a bride price, various good give by the boy's family to that of the girl.

The Ashanti require girls to be virgins atmarriage and punish adultery relatively severely. If a wife is caught or confesses to adultery, her parents must pay the husband a compensatory payment and the male seducer pays an amount commensurate with his social status. Adultery with any of the King's wives result in torture of the seducer and death for the guilty. The Ashanti[ allow a man divorce for a wife's adultery, as well as barrenness, drunkenness, quarrelsomeness, witchcraft, and mother-in-law trouble.

The Ashanti also allow a woman a divorce for impotence, adultery, laziness, stupidity, witchcraft, desertion, or for taking a wife without her permission, if she is the senior wife. Among the Ashanti, polygyny is common and legal. However, the senior wife must be consulted and had consented. Seemingly, in this agricultural society, jealousy is seldom, for the woman likes to have a co-wife to lighten the work. Additional wives also add to the husband's standing and social status.

Death

Sickness and death are major events in the kingdom. The ordinary herbalist divines the supernatural cause of the illness and treats it with herbal medicines. The medicine man, a person possessed by a spirit, combats pure witchcraft.

If the patient fails to respond to medicine, the family performed the last rites. The a member of the family poured water down the throat of the dying person when it is believed the soulis leaving the body and recite the following prayer:

Your abusua [naming them] say: Receive this water and drink, and do not permit any evil to come whence you are setting out, and permit all the women of the household to bear children.

People loathed being alone for long without someone available to perform this rite before the sick collapsed. The family washes the corpse, dresses it in its best clothes, and adorns it with packets of gold dust (money for the after-life), ornaments, and food for the journey "up the hill." The body was normally buried within 24 hours. Until that time the funeral party engage in dancing, drumming, shooting of guns, and much drunkenness, all accompanied by the wailing of relatives. This was done because the Ashanti typically believed that death was not something to be sad about, but rather a part of life. Of course, funeral rites for the death of a King involve the whole kingdom and are much more of an elaborate affair.

The greatest and most frequent ceremonies of the Ashanti recalled the spirits of departed rulers with an offering of food and drink, asking their favor for the common good, called the Adae. The day before the Adae, talking drums broadcast the approaching ceremonies. The stool treasurer gathers sheep and liquor that will be offered. The chief priest officiates the Adae in the stool house where the ancestors came. The priest offers each food and a beverage. The public ceremony occurs outdoors, where all the people joined the dancing. Minstrels chant ritualphrases; the talking drums extol the chief and the ancestors in traditional phrases.

The Odwera, the other large ceremony, occurs in September and typically lasted for a week or two. It is a time of cleansing of sin from society the defilement, and for the purification of shrines of ancestors and gods. After the sacrifice and feast of a black hen -- of which both the living and the dead share, a new year begins in which all were clean, strong, and healthy.

Religion

The pervasive concern over ancestors is the strongest motive of all ceremonies. Nevertheless, Ashanti religion and cosmology extend beyond the ancestors. The universe is peopled with many kinds of spirits, the greatest of which is the Supreme One, who heads a pantheon of gods and spirits, which were created by the Supreme One. These intermediaries act as patrons of villages, districts, and households. Others are gods of a place, geographic features, such as the gods of rivers. Many myths and stories describe how the Supreme One and the other gods acquired their characteristics. Some of these myths are widely known such as Kwame Anansi or known in the west as Anansi The Spider.

Each godhas a temporary residence on the earth. The shrine may be as simple as a stone or of a more elaborate design. Trained priests look after these objects and shrines. Their knowledge consists in how to call the god to come and speak, using the priest himself as a medium. There were minor spiritswho abide in beads and other small objects that are carried by ordinary people as charms. The Ashanti believed all animals and plants have souls to which appeals could be made. Some spirits, of course, are hostile, and dangerous, from them evil acts such as black magic and sorcery could be learned. At any rate, all are related and descended from the Supreme One.

Among the Ashanti peoples, Christianity and Islammodified some of these traditional beliefsand practices. The ancestors, as well as matrilineal descent, bride price, and the concept of the descent of the spirit from the Supreme One through males, however, continue as an important ceremonial and ritual aspect of identity and group

References

christianity Islam Golden Stool

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