Anglo Ashanti War

time, the ‘total potential strength was some 80,000 to 200,000 making the Ashanti army bigger than the better known Zulu, comparable to Africa's largest- the legions of Ethiopia’ (Vandervort, 1998). On defence, under Asantehene Osei Bonsu, the army became victorious against the Fante during the Ashanti–Fante War, in 1807. Other wars against the allied clans and states of Fante, Akwapim and Akim occurred in 1811 and 1814–1816. The wars of resistance against the British and the allied states occurred simultaneously: The first Anglo-Ashanti wars occurred in 1823; the second Anglo–Ashanti wars, 1863–1864; the third Anglo–Ashanti wars, 1873–1874; the fourth Anglo–Ashanti wars, 1894 where the British became victors; and finally, the unsuccessful

These wars as mentioned above, in particular, the third Anglo–Ashanti wars of 1873–1874, accounted to be a modern war. At the end of the war, ‘the Ashanti had abandoned the capital after a bloody war. The British burned it’ (Lloyd, 1964) where the Asantehene signed harsh terms of the treaty in July 1874. The defeat on the forth Anglo–Ashanti wars, enforced the Asantehene, Agyeman Prempeh (Prempeh I) to sign the treaty which put the empire merely the ‘British Protectorate’ ending its independence in 1896. After the war and harsh terms of the treaty, Prempeh I was deposed, arrested and exiled to Seychelles, other members, royals and supporters of the Asantehene were exiled in 1902 after the 1900 Ashanti Uprising. These uprisings were known as ‘the War of the Golden Stool’. The empire was incorporated as the British Protectorate. Later, the same to the Sokoto Caliphate in Northern Nigeria, in 1902, the Asante and the whole territory of Gold Coast (Ghana) were governed through ‘indirect rule’ system. Indirect rule system will be discussed in chapter three of this book.

CENTRALIZED KINGDOMS IN CENTRAL

He (ibid) added that ‘much has been written about the buildings which distinguish the Zimbabwe culture. They are a direct response to the environment of granite rocks, being built upon granite hills and of flaked granite. The most famous site of surviving stone ruins is that of Great Zimbabwe, north of the river Sabi’. So, Shillington, ed., (2005: 597) summarized that ‘Great Zimbabwe is the name given to the largest site of ruins in Africa, covering a span of approximately 1800 acres’. In relation with the powerful 12th century City State of Kilwa, in the south of the modern day Tanzania, Landau (2010: 45) justified that ‘at that time, an Indian Ocean–affiliated family of traders on the Swahili coast at Kilwa Kisimane, the so-called Shirazi dynasty, also achieved their greatest power. They built their own cut-stone palace at Husuni Kubwa; their Sultan, Hasan bin Sulaiman (1320–1333), appears on a coin unearthed along with other foreign artifacts at the Great Zimbabwe