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What is now Ashanti, was composed a little independent tribes. Twum and Antwi are said to have been the first chiefs of what is now the district of Kumasi whose capital was called Kwaman. Their fifth successor was Nana Osei-Tutu. He acceded to the Kumasi stool about the year 1697; and during the next thirty-four years he was destined to turn the district of Kumasi into the Ashanti Kingdom (Asanteman). Before the reign of Nana Osei-Tutu Kumasi was subject to the Denkyira nation and had to pay annual tribute to its king in the form of gold dust and wives. Osei-Tutu was determined to put an end to this. He first set about forming a loose confederation with the nearby chiefs, through conquests, persuation and treaties. Soon he felt he had sufficient strength to withstand the might of the Denkyiras. He therefore declared was against Denkyiras by mutilating the tribute collectors and sending them back with stones. Ensuing war, the Denkyiras were totally defeated at the famous battle of Feyyiase, near Kumasi, in 1701. Their King, Ntim Gyakari, was captured and beheaded. Nana Osei-Tutu achieved this feat with the help of his greatest friend and counsellor, a man he had met in his boyhood, while he was a servant at the palace of King of Denkyira. |
What is now Ashanti, was composed a little independent tribes. Twum and Antwi are said to have been the first chiefs of what is now the district of Kumasi whose capital was called Kwaman. Their fifth successor was Nana Osei-Tutu. He acceded to the Kumasi stool about the year 1697; and during the next thirty-four years he was destined to turn the district of Kumasi into the Ashanti Kingdom (Asanteman). Before the reign of Nana Osei-Tutu Kumasi was subject to the Denkyira nation and had to pay annual tribute to its king in the form of gold dust and wives. Osei-Tutu was determined to put an end to this. He first set about forming a loose confederation with the nearby chiefs, through conquests, persuation and treaties. Soon he felt he had sufficient strength to withstand the might of the Denkyiras. He therefore declared was against Denkyiras by mutilating the tribute collectors and sending them back with stones. Ensuing war, the Denkyiras were totally defeated at the famous battle of Feyyiase, near Kumasi, in 1701. Their King, Ntim Gyakari, was captured and beheaded. Nana Osei-Tutu achieved this feat with the help of his greatest friend and counsellor, a man he had met in his boyhood, while he was a servant at the palace of King of Denkyira. |
This is no other than the celebrated Okomfo Anokye (the priest Anokye), the greatest and most respected priest of Ashanti. Besides his achievements as a priest, this man had such talent for directing the affairs of state that he has been described as the Cardinal Worsley of Ashanti. Many laws and customs are referred to as Anokye's injunctions. The union owed its secure foundation to his exceptional qualities. History picture 1970 Asanthene Osei Agyeman Premheth Tradition says Anokye had such magical powers that some of this almost miraculous deeds can be found to this day. The great influence Anokye had on the foundation of the Ashanti nation is admitted by all. If his fame is less than that of Nana Osei Tutu, it is only because the latter was, after all the king. None of the Achievements of Anokye can be compared with his creation of the Golden Stool. The aim of the loose Ashanti alliance was to throw off the yoke of the Denkyira people. This had been realised. They went further and defeated other chiefs. The crucial point now was whether, with its immediate object realised, the Union was going to break up. Anokye made up his mind that it must not he st to work to provide a common stool, in order that the whole nation might be firmly united, as each section was, through such one stool. Only genius, and genius who was at the same time a priest with good reputation, could have done so. He began work on his objective and the result of his untiring efforts was the institution of the Golden Stool. The day was Friday, Anokye had summoned all the chiefs of the Union to a great gathering at Kumasi. At that gathering he "brought from the sky, with darkness and thunder, and in a thick cloud of white dust, a wooden stool, adorned with gold, which floated to earth and landed gently on Nana Osei Tutu's knee" Anokye made a announcement that the spirit of the whole nation, and all its strength and bravery depended on the safety of the stool. To impress this on their minds, he caused the king and the leading chiefs and queen mothers present, to give him clippings from their nails and from their hair. These were mixed into a medicine and smeared on the stool. The remainder was drunk by the contributors as a sacramental drink. Thus the Sunsum (Soul) Of each was provided a resting or anchored place in the Okomfo Anokye succeeded in bringing about the national consciousness the " henceforth Ashanti was a nation linked by the common religious bond of which the Golden Stool was the visible symbol. This is the origin of the famous Asikadwa Kofi "Friday's Golden Stool" of Ashanti, which has to this day survived many dangers with tis unifying power unimpaired." |
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