Location: Southern Ghana

Population: 1.5 million

Language: Asante (Akan cluster of Twi)

Neighboring Peoples: Baule, Fanti, Ewe, Dagomba

Types of Art:
Aside from the stools which have been mentioned above, the Asante are best known
for their other royal arts, which include staff and umbrella finials, lost wax cast gold
jewelry, and brass gold weights. Kente cloth is a high-prestige textile that was
originally woven from imported silk and now is woven of rayon and other synthetics.
Kente cloth has been worn in Ghana by rulers and since independence by commoners
as well, and it has also become an important African-American cultural symbol. The
deceased are honored by fired-clay memorial heads.

History:
The rise of the early Akan centralized states can be traced to the 13th century and may
be related to the opening of trade routes established to move gold throughout the
region. It was not until the end of the 17th century, however, that the grand Asante
Kingdom emerged in the central forest region of Ghana, when several small states
united under the Chief of Kumasi in a move to achieve political freedom from the
Denkyira. It is said that the Golden Stool of the Asante descended from heaven to rest
on the knees of Osei Tutu, the first Ashantehene, who was guided by his adviser the
priest Okomfe Anokye. The Golden Stool became the focal point of the creation of
the Akan confederacy, of which the most important people were the Asante. The
Asante dominated Ghana for the next 200 years and are still a dominant political force
today.

Economy:
The early Asante economy depended on the trade of gold and enslaved peoples to
Mande and Hausa traders, as well as to Europeans along the coast. In return for acting
as the middlemen in the slave trade, the Asante received firearms, which were used to
increase their already dominant power, and various luxury goods that were
incorporated into Asante symbols of status and political office. The forest surrounding
the Asante served as an important source of kola nuts, which were sought after for
gifts and used as a mild stimulant among the Muslim peoples to the north.

Political Systems:
The Asante developed a highly centralized, semimilitary government with a paramount
chief known as the Asantahene. The Asantahene, who inherited his position along
matrilineal lines, had numerous chiefs below him throughout the kingdom who acted on
his behalf. He also had many counselors with whom he conferred before making
decisions. The Asantahene still plays an important role in Ghana today, symbolically
linking the past with current Ghanaian politics.

Religion:
The spiritual center of the Asante alliance is the mystical Golden Stool. It is believed to
have descended out of the skies in the late 17th century as a result of the prayers of
Okomfo Anokye, chief priest of the King of Asante, Nana Osei Tutu. The stool was
presented to the people after the defeat of the Denkyira, and Anokye declared that it
contained the spirit of the whole of the Asante nation and that all of the strength of the
nation depended on the safety of the stool. Essentially, the stool embodies the political
unity of the Akan states and the power of the chiefs of Asante. Another essential part
of Asante religion is the honoring of departed kings who are represented by stools
which have been blackened during a sacrificial ceremony. Although the golden stool is
clearly a more visible representation of the spiritual link to the King, it is the blackened
stool that truly honors the strength and continuity of the throne.