View source for Adanse

{{Short description|Pre-colonial kingdom in modern Ghana}}
{{Use Ghanaian English|date=April 2025}}
{{Infobox former country
| native_name            = Adanse
| conventional_long_name = Adanse State
| common_name            = Adanse
| status                 = Former kingdom
| government_type        = Monarchy; transitioned to clan-based confederation; later elective chieftaincy
| date_pre               = c. 393–800 [[Common Era|CE]]
| event_pre              = Initial permanent settlement at [[Adansemanso]]{{sfn|Konadu|Campbell|2016|p=53}}{{sfn|Shinnie|2005|pp=25–42}}
| life_span              = 9th century–1659<br>1659–1701 (Vassal to the [[Kingdom of Denkyira|Denkyira]])<br>1701–1873 (as part of the [[Asante Empire]])<br>1873–1935 (part of the Gold Coast Colony)<br>1935–1957 (as part of the Asante Kingdom)<br>1957–present (as part of [[Ghana]])
| year_start             = 9th century
| event_start            = [[Adansemanso]] populous during this period {{sfn|Kea|2000|p=522}}
| date_event1            = 13th to 15th century
| event1                 = Peak occupation of [[Adansemanso]] {{sfn|Vivian|1996|pp=37–39}}
| date_event2            = Pre-16th to 17th century
| event2                 = Formation of Adanse as a centralized Akan state settlement{{sfn|Vivian|1996|pp=37–39}}{{sfn|Shinnie|2005|p=36}}
| date_event3            = 16th to 17th century
| event3                 = Decline of [[Adansemanso]] {{sfn|Vivian|1996|p=39}}
| date_event4            = 1659
| event4                 = Became a [[Tributary state|tributary]] of [[Denkyira]]
| year_end               = 1701
| event_end              = [[Battle of Feyiase]], declared for and joined the [[Asante Kingdom]] after the Asante victory over Denkyira
| date_post              = 1873; 1935
| event_post             = British occupation following the [[Third Anglo-Ashanti War]]; later restored as part of the Asante Kingdom within the Gold Coast Colony{{sfn|Wilks|1975|pp=247–249}}{{sfn|McCaskie|1995|pp=156–158}}{{sfn|Kwadwo|1994|p=177}}{{sfn|McCaskie|1995|p=2}}{{sfn|Wilks|1975|pp=247–249}}{{sfn|McCaskie|1995|pp=156–158}}{{sfn|Kwadwo|1994|p=177}}{{sfn|McCaskie|1995|p=2}}
| p1                     = 
| s1                     = Great Akan
| s2                     = Akyem Kingdoms 
| s3                     = Kingdom of Assin
| s4                     = Kwahu
| s5                     = Denkyira
| s6                     = Asante Empire
| flag_s6                = Flag_of_Ashanti.svg
| capital                = [[Adansemanso]] (first capital)<br>[[Akrokerri]] (former capital)<br>[[Dompoase]] (former capital)<br>[[Ayaase]] (former capital)<br>[[Fomena]] (permanent capital)
| common_languages       = [[Twi language|Twi (Adanse dialect)]]
| religion               = [[Akan religion]]
| currency               = {{hlist|[[Gold|Gold dust]] (''sika futuro'')|[[barter]]}}
| title_leader           = Adansehene
| today                  = {{flag|Ashanti Region}}<br>{{flag|Ghana}}
| flag_type              = [[Akan people|Akan]] state symbol
| iso3166code            = omit
| image_map_caption      = Location of Adanse south of Asante and north of Denkyira
}}

'''Adanse''' or '''Adansi''' was one of the earliest [[Akan people|Akan]] states in the southern part of present-day [[Ashanti Region]], [[Ghana]]. It is regarded as the ancestral homeland from which many of the southern [[Akan people|Akan]] trace their origins. <ref>{{cite book | title=The Early State in African Perspective: Culture, Power and Division of Labor | date=24 July 2023 | publisher=BRILL | isbn=978-90-04-61800-8 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wOf7EAAAQBAJ&dq=adanse&pg=PA64 }}</ref> Adanse became an early centre of [[Gold mining in Ghana|gold production]], regional trade, and clan-based governance, and is remembered as senior among principal Akan states. It influenced the formation of later polities including [[Denkyira]], [[Akyem]], [[Kingdom of Assin|Assin]], and the [[Asante Empire]].{{sfn|Boaten|1971|pp=50–65}}{{sfn|Daaku|1971|pp=163–175}}{{sfn|Konadu|Campbell|2016|pp=52–54}}

==Etymology==
The name Adanse derives from the Akan word ''adanseɛ'', meaning “builders”. Traditions and historians explain that Adanse earned this name because they were the first [[Akan people]] to construct permanent homes and shrines, remembered as “those who build houses”.{{sfn|Wilks|2004|pp=26–28}}{{sfn|Buah|1998|p=17}}

==History==
===Origins and settlement traditions===
Adanse is described as a spiritual and cultural origin of [[Akan people|Akan]] civilisation, associated with the place where the art of building began.{{sfn|Buah|1998|p=17}} [[Adansemanso]] is remembered as an ancestral settlement by lineages such as [[Asona]] and [[Betuo|Bretuo]].{{sfn|Shinnie|2005|p=25}} Evidence suggests continuous occupation at Adansemanso, with early settlement as early as the 5th century [[Common Era|CE]] in oral and environmental traditions,{{sfn|Konadu|Campbell|2016|p=33}} and from the 9th century [[Common Era|CE]] on radiocarbon dates and archaeology including early [[Iron metallurgy in Africa|ironworking]] and building remains.{{sfn|Shinnie|2005|pp=33–37}}

===Adansemanso and early urbanism===
{{Further|Adansemanso}}
By the 13th century, [[Adansemanso]] had become a large settlement. Ruined mounds extend over one square kilometre and have been described as “probably the largest ancient town in the central forest area of Ghana”.{{sfn|Shinnie|2005|p=36}} Excavations uncovered linear mounds of collapsed house rows over 100 metres long and multiple superimposed clay floors, which indicate long-term rebuilding.{{sfn|Shinnie|2005|pp=34–35}} In tradition it appears among the “five original great towns of the Akan”.{{sfn|Kea|2000|p=523}} Surveys show a main occupation between the 13th and 15th centuries. [[Iron]] and [[gold]] production formed key activities, with slag deposits and [[Akan goldweights|brass weights]] on-site, and possible, though inconclusive, [[glass]] production.{{sfn|Shinnie|2005|p=36}}{{sfn|Kea|2000|p=523}} A large cemetery (''asensie'') outside the town used funerary pots and [[Nsodie|terracotta figurines]] for elite commemoration.{{sfn|Kea|2000|p=523}} Kea situates [[Adansemanso]] within a wider regional city-state culture that took shape from the 9th to the 15th centuries and was anchored in craft production and long-distance trade.{{sfn|Kea|2000|pp=522–523}} 

===Decline of Adansemanso and growing political fragmentation of Adanse=== 
Prior to archaeological investigations, historians such as [[F. K. Buah]] and K. Y. Daaku placed the centralization of Adanse under Awurade Basa at Adansemanso in the 16th or 17th century, when the Afenakwa sword symbolized political unity. Buah described Adanse at this time as the first organized Akan state, from which other polities later learned the art of government.{{sfn|Buah|1998|pp=17–18}}{{sfn|Konadu|Campbell|2016|pp=52–55}} Other traditions attribute the decline to the migration of wealthy ''abirempon'' families who established new centers of power.{{sfn|Kea|2000|p=523}} Some variations of Adanse traditions state that after the death of Awurade Basa, its authority fragmented into smaller autonomous states, including [[Ayaase]], [[Dompoase]], [[Edubiase]], [[Fomena]], and Ahinsan.{{sfn|Wilks|2005|p=29}}{{sfn|Shinnie|2005|p=32}} Archaeological research later revealed that Adansemanso was largely abandoned by the late 16th century, with only a few European trade goods in its final layers.{{sfn|Shinnie|2005|p=32}}

===Akani identity in early European accounts===
{{Further|Great Akan}}
Early 16th-century sources such as [[Duarte Pacheco Pereira]] refer to interior gold traders identified as Haccanys (Akani), Cacres ([[Akrokerri]]), Andese, and Souzos, linked to the forested gold zones later associated with Adansi. Europeans called these traders “Accanists” and the region “Accany” or “Arcania”, praised for pure gold known on the coast as “Akan sica”.{{sfn|Boahen|1973|pp=105–108}} In 1517 envoys from a “King of the Akani” visited [[Elmina]] regarding conflict with neighbours, and by 1548 officials recorded “civil wars among the Akani”. These reports suggest organised inland polities with rulers, messengers, and coordinated military and commercial systems.{{sfn|Boahen|1973|pp=105–107}} A 1629 Dutch map labelled “Acanni” and called its people principal merchants.{{sfn|Boaten|1971|p=51}} Later Dutch accounts use forms like “Accanien” and identify “Alance”, read as Adansi, within a “Kingdom of Arcania”.{{sfn|Boahen|1973|pp=105–109}} Several scholars place “Accany” in the Adansi, Ofin basin area.{{sfn|Boahen|1973|pp=107–110}}Although absent from early European accounts, sources identify Adanse as one of the principal states of the [[Great Akan|Akani confederacy]].{{sfn|Daaku|1970|p=147}}

===Adanse city-states and conflicts with Denkyira===
Later traditions describe Adanse as a confederation of semi-independent [[City-state|city-states]], notably [[Fomena]], Ayaase, [[New Edubiase|Edubiase]], [[Akrokerri]], and other centers.{{sfn|Buah|1998|pp=17–19}} A popular Akan proverb captured this loose structure: “Adanse nkotokwa, obiara ne ben o am,” meaning “the towns were like little crabs, each ruling its own hole.”{{sfn|Buah|1998|p=17}} The Adanse states in the central [[Ofin River|Ofin]]–[[Pra River (Ghana)|Pra]] basin were the dominant power in the first half of the 17th century.{{sfn|McCaskie|2007|p=7}} According to [[Kingdom of Denkyira|Denkyira]] traditions, [[Abankeseso]] was founded by refugees fleeing Akrokerri’s control, before it rose to become Denkyira’s capital.{{sfn|McCaskie|2007|p=7}}From the 1630s onward, the influx of firearms through European trade “sharpened competition” among the [[Great Akan|Akani states]], including Adanse, and hastened the disintegration of the wider [[Great Akan|Akani confederacy]].{{sfn|Daaku|1970|pp=148–149}} Adanse was traditionally said to rely on “the wisdom of its great God Bona and not on force,” which left it ill-equipped for this new militarised era.{{sfn|Daaku|1970|p=149}}

[[Akyem Abuakwa]] oral accounts emphasize commercial rivalries and succession disputes weakened Adanse internally, while mounting pressure from [[Kingdom of Denkyira|Denkyira]] deepened the crisis. In the 1640s, Denkyira incursions combined with the rise of [[Asante Empire|Asante]] power destabilised the region and spurred migrations of [[Asona (clan)|Asona]] and other Adanse groups eastward. {{sfn|Addo-Fening|1997|pp=2–5}}

===Defeat and subjugation to Denkyira===  
In 1659 a Dutch report described wars in the “distant districts of Adansee” that nearly annihilated the state, noting that “Adanse had quietly disappeared”.{{sfn|Daaku|1970|pp=147,156}}{{sfn|McCaskie|2007|p=7}} Oral traditions credit the decisive victory to [[Kingdom of Denkyira|Denkyira]] under Wirempe Ampem, though some accounts attribute it to [[Boamponsem|Boa Amponsem I]].{{sfn|Daaku|1970|pp=147,156}} The defeat marked a major reversal, as Denkyira had earlier been subject to Adanse.{{sfn|McCaskie|2007|p=7}} Adanse persisted as a polity, overshadowed by Denkyira until the rise of Asante in the late 17th century.{{sfn|Daaku|1970|p=148}}  

===Migrations after the fall===
{{ Further | Akyem | Assin | Sefwi| Aowin}}
Segments of the [[Asona (clan)|Asona]] moved from the Adanse heartland to establish [[Akropong]], [[Abonse]], and later [[Akyem Abuakwa]].{{sfn|Addo-Fening|1997|pp=2–5}} Adansi traditions remember Akyem founders carrying sacred institutions into the east.{{sfn|Addo-Fening|1997|pp=2–5}} Lineages in [[Asante Empire|Asante]] and Assin also claim [[Adanse]] origins, including Asona of [[Ejisu]], founders from Kokoblante near Sodua, Assin groups from Nimiaso and Apagya, and others between the Pra and the Kusa range.{{sfn|Boaten|1971|pp=50–51}} The Agona, founders of [[Denkyira]], once held lands from Asokwa to the [[Obuasi]]–[[Akrofuom]] corridor.{{sfn|Boaten|1971|p=51}} Bretuo of [[Mampong]] and [[Kwahu]] trace origins to Ayaase and Ahensan, and the [[Oyoko]] royal clan to Abadwam and [[New Edubiase|Edubiase]].{{sfn|Boaten|1971|p=51}} Western states such as [[Kingdom of Sefwi|Sehwi]] and [[Aowin]] absorbed refugee lineages.{{sfn|Daaku|1973|pp=33–34}}

===Integration into the Asante state===
{{ Further | Asante Empire }}
After Asante defeated Denkyira at [[Battle of Feyiase|Feyiase]] in 1701, Adansi declared for Asante and became part of the state.{{sfn|Kwadwo|1994|p=177}}{{sfn|McCaskie|1995|p=2}}{{sfn|Barbot|1732|p=450}} Adanse lay within metropolitan Asante and hosted ''nkwansrafo'' highway police at the Kwisa post under central authority. In 1839 [[Thomas Birch Freeman]] was detained at Kwisa until permission arrived from Kumase, with the Adansehene coordinating with officers there.{{sfn|Wilks|1975|pp=47–49}} After the Katamanso war in 1826, Adansi opened peace contacts with the British due to safer passage to the coast.{{sfn|Wilks|1993|pp=341–342}} In 1831 the Asantehene rewarded negotiators, including the Fomenahene Kwante and Gyamera Kwabena, with regalia to constitute their own ''akyeame''.{{sfn|Wilks|1993|p=352}} In February 1872 [[Fritz Ramseyer]] recorded a Kumase council in which the Adansehene supported release of captives or, failing that, war against the British.{{sfn|Ramseyer|Kühne|1875|pp=157–159}}

===Colonial encounters and the Treaty of Fomena===
{{main|Treaty of Fomena}}
In 1873 the Adansi chief Kobina Obeng sought independence from Asante, encouraged by proximity to British protection north of the Pra. British forces invaded [[Kumasi]] in 1873, deposed [[Kofi Karikari]], and compelled negotiations. [[Mensa Bonsu]] restored control over most dependencies, with the exception of [[Kwahu]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.eaumf.org/ejm-blog/2017/10/18/october |title=October 18, 1895: Adansi Sign on for British Protection |website=eaumf.org|publisher=Edward A. Ulzen Memorial Foundation |date=18 October 2017}}</ref> The Treaty of Fomena in February 1874 imposed a 50,000-ounce gold indemnity on Asante and renounced claims over several southern territories.<ref>{{cite web|title=Ghana - The Asante Wars|url=http://www.country-data.com/cgi-bin/query/r-5326.html|access-date=6 June 2024|website=www.country-data.com}}{{cite web|url=https://www.eaumf.org/ejm-blog/2018/2/15/february-13-1874-the-ashanti-sue-for-peace-with-the-british-at-fomena|title=February 13, 1874: The Ashanti sue for peace with the British at Fomena|date=15 February 2018|website=eaumf.org}}</ref> Although Adansi had seceded, it fought with Kumasi in the 1900 [[War of the Golden Stool]] due to the stool’s religious significance.{{sfn|Tordoff|1962|pp=399–417}} In 1933 the Adansehene of whom him and his people were described as "true Ashanti" wrote a letter to the British government swearing an "oath that he was certainly prepared to call and serve Nana Prempeh as Asantehene; indeed, he felt sorry that ignorant people should refer to such a great man as 'Kumasihene and not as Asantehene." and in the 31st of January 1935 they re-joined the re-established Asante Kingdom.<ref>{{cite book |last=Tordoff |first=William |title=Ashanti Under The Prempehs 1888–1935 |date=1965 |pages=335, 352, 412 |url=http://archive.org/details/ashantiunderprem0000will}}</ref>

==Society==
===Centralization and the afenakwa===
Unity within the Adanse was embodied in the sacred sword [[Akrafena|Afenakwa]], which served as the central symbol of political authority.{{sfn|Buah|1998|p=18}} The sword was first associated with Awurade Basa of [[Adansemanso]], then passed to successors in [[Bretuo]] and [[Asenie|Asenee]] lineages at Ayaase and [[Dompoase]]. Although it was generally accepted that whoever had custody of the sword should lead Adanse in times of war, in peacetime the leader was not accorded special privileges.{{sfn|Konadu|Campbell|2016|p=53}} Because succession was matrilineal, custody of the sword shifted between lineages until [[Bonsra Afriyie]] of the Ekona clan secured it permanently at [[Fomena]], making the town the political capital.{{sfn|Konadu|Campbell|2016|pp=52–55}}{{sfn|Buah|1998|p=18}}

===Architecture and settlement forms===
{{Main|Asante Traditional Buildings}}
Oral traditions identify Adansi as the first Akan group to develop durable architecture in mud and clay, which later Akan states adopted.{{sfn|Wilks|2004|p=27}} Archaeology at [[Adansemanso]] shows planned rectangular compounds and long-term occupation.{{sfn|Konadu|2010|pp=33–34}} Palatial compounds enshrined sacred items such as the [[Akrafena|Afenakwa]] sword, royal stools, and regalia as symbols of legitimacy.{{sfn|Ofosu-Mensah|2010|pp=130–131}} Traditions credit rulers like Asare Nyansa with formal town-building and the establishment of councils (''Abagua'').{{sfn|Wilks|2004|pp=26–28}} 

===Political organisation and offices===  
In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, ''mmusuatow'' (abusua companies) emerged in Adanse as corporate bodies that managed obligations of credit, labor, and ritual among town-dwelling elites. Kea interprets them as instruments for incorporating dependents into urban households and for coordinating extraction and redistribution within the confederation.{{sfn|Kea|2000|pp=523–524}}  

Adanse and other inland states maintained formal administrative hierarchies in which major towns exercised authority over subordinate ones.{{sfn|Kea|1982|p=89}} Governance was organised as a confederation of towns bound by shared traditions and ritual authority.{{sfn|Konadu|Campbell|2016|pp=52–55}} The [[Omanhene|Adansehene]] presided with the advice of divisional chiefs and elders, while defined offices carried specific responsibilities: the Akokyerehene served as chief soul washer (''Akradwarefohene''), the Ayaasehene as chief executioner, the Akrofuomhene as treasurer, the Edubiasehene as spokesman, and the Dompoasehene as ''Gyaasehene'' or steward.{{sfn|Konadu|Campbell|2016|p=54}}{{sfn|Ofosu-Mensah|2010|p=130}}  

===Religion and ritual cohesion===
Adanse unity rested more on shared rituals than on centralized bureaucracy. The tutelary deity Bona, worshipped at Patakoro, served as the main spiritual focus of the state.{{sfn|Konadu|Campbell|2016|p=55}} The Bona priesthood and the Bonahene led annual ceremonies, including a yam festival in late August or early September and a year-end dance. At these events, sacred water (''Bonasuo'') from the Bona cave was distributed to purify the stools of chiefs and the wider community.{{sfn|Konadu|Campbell|2016|pp=53–54}}

Each town also kept a ''Bonsamboɔ'' stone for sacrifices, linking local rituals to the broader Bona cult.{{sfn|Konadu|Campbell|2016|p=54}} The shrine at Patakoro reinforced political legitimacy, as leaders turned to its oracles during disputes or crises.{{sfn|Konadu|Campbell|2016|pp=53–55}} Alongside the Afenakwa sword, the Bona cult provided a second source of cohesion, one sacred and one political. Even after Adanse’s political decline, these rituals continued.{{sfn|Konadu|Campbell|2016|pp=53–55}}

==Economy==  
===Gold production and fiscal administration===  
From the 12th century onward, gold extracted in the forest belt sustained regional exchange.{{sfn|Ofosu-Mensah|2010|pp=128,140}} In Adanse, mining was conducted under royal authority: the Adansehene retained rights over all discovered nuggets and received one-third of gold from stool lands, while the [[Sanaahene]] managed state revenue and the royal treasury.{{sfn|Ofosu-Mensah|2010|pp=130–131}}

By the 16th century the [[Pra River (Ghana)|Pra]]–[[Ofin River|Ofin]] basin, including Adanse, was among the most productive gold zones in West Africa, supplying over half of the gold exported through both coastal ports and inland savanna markets.{{sfn|Kea|1982|p=85}} Adanse’s traders were advantageously positioned, with access both to the [[Mandé peoples|Mande]] market at [[Begho]] in the north and to European forts on the coast, placing the state at the intersection of trans-Saharan and Atlantic routes.{{sfn|Daaku|1970|p=148}} By the late 16th and 17th centuries, rising European demand for gold and ivory expanded the consumption of imported goods in the forest belt. This stimulated competition and sharpened acquisitive rivalries among Adanse and its neighbors.{{sfn|Daaku|1970|p=148}}

===Trade and merchant networks===  
Adanse occupied a central position in long-distance commerce. Akan producers exchanged gold with [[Mande-Dyula|Wangara]] merchants at towns such as [[Begho]], linking the forest zone to Sahelian and trans-Saharan markets.{{sfn|Ofosu-Mensah|2010|p=128}} Traded goods included salt, cloth, copper alloys, and enslaved persons.{{sfn|Ofosu-Mensah|2010|p=128}}  

Caravan routes connected Adanse to coastal ports and interior markets by two main arteries: the Twifo road and the Arcania road.{{sfn|Kea|1982|pp=275,277}} On the Arcania route, tolls were collected at border posts such as “Atchersee” on the [[Kingdom of Assin|Assin]]–Adanse frontier before caravans moved further north.{{sfn|Kea|1982|pp=257–260}} Brokers based in Adanse, Kaase, Kwabre, Tafo, and Akyem extended their operations as far as [[Begho|Bighu]] and [[Bono Manso]].{{sfn|Kea|1982|pp=249,259}} By the mid-17th century, [[Akwamu Empire|Akwamu]] merchants were also active, conducting regular trade in Adanse and Manso.{{sfn|Kea|1982|p=357}}  

Inland wars, particularly the struggles between Adanse and [[Denkyira]] in the later 17th century, disrupted the gold trade to the coast. Between 1668 and 1676 the Dutch received only 3,150 marks of gold.{{sfn|Daaku|1970|p=27}}  
  
==Geography==  
===Precolonial extent===  
Early contemporary accounts suggest that Adanse contained about thirty-two towns, of which perhaps seven were paramount.{{sfn|Kea|1982|pp=36,86}} At its height in the 16th and 17th centuries, Adanse occupied the forest belt between the [[Pra River (Ghana)|Pra]] and [[Ofin River|Ofin]] basins. It bordered Bekwai, Kokofu, and Dwaben to the north, the Pra frontier with [[Denkyira]] to the south, approaches to [[Asante Akim Central Municipal District|Asante Akim]] and [[Kwahu]] to the east, and western hills near early [[Twifo]] settlements to the west. Major towns included [[Fomena]] (traditional capital), [[Akrokerri]], [[Dompoase]], and [[New Edubiase]], with ancestral villages such as Ayaase, Abadwam, and Kokoblante. [[Obuasi]] was noted for gold production.{{sfn|Boaten|1971|pp=50–51}}{{sfn|Ofosu-Mensah|2010|pp=124–131}} The state functioned as a confederation of autonomous but culturally linked settlements under the Adansehene. Gold trade encouraged population growth, with migrations from the Adanse region cited as evidence of demographic expansion.{{sfn|Daaku|1970|p=31}}  

===Present day===  
[[Obuasi]] is the largest contemporary Adansi settlement and the capital of Obuasi Municipal District. It lies south of [[Kumasi]] and is known for the [[Obuasi Gold Mine]].<ref>{{Cite web|date=2019-12-20|title=AngloGold reopens 30 million ounce Ghana mine|url=https://www.mining.com/anglogold-re-starts-obuasi-mine-after-five-years-of-closure/|access-date=2021-01-18|website=MINING.COM}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Ghana Districts: A repository of all Local Assemblies in Ghana|url=https://www.ghanadistricts.com/Home/District/23|access-date=2021-01-18}}</ref>

==Legacy==
Adanse is remembered for its role in gold production and as a civilizational origin for several Akan states. It remains a traditional area within the [[Ashanti Region]] and the [[Ghana|Republic of Ghana]].{{sfn|Ofosu-Mensah|2010|p=124}}

==See also==
* [[Akan people]]
* [[Great Akan]]
* [[Akyem Kingdoms]]
* [[Assin]]
* [[Kingdom of Denkyira|Denkyira]]
* [[Asante Empire]]
* [[Asante Traditional Buildings]]

==References==
{{Full citations needed|date=July 2025}}
{{reflist}}

==Sources==
<!-- unchanged from your draft; kept order and notes -->
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* {{cite book |last=Barbot |first=Jean |year=1732 |title=A Description of the Coasts of North and South-Guinea, and of Ethiopia Inferior, Vulgarily Angola... With Appendix |url=https://wellcomecollection.org/works/xpr7gpz3 |access-date=24 April 2025}}
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* {{cite journal |last=Boaten |first=Kwasi |year=1971 |title=The Asante Before 1700 |journal=Institute of African Studies Research Review |volume=8 |issue=1 |pages=50–65 |url=https://d.lib.msu.edu/asrv/234 |access-date=25 April 2025}}
* {{cite book |last=Buah |first=F. K. |title=A History of Ghana |year=1998 |publisher=Macmillan |location=London |isbn=978-0-333-65934-2 |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofghana0000buah/page/18/mode/2up?q=akwamu |access-date=21 April 2025}}
* {{cite book |last=Daaku |first=Kwame Yeboa |year=1970 |title=Trade and Politics on the Gold Coast, 1600–1720: A Study of the African Reaction to European Trade |publisher=Clarendon Press |location=Oxford |isbn=019821653X |url=https://archive.org/details/politics-on-the-gold-coast-1600-1720-by-kwame-yeboa-daaku/mode/2up |access-date=25 April 2025}}
* {{cite journal |last=Daaku |first=Kwame Y. |year=1971 |title=History in the Oral Traditions of the Akan |journal=Journal of the Folklore Institute |volume=8 |issue=2/3 |pages=114–126 |doi=10.2307/3814101 |jstor=3814101 |access-date=31 May 2025 |url=https://doi.org/10.2307/3814101 |url-access=subscription}}
* {{cite journal |last=Daaku |first=K. Y. |year=1973 |title=A History of Sefwi: A Survey of Oral Evidence |journal=Research Review |series=NS |volume=9 |issue=3 |pages=32–36 |url=https://d.lib.msu.edu/asrv/226 |access-date=17 May 2025}}
* {{cite book |last=Kea |first=Ray A. |year=1982 |title=Settlements, Trade, and Polities in the Seventeenth Century Gold Coast |location=Baltimore and London |publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press |isbn=978-0-8018-2310-7 |url=https://archive.org/details/settlements-trade-and-polities-in-the-seventeenth-century-ray-a-kea-ray-a-kea-jo |access-date=30 August 2025}}
* {{cite book |last=Kea |first=Ray A. |year=2000 |title=City-State Culture on the Gold Coast: The Fante City-State Federation in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries |editor=Mogens Herman Hansen |chapter=A Comparative Study of Thirty City-State Cultures: An Investigation |series=Historisk-filosofiske Skrifter |volume=21 |location=Copenhagen |publisher=The Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters |isbn=9788778761774 |oclc=46990631 |pages=519–530 |url=https://archive.org/details/the-fante-city-state-federation-in-the-seventeenth-and-eighteenth-centuries-2 |access-date=21 June 2025}}
* {{cite book |last=Konadu |first=Kwasi |year=2010 |title=The Akan Diaspora in the Americas |location=Oxford |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780195390643 |doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195390643.001.0001 |url=https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195390643.001.0001 |access-date=23 April 2025}}
* {{cite book |last1=Konadu |first1=Kwasi |last2=Campbell |first2=Clifford C. |title=The Ghana Reader: History, Culture, Politics |publisher=Duke University Press |year=2016 |isbn=9780822359845 |url=https://www.dukeupress.edu/the-ghana-reader |access-date=10 May 2025}}
* {{cite book |editor=Kwasi Konadu |title=Africa's Gold Coast Through Portuguese Sources, 1469–1680 |publisher=Oxford University Press for the British Academy |year=2022 |isbn=9780197267066 |url=https://academic.oup.com/british-academy-scholarship-online/book/44965 |access-date=25 April 2025|ref=none}}
* {{cite journal |last=McCaskie |first=T. C. |year=2007 |title=Denkyira in the Making of Asante c. 1660–1720 |journal=The Journal of African History |volume=48 |issue=1 |pages=1–25 |doi=10.1017/S0021853706002507 |jstor=4501014 |url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/4501014 |access-date=24 April 2025}}
* {{cite journal |last=Ofosu-Mensah |first=Ababio Emmanuel |year=2010 |title=Traditional Gold Mining in the Akan States of Ghana: A Case Study of the Adanse and Amansie Areas |journal=Nordic Journal of African Studies |volume=19 |issue=2 |pages=124–147 |url=https://www.njas.fi/njas/article/view/17/2 |access-date=23 April 2025}}
* {{cite journal |last=Shinnie |first=Peter |title=Early Asante and European Contacts |journal=Journal des Africanistes |volume=75 |issue=2 |year=2005 |pages=25–42 |url=https://journals.openedition.org/africanistes/113?lang=en |doi=10.4000/africanistes.113|url-access=subscription }}
* {{cite journal |last=Wilks |first=Ivor |year=2004 |title=The Forest and the Twis |journal=Transactions of the Historical Society of Ghana |volume=New Series, No. 8 |issue=8 |pages=1–81 |jstor=41406709 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41406709 |access-date=23 April 2025}}
* {{cite journal |last=Vivian |first=Brian C. |date=December 1996 |title=Recent Excavations of Adansemanso |journal=Nyame Akuma |issue=46 |pages=37–39 |url=https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5bd0e66f8d97400eb0099556/t/5bdaf47d03ce64828d6f62d4/1541076093661/Nyame+Akuma+Issue+046-Article+09.pdf |access-date=14 August 2025}}

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[[Category:Akan people]]
[[Category:Geography of Ghana]]
[[Category:Ashanti Region]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in Ghana]]
[[Category:Indigenous peoples of West Africa]]
[[Category:West African people]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in Ivory Coast]]

{{Akan states}}
{{Akan topics}}
{{Ethnic groups in Ghana}}
{{Ethnic groups in the Ivory Coast}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Akan People}}