A powerful West African kingdom, the Ashanti Empire ruled over much of the "Gold Coast" in the 18th and 19th centuries

A powerful West African kingdom, the Ashanti Empire ruled over much of the "Gold Coast" in the 18th and 19th centuries. Though they were mostly known for their vast deposits of gold, they were also known for their involvement in the slave trade — and human sacrifice.⁠

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One English explorer who visited the Ashanti Empire in the early 1800s described a grisly scene of a man being sacrificed: "A knife was passed through his cheeks, to which his lips were noosed like the figure of 8; one ear was cut off and carried before him, the other hung to his head by a small bit of skin; there were several gashes in his back, and a knife was thrust under each shoulder blade." The British would later use scenes like this as a pretext to annex the territories held by the Ashanti. But the Ashanti people refused to give up their land — and fought back against British colonization in a series of bloody wars.⁠

In the 18th and 19th centuries, the Ashanti Empire ruled over much of modern-day Ghana — and tirelessly fought back against British colonization.

Out of the dense forests of West Africa rose the Ashanti Empire, a kingdom that grew to an unprecedented position of power in the 1700s and 1800s. Though the Ashanti state first emerged as a tiny outpost, it eventually evolved into a complex and wealthy kingdom that held dominion over millions of subjects and an area the size of Wyoming.

Based in present-day Ghana, the Ashanti Empire swallowed its neighbors until it was acknowledged as “indisputably the greatest and the rising power of western Africa.” At its peak in the late 18th century, the Ashanti Empire ruled over 4 million people and controlled hundreds of miles of the West African coastline. But its reign would not last forever.

Eventually, the British sought to colonize the region. The Ashanti Empire strongly resisted the invasion and even fought five gruesome wars in an attempt to keep the Europeans out of their homeland. But as the power of the Ashanti gradually weakened, they were eventually forced to surrender.

Still, even their final defeat wasn’t conclusive enough to wipe them off the map entirely. To this day, the Ashanti remain a proud people under the leadership of an unbroken line of kings in their own region of Ghana.

How The Ashanti People Fought Back Against Colonization For Decades

Tensions came to a head when Ashanti soldiers murdered an African soldier in the British service in 1823. Though the attack did not appear to be planned by the king — and was likely the result of a private conflict — British officer Sir Charles MacCarthy decided to lead a campaign against the Ashanti.

But MacCarthy was caught by surprise during the Battle of Nsamankow by 10,000 Ashanti soldiers. His small force of 500 men was no match. The local militia fled, and only 20 British soldiers were able to escape the chaos. As for MacCarthy, he shot himself to avoid being captured. His skull was later lined with gold and used as a drinking cup for the Ashanti king.

Though the First Anglo-Ashanti War was largely a disaster for the British, it would be followed by a string of future wars that saw Ashanti power slowly diminish and fade away without ever dying out completely.

Perhaps the greatest shock came in 1874, when British troops successfully reached Kumasi and burned the capital to the ground, destroying the royal palace and its “rows of books in many languages.”

What ended the warfare was an almost unparalleled act of arrogance. With Asantehene Prempeh I in exile, the British Governor of the Gold Coast, Sir Frederick Hodgson, traveled to Kumasi in 1900 to demand the submission of the Ashanti. With the empire’s nobles assembled before him, he demanded:

“Where is the Gold Stool? Why am I not sitting on the Golden Stool at this moment? I am the representative of the paramount power; why have you relegated me to this chair?”

The governor’s insulting speech enraged the Ashanti people. Under the leadership of Queen Mother Yaa Asantewaa, the Ashanti decided to attack and besiege Hodgson and his men in their Kumasi offices. Only months later would British colonial forces defeat the last of the Ashanti rebels, and their empire was officially declared a Crown colony in 1902.

All the while, the Golden Stool was nowhere to be found.

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