By Mike Ozekhome, SAN
ASHANTI EMPIRE (continues)
INTRODUCTION
On 15th March, 2020, we introduced
Ashantes Empire as one of the great Empires that lit up the dark
crevices of history. We considered some of the workings of this
great empire, such as, the British’s annexation of Ashanti, the
Ashanti’s resistance and the “war of the golden
stool”. We discussed the checks and balances and the mode
of elections in the empire.
The Covid-19 (corona virus) later crept in stealthily like a
thief in the night (Matthew 24: 42-44). The world has since known
no peace. It has been under a mental, physical, psychological and
relationship turmoil and trauma. I was forced to suspend my pet
love: discussing history, great historical empires and
personalities that shaped them to enable me focus on the new corona
virus pandemic challenge. We shall defeat, by satanic verses today
and explore this great Ashanti Empire that history will never
forget.
THE ASHANTI EMPIRE AND ITS THEOCRATIC SYSTEM OF
GOVERNMENT
The Ashanti state, in effect, practised theocracy[1]. It invoked
religious, rather than secular[2]-legal postulates. What
the modern state views as crimes[3], Ashanti viewed
practically as sins[4]. Anti-social acts were
regarded as disrespect to ancestors, and were only secondarily
harmful to the community[5]. If the Chief or King[6]
failed to punish such acts, he invoked the anger of the ancestors
and the gods, and was therefore in danger of impeachment[7]. The penalty for some
crimes (sins) was death, but this was seldom imposed. A more
readily employed penalty was banishment[8] or imprisonment[9].
The King typically exacted or commute[10]d all capital offences[11]. These commuted
sentences by the King and Chiefs sometimes occured by ransom[12] or bribe[13]. They were regulated in
such a way that they would not be mistaken for fines[14], but were considered as
generating revenue[15] to the state. Thus, for
the most part, the state welcomed quarrels[16] and litigation[17]. Commutations[18] tended to be far more
frequent than executions[19].
The Ashantis were repulsed by murder[20]; and suicide[21] was considered murder.
They decapitated those who committed suicide, the very conventional
punishment for murder. Thus suicide had contempt for the courts, as
only the King may kill an Ashanti.
In a murder[22] trial[23], intent was important
and must be established. If the homicide[24] were accidental, the
murderer payed compensation to the lineage of the deceased. The
insane[25] could be executed
because of the absence of responsible intent – except for murder,
or cursing the King. In situation where the king was cursed,
drunkenness was a valid defence. Capital crimes[26] included murder;
incest[27] within the female or
male line; and intercourse with a menstruating[28] woman, rape[29] of a married woman; and
adultery[30] with any of the wives
of a chief or the King. Assaults[31] or insults of a chief
or the court[32] or the King also
carried capital
punishment[33].
Cursing the King, or calling down ancestral powers to harm the
King wasis considered an unspeakable act which carries the full
weight of the death[34] penalty. Anyone found
to have instigated or aided another to commit such an act was
subjected to payment of a heavy indemnity. Practitioners of harmful
(evil) forms of sorcery[35] and witchcraft received
instant death; but not by decapitation, for their blood must not be
shed. They received execution by strangling, burning, or
drowning.
Ordinarily, families or lineages settled disputes between
individuals. Nevertheless, such disputes could also be brought to
trial[36] before a Chief by
uttering the taboo[37] oath of a Chief or the
King. In the end, the King’s Court[38] was the sentencing
court; because only the King could order the death penalty[39]. Before the Council of
Elders and the King’s Court, the litigants were comprehensively
given opportunity to state their case. Anyone present could
cross-examine the defendant or the accuser, and if the proceedings
could not lead to a verdict[40], a special witness was
called to provide additional testimony[41]. If there was only one
witness, his sworn oath assure the truth was told. It was
unthinkable for a witness to favour or be hostile to either
litigant. Cases with no witness, such as sorcery or adultery, were
settled by trial by ordeals, such as drinking poison[42].
Ancestral
Veneration[43] established the Ashanti
moral
system[44]and ethical compass.
This provided the principal foundation for governmental[45] sanctions. The link
between mother and child bound together the entire family network,
which included ancestors as well as fellow men. The Ashanti judicial system[46] emphasized the Ashanti
conception of rectitude and good behavior[47], which favoured harmony
amongst the Ashanti people. The rules were made and laid down by
Nyame (Supreme God[48]) and the
ancestors, and one must behave accordingly.
THE ASHANTIS AND THEIR MEANS OF LIVELIHOOD
The Ashanti Empire was one long list of a series of kingdoms
along the coast including Dahomey, Benin[49], and Oyo[50]. The Kingdom had
mountains and large agricultural[51] surpluses. The southern
part of the Ashanti Kingdom was covered with moist semi-deciduous forest[52] whilst the Guinea
savanna[53]h covered the northern
part of the Ashanti Kingdom. The Guinea Savanna consisted of short
deciduous and fire
resistant trees[54]. Riparian forests[55] also occured along the
Afram
River[56] and streams of the
savanna zone. Soils in the Ashanti Kingdom were mainly of two
types: forest[57] ochrosols in the
southern Ashanti Kingdom; whilst the savanna[58] ochrosols were confined
to the northern the Ashanti Kingdom.
There was predominant fauna[59], food, rich wildlife
and animal species, in the form of hen[60], sheep[61], goat[62], duck[63], turkey[64], rabbit[65], guinea fowl[66], fish[67], and the porcupine[68], which became the
national emblem of the Ashanti Kingdom. There were about thirty
multipurpose flora[69] species of trees and
shrubs[70] and over thirty-five
ornamental plants, beautifying the Ashanti Kingdom environs. These
trees/shrubs-crops -animals (hen/fish) components were intensively
integrated spatially and/or sequentially on the same land unit of
individual Asante houses.
The lands within the Ashanti Kingdom were also rich in
river-gold[71], cocoa[72] and kola nuts[73]. The Ashanti soon
started trading with the Portuguese[74] at coastal fort Sao Jorge da
Mina[75], later Elmina[76], the Songhai[77], and with the Hausa[78] city states.
The Ashantis prepared the fields by burning before the onset of
the rainy season and cultivated with an iron hoc. Fields were left fallow for a couple years,
usually after two to four years of cultivation, before being
re-cultivated. Plants cultivated included plantains[79], yams[80], cassava (manioc[81]), corn[82], sweet potatoes[83], millet[84], beans[85], onions[86], peanuts[87], tomatoes[88], and asorted fruits[89]. Manioc and corn were
New World transplants were introduced during the Atlantic European
trade[90]. Many of these vegetable[91] crops could be
harvested twice a year and the cassava[92] (manioc), after a
two-year growth, provided a starchy root. The Ashantis transformed
palm
wine[93], maize and millet into
beer[94], a favorite drink; and
made use of the oil from palm for many culinary and domestic
uses.
NOW THIS
COMMUNICATION
Infrastructure, such as road transport[95] and communication[96] throughout the Ashanti
Kingdom was maintained via a network of well-kept roads[97] from the Ashanti
Kingdom to the Niger river[98] and other trade
cities.
The Ashantis invented the Fontomfrom[99], an Asante
talking drum[100], and they
also invented the Akan Drum[101]. They drummed
messages to distances of over 300 kilometers (200 miles), as
rapidly as a telegraph[102]. Asante dialect[103] (Twi) and
Akan[104], the language
of the Ashanti people[105] is tonal and more
meaning is generated by tone.
The drums reproduced these tones, punctuations, and the accents
of a phrase so that the cultivated ear heard the entirety of the
phrase itself.
The Ashanti readily heard and understood the phrases produced by
these “talking drums”. Standard phrases called for meetings of the
chiefs or to arms, warned of danger, and broadcast announcements of
the death of important figures. Some drums were used for proverbs[106] and ceremon
AND THIS
ASHANTIS’ POPULATION AND WAY OF LIFE
The population history of the Ashanti Kingdom was one of slow
centralization. In the early 19th century, the
Asantehene used the annual tribute to set up a
permanent standing army armed with rifles[107], which allowed much
closer control of the Ashanti Kingdom. The Ashanti Kingdom was one
of the most centralized states in sub-Saharan Africa. Osei
Tutu and his successors oversaw a policy of political and
cultural unification and the union had reached its full extent by
1750. It remained an alliance of several large city-states which
acknowledged the sovereignty of the ruler of Kumasi and the Ashanti
Kingdom, known as the Asantehene. The Ashanti Kingdom had dense
populations, allowing the creation of substantial urban centres[108]. By
1874, the Ashanti kingdom stretches to control
over 250,000 square kilometers, while ruling approximately 3
million people.
The Asantehene inherited his position
from his Queen mother, and he was assisted at the capital, Kumasi,
by a civil service of men talented in trade[109], diplomacy[110], and the military[111], with a head called
the Gyaasehene. Men from the Arabian Peninsula[112], Sudan[113], and Europe[114] were employed in the
Ashanti Kingdom civil service[115]. All of them were
appointed by the Asantehene[116]. At the capital,
Kumasi and in other Ashanti towns, the
ankobia or special Police[117], were used as the
Ashanti Kingdom special forces[118] and bodyguards[119] to the Asantehene, as
sources of the Ashanti Kingdom intelligence[120], and to suppress
rebellion. For most of the 19th century and into the 20th century,
the Ashanti Kingdom sovereign state[121] remained powerful.
THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK
“The history of mankind is the history of ideas.” (Luigi
Pirandello).
LAST LINE
I am grateful to my numerous readers, local and global, for
always keeping fate with the Sunday Sermon on the Mount of the
Nigerian Project, by humble me, Chief Mike Ozekhome, SAN, OFR,
FCIArb., Ph.D, LL.D. kindly, look forward to next week’s exciting
dissertation.
By Mike Ozekhome, SAN
ASHANTI EMPIRE (continues)
INTRODUCTION
On 15th March, 2020, we introduced
Ashantes Empire as one of the great Empires that lit up the dark
crevices of history. We considered some of the workings of this
great empire, such as, the British’s annexation of Ashanti, the
Ashanti’s resistance and the “war of the golden
stool”. We discussed the checks and balances and the mode
of elections in the empire.
The Covid-19 (corona virus) later crept in stealthily like a
thief in the night (Matthew 24: 42-44). The world has since known
no peace. It has been under a mental, physical, psychological and
relationship turmoil and trauma. I was forced to suspend my pet
love: discussing history, great historical empires and
personalities that shaped them to enable me focus on the new corona
virus pandemic challenge. We shall defeat, by satanic verses today
and explore this great Ashanti Empire that history will never
forget.
THE ASHANTI EMPIRE AND ITS THEOCRATIC SYSTEM OF
GOVERNMENT
The Ashanti state, in effect, practised theocracy[1]. It invoked
religious, rather than secular[2]-legal postulates. What
the modern state views as crimes[3], Ashanti viewed
practically as sins[4]. Anti-social acts were
regarded as disrespect to ancestors, and were only secondarily
harmful to the community[5]. If the Chief or King[6]
failed to punish such acts, he invoked the anger of the ancestors
and the gods, and was therefore in danger of impeachment[7]. The penalty for some
crimes (sins) was death, but this was seldom imposed. A more
readily employed penalty was banishment[8] or imprisonment[9].
The King typically exacted or commute[10]d all capital offences[11]. These commuted
sentences by the King and Chiefs sometimes occured by ransom[12] or bribe[13]. They were regulated in
such a way that they would not be mistaken for fines[14], but were considered as
generating revenue[15] to the state. Thus, for
the most part, the state welcomed quarrels[16] and litigation[17]. Commutations[18] tended to be far more
frequent than executions[19].
The Ashantis were repulsed by murder[20]; and suicide[21] was considered murder.
They decapitated those who committed suicide, the very conventional
punishment for murder. Thus suicide had contempt for the courts, as
only the King may kill an Ashanti.
In a murder[22] trial[23], intent was important
and must be established. If the homicide[24] were accidental, the
murderer payed compensation to the lineage of the deceased. The
insane[25] could be executed
because of the absence of responsible intent – except for murder,
or cursing the King. In situation where the king was cursed,
drunkenness was a valid defence. Capital crimes[26] included murder;
incest[27] within the female or
male line; and intercourse with a menstruating[28] woman, rape[29] of a married woman; and
adultery[30] with any of the wives
of a chief or the King. Assaults[31] or insults of a chief
or the court[32] or the King also
carried capital
punishment[33].
Cursing the King, or calling down ancestral powers to harm the
King wasis considered an unspeakable act which carries the full
weight of the death[34] penalty. Anyone found
to have instigated or aided another to commit such an act was
subjected to payment of a heavy indemnity. Practitioners of harmful
(evil) forms of sorcery[35] and witchcraft received
instant death; but not by decapitation, for their blood must not be
shed. They received execution by strangling, burning, or
drowning.
Ordinarily, families or lineages settled disputes between
individuals. Nevertheless, such disputes could also be brought to
trial[36] before a Chief by
uttering the taboo[37] oath of a Chief or the
King. In the end, the King’s Court[38] was the sentencing
court; because only the King could order the death penalty[39]. Before the Council of
Elders and the King’s Court, the litigants were comprehensively
given opportunity to state their case. Anyone present could
cross-examine the defendant or the accuser, and if the proceedings
could not lead to a verdict[40], a special witness was
called to provide additional testimony[41]. If there was only one
witness, his sworn oath assure the truth was told. It was
unthinkable for a witness to favour or be hostile to either
litigant. Cases with no witness, such as sorcery or adultery, were
settled by trial by ordeals, such as drinking poison[42].
Ancestral
Veneration[43] established the Ashanti
moral
system[44]and ethical compass.
This provided the principal foundation for governmental[45] sanctions. The link
between mother and child bound together the entire family network,
which included ancestors as well as fellow men. The Ashanti judicial system[46] emphasized the Ashanti
conception of rectitude and good behavior[47], which favoured harmony
amongst the Ashanti people. The rules were made and laid down by
Nyame (Supreme God[48]) and the
ancestors, and one must behave accordingly.
THE ASHANTIS AND THEIR MEANS OF LIVELIHOOD
The Ashanti Empire was one long list of a series of kingdoms
along the coast including Dahomey, Benin[49], and Oyo[50]. The Kingdom had
mountains and large agricultural[51] surpluses. The southern
part of the Ashanti Kingdom was covered with moist semi-deciduous forest[52] whilst the Guinea
savanna[53]h covered the northern
part of the Ashanti Kingdom. The Guinea Savanna consisted of short
deciduous and fire
resistant trees[54]. Riparian forests[55] also occured along the
Afram
River[56] and streams of the
savanna zone. Soils in the Ashanti Kingdom were mainly of two
types: forest[57] ochrosols in the
southern Ashanti Kingdom; whilst the savanna[58] ochrosols were confined
to the northern the Ashanti Kingdom.
There was predominant fauna[59], food, rich wildlife
and animal species, in the form of hen[60], sheep[61], goat[62], duck[63], turkey[64], rabbit[65], guinea fowl[66], fish[67], and the porcupine[68], which became the
national emblem of the Ashanti Kingdom. There were about thirty
multipurpose flora[69] species of trees and
shrubs[70] and over thirty-five
ornamental plants, beautifying the Ashanti Kingdom environs. These
trees/shrubs-crops -animals (hen/fish) components were intensively
integrated spatially and/or sequentially on the same land unit of
individual Asante houses.
The lands within the Ashanti Kingdom were also rich in
river-gold[71], cocoa[72] and kola nuts[73]. The Ashanti soon
started trading with the Portuguese[74] at coastal fort Sao Jorge da
Mina[75], later Elmina[76], the Songhai[77], and with the Hausa[78] city states.
The Ashantis prepared the fields by burning before the onset of
the rainy season and cultivated with an iron hoc. Fields were left fallow for a couple years,
usually after two to four years of cultivation, before being
re-cultivated. Plants cultivated included plantains[79], yams[80], cassava (manioc[81]), corn[82], sweet potatoes[83], millet[84], beans[85], onions[86], peanuts[87], tomatoes[88], and asorted fruits[89]. Manioc and corn were
New World transplants were introduced during the Atlantic European
trade[90]. Many of these vegetable[91] crops could be
harvested twice a year and the cassava[92] (manioc), after a
two-year growth, provided a starchy root. The Ashantis transformed
palm
wine[93], maize and millet into
beer[94], a favorite drink; and
made use of the oil from palm for many culinary and domestic
uses.
NOW THIS
COMMUNICATION
Infrastructure, such as road transport[95] and communication[96] throughout the Ashanti
Kingdom was maintained via a network of well-kept roads[97] from the Ashanti
Kingdom to the Niger river[98] and other trade
cities.
The Ashantis invented the Fontomfrom[99], an Asante
talking drum[100], and they
also invented the Akan Drum[101]. They drummed
messages to distances of over 300 kilometers (200 miles), as
rapidly as a telegraph[102]. Asante dialect[103] (Twi) and
Akan[104], the language
of the Ashanti people[105] is tonal and more
meaning is generated by tone.
The drums reproduced these tones, punctuations, and the accents
of a phrase so that the cultivated ear heard the entirety of the
phrase itself.
The Ashanti readily heard and understood the phrases produced by
these “talking drums”. Standard phrases called for meetings of the
chiefs or to arms, warned of danger, and broadcast announcements of
the death of important figures. Some drums were used for proverbs[106] and ceremon
AND THIS
ASHANTIS’ POPULATION AND WAY OF LIFE
The population history of the Ashanti Kingdom was one of slow
centralization. In the early 19th century, the
Asantehene used the annual tribute to set up a
permanent standing army armed with rifles[107], which allowed much
closer control of the Ashanti Kingdom. The Ashanti Kingdom was one
of the most centralized states in sub-Saharan Africa. Osei
Tutu and his successors oversaw a policy of political and
cultural unification and the union had reached its full extent by
1750. It remained an alliance of several large city-states which
acknowledged the sovereignty of the ruler of Kumasi and the Ashanti
Kingdom, known as the Asantehene. The Ashanti Kingdom had dense
populations, allowing the creation of substantial urban centres[108]. By
1874, the Ashanti kingdom stretches to control
over 250,000 square kilometers, while ruling approximately 3
million people.
The Asantehene inherited his position
from his Queen mother, and he was assisted at the capital, Kumasi,
by a civil service of men talented in trade[109], diplomacy[110], and the military[111], with a head called
the Gyaasehene. Men from the Arabian Peninsula[112], Sudan[113], and Europe[114] were employed in the
Ashanti Kingdom civil service[115]. All of them were
appointed by the Asantehene[116]. At the capital,
Kumasi and in other Ashanti towns, the
ankobia or special Police[117], were used as the
Ashanti Kingdom special forces[118] and bodyguards[119] to the Asantehene, as
sources of the Ashanti Kingdom intelligence[120], and to suppress
rebellion. For most of the 19th century and into the 20th century,
the Ashanti Kingdom sovereign state[121] remained powerful.
THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK
“The history of mankind is the history of ideas.” (Luigi
Pirandello).
LAST LINE
I am grateful to my numerous readers, local and global, for
always keeping fate with the Sunday Sermon on the Mount of the
Nigerian Project, by humble me, Chief Mike Ozekhome, SAN, OFR,
FCIArb., Ph.D, LL.D. kindly, look forward to next week’s exciting
dissertation.