Kingdoms of West Africa - Baoule / Baule

In a history of Africa which can at times be difficult to uncover, one kingdom which stands out is that of Asante. One of the continent's most impressive kingdoms, it was built largely on slaves and gold. The kingdom was founded deep in the forests of what is now Ghana in West Africa, an unusual location from which a sophisticated kingdom could emerge.

It would seem that Akan people migrated into the southern edges of Ghana's forests, leaving behind them a broad band of territory on the southern edge of the Sahara Desert. Their migration took place around the eleventh century AD, during a period in which the kingdom of Old Ghana was dramatically weakened by a devastating conflict with the Almoravids.

Following the brief rise of the historical state of Twifo-Heman (which itself seemingly was preceded by an older and far more nebulous forest state of Adanse), a patchwork of Akan communities grew into minor states by the mid-1600s, one of which was Asante which grew out of the precursor state of Kwaaman. Once it had taken part in a concerted Akan effort to destroy the dominant state of Denkyira its power only increased.

Osei Tutu, the founder of Asante, formed a capital at Kumasi which became the centre of the kingdom's power. He and his successors ruled as the asantehene, using their wealth to ensure prominent displays of gold as a symbol of their grip on power. They expanded their grip on the various small Akan states in Ghana, and many refugees sought to escape him by crossing the River Komoé (or Comoé).

Kusi Obodum, Osei Tutu's grand-nephew, seized power in 1750 having murdered most of the immediate family of the recently-deceased Opoku Ware I, including his younger brother who was the rightful successor. He also put down a brief but bloody civil war in the kingdom which attempted to put things right.

The only senior survivor in Opoku Ware's clan was a daughter by the name of Abena Pokou (alternatively recorded as Awura Pokou or even Abla Pokou). Having lost the civil war, she fled west along with her infant son and a number of followers. Together they were able to found a free Asante state called Baoule in what is now Ivory Coast (or Baoulé in that modern country's dominant French language, and Baule in some English-language sources).

To do so they had to cross the rain-swelled River Komoé (or Comoé) which today divides Ghana from Ivory Coast. Oral tradition states that Abena Pokou was forced to sacrifice her infant son to appease the spirits and gain safe passage across the river. The chasing Asante warriors had no such recourse and were unable to follow them.

On the western shore they founded a free Akan state between the Komoé and the River Bandama which flourished and expanded until about 1790. Abena Pokou led them to settle Sikasso, a little way to the north of today's Ivory Coast capital of Yamoussoukro. The state's name apparently means 'the child is dead' in honour of the sacrificed infant. In some sources the state is referred to as the kingdom of Sakassou (or Oualèbo or even Walèbo in French).

She laid down a highly-centralised political, administrative, and social structure for the new state, with subjects who could be self-sustaining though the provision of well-cultivated land. She also established a matriarchal society just like Asante's had originally been, quite often with a queen as head of state or as a powerful figure within the royal household. The state absorbed numbers of indigenous peoples who predated the various waves of Akan arrivals.

After about 1790 quarrels between important families gradually destroyed unity, although the state continued to rule much of Ivory Coast until the end of the nineteenth century. Then Ivory Coast was incorporated as a colony of France, in 1893, making up part of their colonial holding of French West Africa. The founding queen of Baoule remains revered in Ivory Coast and Baoule remains a substantial monarchy.

African Kingdoms

West Africa

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