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Ghana
Ghana is a West African
state which opens out onto the South Atlantic Ocean. Today it is bordered
by Burkino Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and Ivory Coast in the west.
Inhabited by 1500 BC, the various peoples who make up modern
Ghana may only have arrived in any great
number between around the eleventh to thirteenth centuries AD. The region
witnessed the rise of various kingdoms such as those of the
Asante and Fante (Ewe and Ga), before
contact with
Portugal
and then Britain
opened it up to trade and colonisation.
The country's best-known (semi) historical period before the modern age was
that of the Old Ghana empire, or
Wagadou, despite it being nothing to do in geographical terms with modern
Ghana. This empire was at its height in the last part of the first millennium
AD, but much of its detail was not recorded, at least not in any form that
has survived for modern scholars. |
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Old Ghana / Ghana Empire / Soninke Empire of Wagadou
c.AD 750 - 1237
Emerging from prehistoric beginnings, one of western
Africa's greatest
pre-colonial states was that of the empire of Old Ghana. The native name
for this state was Wagadou, as the phrase 'ghana' simply means 'king'.
Even so the latter term is the one by which the empire is generally known.
The empire of Ghana supposedly emerged following incursions by Berber
tribes which caused the collapse of the previous social organisation,
the Dhar Tichitt culture which was at its height by about 1600 BC but
which was beginning to abandon sites due to encroachment by the Sahara
by 300 BC. Whether the people of this culture played any part in the
foundation of Old Ghana is unclear, although they would certainly have
provided some influence. The possible inward migration of other groups
such as the Akan have also been claimed
as the founding force behind the empire. At its height in the ninth and
tenth centuries AD, the Old Ghana was located across what are now
south-eastern Mauritania,
western Mali, and
eastern Senegal (which means that it bears virtually no relation to the
modern state of Ghana, other than the
shared name).
The capital was at Kumbi Saleh (or Koumbi Saleh) a now-ruined medieval
town which sits in south-western Mauritania, very close to the border
with south-western Mali. An eleventh century Arabic writer described
it as essentially two towns, one for foreign traders and one for the
royal court, separated by a distance of no less than 9.7 kilometres
(six miles). Unfortunately that description of the capital cannot
unambiguously linked to the ruins at Kumbi Saleh, leaving some room
for doubt that this was actually the capital's location. The succession
was matrilineal, but not via the king's own wife. Instead it was via his
sister so that he would know for certain that the child was hers, and
therefore a relative of his (ignoring one flaw which still existed in
that argument - that he couldn't be certain that a sister really was
that). Old Ghana controlled the Mandinka tribes of Mali, including
Mali's own pre-imperial kingdom of
Kangaba.
(Information by Peter Kessler, with additional information from Darfur:
The Long Road to Disaster, J Millard Burr & Robert O Collins (Markus
Wiener, 2006), from Tarikh al-fattash (a West African chronicle which
was written in Arabic in the second half of the seventeenth century but
which used earlier material), from Timbuktu and the Songhay Empire:
Al-Sadi's Tarikh al-Sudan down to 1613 and other contemporary documents,
John O Hunwick (Brill, 2003), and from External Links:
The Story of Africa (BBC World Service), and
Background to D T Niane's 'Sundiata: An Epic of Old Mali', (translated by G D
Pickett, Harlow, England, Longman, 1965 & 1982, background prepared by Jim
Jones, West Chester University of Pennsylvania (around 2003), and
Ancient
History Encyclopaedia.) |
c.350 |
The traditional theory regarding the fall of
Kush (otherwise known as Nepata
or Meroë) is that the kingdom is destroyed during an invasion by Ezana of the
Ethiopian kingdom of Axum.
To contradict this, the Ethiopian account seems to describe the quelling of a
rebellion in lands they already control. It also refers only to the Nuba, and
makes no mention of the rulers of Meroë. However, no details of rulers of Kush
are known after this date, making their survival unlikely.
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The ruins of ancient Meroë lie in Upper Nubia, now within Sudan
- in its day it was a wealthy metropolis that stretched along
the east bank of the Nile
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There is a possibility that the kings, or at least something of the royal
family, move to Pachoras and re-found the kingdom as
Nobatia. In addition the
Akan people who have -
according to tradition - migrated into the region from West Africa are
claimed to migrate west again upon the fall of Kush. Eventually they
form small tribal states in what is now
Ghana, and possibly
even the empire of Old Ghana itself. If the latter is correct then Kaya
Maja, shown below, could be a prominent Akan/Ghanaian leader at this time
in the Akwar area of what later becomes
Sudan. |
fl c.350 |
Kaya Maja |
Ruler of small settlements in the Akwar area. |
fl c.380s? |
? |
Name unknown. Tribal leader during the long migration? |
c.350 - c.622 |
The Tarikh al-fattash claims a total of twenty-one
kings (include the samples shown above and below this entry) rule Old Ghana
in succession although their names are not known. If Kaya Maja is indeed a
tribal leader in the Sudan
region then his successors would likely be tribal leaders during the long
migration into Old Ghana. It will take then around four hundred years to found
the state of Old Ghana (if indeed it is the
Akan people who are responsible
for this).
Evidence shows that, following the introduction of the camel into western
Africa in the third century, gold is being exported from western Africa
prior to the Islamic invasion
of Africa in the seventh century. Despite Old Ghana probably not yet being
in existence as a state, those exports probably originate from the same area,
and are enjoyed by the
Roman
empire to the north. |
fl c.622 |
? |
Name unknown. Tribal leader during the long migration? |
c.622 - c.750 |
Oral history and Arabic records claim a further twenty-one
kings rule in succession in this period but once again their names are unknown.
Tradition describes Old Ghana as being founded in the early eighth century
by a man named Dinga. He is ascribed an origin in the east - supposed to
mean Aswan in Egypt -
and is claimed as leaving many children behind him as he migrates across
the western Sudan. Upon his death his two sons, Khine and Dyabe, contest
the kingship, and Dyabe is victorious. |
fl c.750 |
Majan Dyabe Sisse |
'Son of Dinga'. Soninke ghana. Founder of the
kingdom? |
c.750 - c.1040 |
Another period of 'lost' history exists here for the
empire as oral history fails to remember the names of several more kings,
let alone their deeds. The Arabic writer al-Ya'qubi, working in 889-890,
describes a core Ghanaian state which governs a wide spread of sub-kings
such as those who are named Sama and 'Am.
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A typical Ghanaian-empire-period village is shown here, part
of an early medieval state that arose in uncertain circumstances
following a period of tribal migration and regional unrest
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1040 - 1062 |
Bassi |
Soninke ghana. Refused to convert to Islam. |
1062 - 1068 |
Tunka Menin / Tunkamanin |
Nephew. Soninke ghana. Refused to convert to Islam. |
1062 - 1076 |
Fourteen years of war against the fanatical
Almorivids ends with the
capture and burning of the capital at Kumbi Saleh. The Almoravids are unable
to hold onto their prize though, and the much-weakened Ghanaians retake it.
The Mandinka of Mali take the
opportunity to break away from Ghanaian rule, while the weakening of Old
Ghana seems to be a major trigger for the migration (or increased migration)
into the region of the Akan people of the
Sahel. |
1068 - 1076 |
? |
Name or names unknown. |
1076 - c.1090 |
Kambine Diaresso |
Relationship unknown. |
c.1090 - 1100 |
Suleiman |
Relationship unknown. |
1100 - 1230 |
Ghana ceases to be a commercial or military power after 1100, at least
partially due to new trade routes being opened to its east which robs it of
most of its trade in gold and salt. For a brief period, until about 1230,
the rabidly anti-Muslim Sosso people control a kingdom that makes up the
southern portions of the Ghanaian empire, but the
Almorivid revolution
effectively halts the growth of kingdoms and empires in the Sahel for almost
a century. |
c.1100 - 1120 |
Bannu Bubu |
Relationship unknown. |
c.1120 - 1130 |
Majan Wagadu |
Relationship unknown. |
c.1130 - 1140 |
Gane |
Relationship unknown. |
c.1140 - 1160 |
Musa |
Relationship unknown. |
c.1160 - 1180 |
Birama |
Relationship unknown. |
by 1200 |
Old Ghana has become so weakened that it is dominated by the Sosso people,
possibly during the reign of Diara Kante. He rebels against their control
and forms a loose confederation of Mande-speaking states which possibly also
includes its former subject state at
Kangaba.
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The ruins of Koumbi Saleh have been excavated in modern times
but, although the city was clearly at its height during the
period in which Old Ghana reached its greatest extent, it cannot
categorically be confirmed as the site of the empire's capital
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c.1180 - 1200 |
Diara Kante |
Temporarily a vassal of the Sosso people. |
c.1200 - 1234 |
Sumanguru / Soumaoro |
Sosso king, with Soumaba Cisse as his vassal. |
1234 - 1237 |
Soumaba Cisse |
Ally of Sundiata of Mali.
Old Ghana subsumed within Mali. |
1237 - 1480 |
The kingdom effectively falls to Mali
in 1237 (sometimes given as 1240 and probably less of a fall and more of an
absorption). Akan people are now migrating
freely into former Old Ghana territory, if they had not already been doing so
since about 700. The trading state of Bonoman (otherwise known as Bono Manso
or Brong-Ahafo) which has been created by the Abron people forms a medieval
Akan kingdom that gives birth to several small Akan states. It is located in
the modern Brong-Ahafo region of modern Ghana
and eastern Ivory Coast, in a large chunk of central western Ghana which crosses
the modern border. Those small Akan states that are created following the rise
of Bonoman start with Twifo-Heman in the fifteenth century. |
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Akan People
The general view is that the Akan people migrated into the southern edges of
the forests of what is now
Ghana from a broad band of territory on
the southern edge of the Sahara Desert known as the Sahel. That 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
Almorivids. There is a body
of opinion that it was not a mass migration, however, but a general trickle
of smaller groups - families - arriving in the area and already speaking a
language which was generally similar to that of the locals. When Old Ghana
fell, the trading state of Bonoman was established by the Abron people.
Created as early as the twelfth century this was located to the north of the
River Beresu (Sene). Its territory lay immediately to the north of the later
Ghanaian Asante kingdom. Bonoman fed off
the subsequent gold boom in the region, expanding the area under its control
pretty rapidly.
In various waves, Akan groups migrated away from Bonoman to found their
own minor states which also based their prosperity on gold mining. They
began clearing areas of the forest so that they could cultivate food
crops, allowing their numbers to increase. Farming prospered, producing
wealth in food, and some of the Akan communities in time coalesced into
small states and minor kingdoms. At least two of these new kingdoms became
prominent - those of Akwamu
in the south and Denkyira in the central western area of Akan territory.
A third state - Kwaaman - was the
product of continued conflict between the others. Today the Akan predominantly
populate Ghana and Ivory Coast in West Africa, making up the largest grouping
within each nation.
(Information by Peter Kessler, with additional information from Akwamu
1640–1750 - A Study of the Rise and Fall of a West African Empire,
Ivor Willks, 2001, from the acclaimed documentary film series, Africa: A
Voyage of Discovery with Basil Davidson, released in 1984, from A
Historical Geography of Ghana, Kwamina B Dickson, and from External Links:
Ghana Web, and the
Encyclopaedia Britannica, and
Akuapem, and
World Statesmen.) |
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c.1400 |
Often claimed as a ruler of Old Ghana
is Reidja Akba. Given the fact that the empire had been terminated almost
two hundred years earlier, this is impossible. Instead he rules a swathe of
small settlements in the Akwar region, but virtually nothing else about him
is known. |
c.1400 - 1415 |
Reidja Akba |
Ruler of the small Akwar-area settlements. |
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c.1480 - 1500 |
The Akan state of Twifo-Heman is formed around 1480, one of the first to be
created by the newly-arrived Akan people. However it soon fragments. Various
clan states are subsequently formed by increasing numbers of immigrant Akan
communities, with Denkyira becoming prominent in what is now central
Ghana, and
Akwamu in central southern
Ghana. Another state which starts off small and insignificant is that of
Kwaaman. |
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Kwaaman / Kumaseman Clan State
Kwaaman (otherwise known as 'Kwaaman State') was a small clan state that
was founded by the Akan people, deep in the forests of what is now
Ghana in West Africa. It was one of
a patchwork of Akan communities that were at this time coalescing into
nascent minor kingdoms following migration from Bonoman. At least two
of these new minor kingdoms,
Akwamu in the south and
Denkyira (pronounced Dench-ii-ra, and otherwise known as Denkyera)
in the central western area of Akan territory, became prominent and
powerful. For around a century and-a-half Denkyira held the upper hand
in central Ghana because it had the best gold reserves, and gold meant
power, while Akwamu expanded its own territory eastwards, towards
southern Togoland and into
Benin.
The origins of Kwaaman are, as usual for this period and region, almost
entirely obscure, just like those of Akwamu and Denkyira. It seems to have
begun as a small settlement by one of the last groups of Akan migrants to
arrive. All of the migrants had already begun to start clearing areas of
the forest and to cultivate food crops, allowing their numbers to increase.
They needed more labour to clear additional areas of the forest, so they
took slaves to help. Farming prospered, producing wealth in food, and that
drove the Akan on to achieve more.
Only a list of names of Kwaaman's rulers is known. Anything else about them
is largely the product of oral tradition and should be viewed with suspicion.
Even the existence of the great Akan king, Osei Tutu, cannot be confirmed
by historical evidence. Support given by Akwamu helped this minor clan state
to prosper by protecting it from Denkyira. According to tradition, towards
the end of the seventeenth century Okomfo Anokye, chief priest of Osei Tutu,
planted two trees in the forest and predicted that one tree would live and
become the capital of the Asante kingdom.
One tree faltered and died while the other, at Kwaaman, lived and this was
given the name 'Kumasi', which either means 'the tree that lived' or which
derives from 'Kum-ase', meaning 'under Kum', the kum tree under which the
king and his people would often sit. Either way, the capital of Asante was
confirmed. |
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c.1570 - ? |
Otumfuo
Nana Twum |
The first surviving
name in a list of Kwaaman rulers. |
? - c.1600 |
Otumfuo
Nana Antwi |
Kwaamanhene
of Kwaaman. |
c.1600 - 1630 |
Otumfuo
Nana Kobia Amamfi |
Kwaamanhene
of Kwaaman. |
1621 |
English Gold Coast is created by the Company of Merchants Trading to
Guinea (referred here as the CMTG to save space - known as the Company of
London Merchants from 1651), with Kormantin as its chief post. The Kwaaman
state is separated from this coastal strip by the Fante people, so that the
first effects of its creation are not felt this far inland (but this also
means that neither Akwamu
or Kwaaman are properly recorded for posterity). Gold Coast's known
governors are shown here with a shaded background to differentiate them
from Kwaaman's native rulers.
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Akan people - photographed here around the beginning of the
twentieth century - migrated into regions of modern Ghana from
around the eleventh century AD, but probably in smaller family
groups rather than as a single mass movement of people
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1621 - 1623 |
Sir William St John |
English
governor of Gold Coast. |
c.1630 - 1660 |
Otumfuo
Nana Oti Akenten |
Kwaamanhene
and then kumasehene of Kwaaman. |
1632 - 1633 |
Arend de Groot |
English
chief factor of the CMTG. |
1633 - 1638 |
John Wood |
English
chief factor of the CMTG. |
1638 - 1640 |
Timothy Mulgrave |
English
chief factor of the CMTG. |
c.1640 |
The
Kwaaman clan state expands under the leadership of Otumfuo Nana Oti Akenten.
He wages a series of successful military operations against neighbouring Akan
states, bringing a larger surrounding territory into alliance with the Kwaaman
state, which can also be known as the Kumaseman state from this point forwards.
This suggests that the chief settlement of Kwaaman has already been renamed
Kumasi or Kum-ase and that the tale of its founding by Osei Tutu has been
lifted from earlier tradition. The rulers of the expanded state are titled
kumasehene, but Denkyira is still the region's dominant state. |
1640 - 1641 |
Arend De Groot |
English
chief factor for the second time. |
1641 - 1642 |
Timothy Mulgrave |
English
chief factor for the second time. |
1642 - 1644 |
Six
employees of the Company of Merchants Trading to Guinea manage the administration
of the Gold Coast colony during this period. Their names are unknown. |
1644 |
Timothy Mulgrave |
English
chief factor for the third time. |
1644 - 1645 |
Francis Searle |
English
chief factor of the CMTG. |
1645 |
James Leveson |
English
chief factor of the CMTG. |
1645 - 1646 |
Timothy Mulgrave |
English
chief factor for the fourth time. |
1646 |
James Leveson |
English
chief factor for the second time. |
1646 |
Francis Searle |
English
chief factor for the second time. Died. |
1646 - 1650 |
George Middleton |
English
chief factor of the CMTG. |
1650 |
Thomas Crispe |
English
chief factor of the CMTG. |
1650 - 1651 |
George Middleton |
English
chief factor for the second time. |
1651 - 1654 |
George Middleton |
English
chief factor of the Company of London Merchants. |
1654 - 1655 |
John Hulwood |
English
chief factor of the Company of London Merchants. |
1655 - 1657 |
Lancelot Stavely |
English
chief factor of the Company of London Merchants. |
1657 - 1658 |
Lancelot Stavely |
English
agent of the East India Company. |
1658 - 1659 |
James Congett |
English
agent of the East India Company. |
1659 - 1661 |
? Chappell |
English
agent of the East India Company. First name unknown. |
c.1660 - 1680 |
Otumfuo
Nana Obiri Yeboah |
Kumasehene
of Kwaaman. |
1661 - 1662 |
Edmund Young |
English agent of the East India Company. |
1662 - 1663 |
John Puliston |
English agent of the East India Company. |
1663 |
Thomas Davies |
English agent of the East India Company. |
1663 |
Stephen Mitchell |
English agent of the East India Company. |
1663 |
Francis Selwyn |
English agent of the Royal Company of Adventurers. |
1663 |
Francis
Selwyn's term of office as agent for the Royal Company of Adventurers is followed
by a short period between September 1663 to May 1664 in which seven merchants are
rotated on a monthly basis as agents.
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The forests of Ghana have suffered from deforestation for
centuries, notably when the Akan people started clearing areas
for crops but even today, with organisations such as Client
Earth trying to repair the problems it has caused
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1664 - 1665 |
Francis Selwyn |
English agent for the second time. Captured by the
Dutch. |
1665 - 1667 |
Gilbert Beavis |
English agent of the Royal Company of Adventurers. Died. |
1667 - 1672 |
Thomas Pearson |
English agent of the Royal Company of Adventurers. |
1672 |
Abraham Holditch |
English agent of the Royal Company of Adventurers. |
1672 - 1673 |
Abraham Holditch |
English agent-general of the Royal African Company. |
1673 - 1676 |
Thomas Mellish |
English agent-general of the Royal African Company. |
1676 - 1678 |
Ralph Hodgkins |
English agent-general of the Royal African Company. Died. |
1677 - 1678 |
William Croxton |
English agent-general of the Royal African Company. Died. |
1678 - 1680 |
Nathaniel Bradley |
English agent-general of the Royal African Company. |
c.1680 |
Obiri Yeboah
has been steadily building up a union which will become known as the
Asante. His death places the future of that
union in doubt, but he is succeeded by his sister's son, Osei Tutu, who has a
father who is from Akwamu.
Osei Tutu not only continues his uncle's work in regard to the union but now
ensures the protection of Akwamu when he offends the dominant king at Denkyira. |
c.1680 - 1701 |
Osei
Tutu I (Opemsuo) |
Nephew. Turned
Kwaaman into Asante kingdom around 1701. |
c.1680 - 1701 |
Denkyira's
neighbours begin to band together under the leadership of Osei Tutu who is
largely protected by Akwamu.
The subsequent destruction of Denkyira as a leading power gives birth to the
Asante kingdom under Osei Tutu. He forms a
capital at Kumasi and he and his successors rule as the asantehene, the
king of all Asante. They use their newfound wealth to ensure prominent displays
of gold as a symbol of their grip on power. Previously independent neighbouring
states are gradually integrated into the expanding kingdom. Their chiefs are made
subjects, and their territories are made regions of the new kingdom. Captive enemy
warriors are enslaved and put to work in feeding the economy and helping to further
expand the kingdom. Akwamu to
the south remains an honoured friend and supporter.
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Denkyira's main centre of interest and occupation was around the
coastal region of what later became Ashantiland (shown here and
below in the nineteenth century), which later developed into the
Gold Coast area, close to modern Ivory Coast but still within
Ghana's borders
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1680 - 1684 |
Henry Greenhill |
English agent-general of the Royal African Company. |
1684 |
Richard Thelwall |
English agent-general of the Royal African Company. |
1684 - 1687 |
Henry Nurse |
English agent-general of the Royal African Company. |
1687 - 1691 |
Samuel Humphreys |
English chief merchant of the Royal African Company. |
1691 - 1692 |
Robert Elrves |
English chief merchant of the Royal African Company. |
1692 - 1693 |
Mark Bedford Whiting |
English chief merchant of the Royal African Company. |
1693 - 1696 |
Joshua Platt |
English chief merchant of the Royal African Company. |
1696 - 1698 |
William Ronan |
English chief merchant of the Royal African Company. |
1698 - 1700 |
Nicholas Buckeridge |
English chief merchant of the Royal African Company. |
1700 - 1701 |
Joseph Baggs |
English agent-general of the Royal African Company. Died. |
c.1701 |
Around
this time the growing Kwaaman clan state has built up enough momentum to form
the kingdom of Asante in what is now
central Ghana. Only now does it begin
to come into contact with the Gold Coast territories to its south. |
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Kingdom of Asante & Gold Coast Colony
c.AD 1701 - 1902
In a history of Africa that can at times be difficult to uncover, one
kingdom that stands out is that of the Asante (or Ashanti). One of the
continent's most impressive kingdoms, it was built 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.
The kingdom's origins are almost entirely obscure. Archaeologists of the
University of Ghana have recently discovered terracotta artefacts in the
forests dating to the ninth and tenth centuries. They depict animals and
humans and are believed to have formed part of a shrine, but who built it
is another question, as it was raised in the time of
Old Ghana. To date no link has been
found between these objects and the Asante kingdom. Its ancestors were the
Akan, who hunted for food in the depths of the thick forests in the fifteenth
century but who underwent a remarkable transition between then and the
seventeenth century. They started to clear areas of the forest and cultivate
food crops, allowing their numbers to increase. They needed more labour to
clear additional areas of the forest, so they took slaves to help, albeit
slaves of a less oppressive and more socially flexible nature than was often
the case with the later Transatlantic slave trade. Farming prospered,
producing wealth in food, and that drove the Akan on to achieve more. Then
they discovered gold.
By the mid-1600s, a patchwork of Akan communities had grown into minor
states, one of which was the Asante precursor state of
Kwaaman. The most powerful of these
states was Denkyira (pronounced Dench-ii-ra) in the central western
area of Akan territory, which had the richest gold mines in the forest.
Denkyira's great wealth meant that it controlled the local economy and slave
trade, so its neighbours banded together under the leadership of Osei Tutu
of Kwaaman (born perhaps in the 1640s but with a somewhat doubtful existence
that cannot be confirmed by historical evidence). The subsequent destruction
of Denkyira as a leading power gave birth to the Asante kingdom. With the
guidance of his chief priest, Okomfo Anokye, Osei Tutu formed a capital at
Kumasi which, in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, was the centre of
the kingdom's power. He and his successors ruled as the asantehene,
the king of all Asante, and they used their wealth to ensure prominent
displays of gold as a symbol of their grip on power.
The territory that largely forms modern Ghana essentially became two rival
states when
Britain
established its own coastal colony in 1621 - Asante and Gold Coast - and
only one of them would win the struggle for superiority. At first, the
British colony was a relatively minor affair, and those of its governors
who are known are shown here with a shaded background while the
asantehene are shown as normal.
(Information by Peter Kessler, with additional information from the BBC
documentary series, Lost Kingdoms of Africa, first broadcast on 5
January 2010, from English Chief Factors on the Gold Coast 1632-1753,
R Porter, from Ghana: A Country Study, Berry La Verle (Ed), 1994,
and from External Links:
BBC Country Profiles, and
Manhyia Palace,
and
British Battles, and
The British Empire,
and the Encyclopaedia
Britannica, and
Country Studies -
Ghana, and
World Statesmen.) |
c.1701 - 1717 |
Osei
Tutu I (Opemsuo) |
Turned
Kwaaman into the Asante kingdom.
Ambushed and killed. |
1701 - 1702 |
Edward Newse |
English agent-general of the Royal African Company. Died. |
1702 - 1703 |
Howsley Freeman |
English agent-general of the Royal African Company. |
1703 - 1711 |
Sir Dalby Thomas |
English agent-general of the Royal African Company. Died. |
1707 |
English
Gold Coast becomes
British
Gold Coast on 1 May. The Asante use their trading networks to sell slaves
for profit to the British and other European nations who trade along the
coast (see feature link, right). In return, they buy European weapons which
they use to further increase the size of the kingdom.
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The British probably met up with the Asante leaders at an
early point in the expansion of Gold Coast, although this
1819 illustrates a meeting of its own time, as confirmed
by the headgear worn by the British soldiers
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1711 - 1717 |
Seth Grosvenor |
British
agent-general of the Royal African Company. |
1717 - 1718 |
William Johnson |
British
captain-general of the Royal African Company. Died. |
1718 - 1750 |
Opoku
Ware I |
Relationship to
Osei Tutu unknown. |
|
During
his reign, Opuku Ware fights wars of expansion that bring the northern states
of Mamprusi, Dagomba, and Gonja under Asante influence. He also defeats the
Bono, another Akan state, by 1723. |
1718 - 1719 |
James Phipps |
British
captain-general of the Royal African Company. |
1719 |
James Deane |
British
captain-general of the Royal African Company. Died. |
1719 - 1722 |
James Phipps |
British
captain-general for a second time. |
1722 - 1723 |
Henry Dodson |
British
captain-general of the Royal African Company. |
1723 - 1726 |
John Tinker |
British
captain-general of the Royal African Company. |
1726 - 1727 |
Philip Franklin |
British
captain-general of the Royal African Company. |
1727 |
Well south of the early Asante kings, the administration of Gold Coast is
reformed, using a resurrected three-man triumvirate format, with only the
senior-most of them shown here. The individuals involved rotate regularly,
usually on an annual basis, and the same senior chief agent may oversee
several such rotations, often with the same names cropping up many times. |
1727 - 1729 |
Philip Franklin |
British
chief agent of the Royal African Company. |
1729 - 1732 |
John Braithwaite |
British
chief agent of the Royal African Company. |
1732 - 1734 |
Benjamin Peake |
British
chief agent of the Royal African Company. |
1734 - 1737 |
Edward Stephens |
British
chief agent of the Royal African Company. |
1737 - 1738 |
Jeremiah Tinker |
British
chief agent of the Royal African Company. |
1738 - 1741 |
John Cope |
British
chief agent of the Royal African Company. |
1742 - 1749 |
David Crichton |
British
chief agent of the Royal African Company. |
1749 |
Thomas Boteler |
British
chief agent of the Royal African Company. |
1749 - 1750 |
Richard Stockwell |
British
governor of the Royal African Company. |
1750 |
John Roberts |
British
governor of the Royal African Company. |
1750 - 1764 |
Kusi
Obodum |
|
1750 |
The
Company of Merchants Trading to Africa takes over administration of Gold
Coast from the Royal African Company (which retains its legal rights until
it is dissolved in April 1752). The last governor of the Royal African
Company is also president of the council until December 1750, and he
continues his role as governor under the Committee of Merchants. |
1750 - 1751 |
John Roberts |
British
governor of the Committee of Merchants of the Gold Coast. |
1751 - 1756 |
Thomas Melvil |
British
governor of the Committee of Merchants of the Gold Coast. |
1756 |
William Tymewell |
British
governor of the Committee of Merchants of the Gold Coast. |
1756 - 1757 |
Charles Bell |
British
governor of the Committee of Merchants of the Gold Coast. |
1757 - 1761 |
Nassau Senior |
Acting
British
governor. |
1761 - 1763 |
Charles Bell |
British
governor for the second time. |
1763 - 1766 |
William Mutter |
British
governor of the Committee of Merchants of the Gold Coast. |
1764 - 1777 |
Osei
Kwame (Oko-Awia) |
|
1766 |
John Hippersley |
British
governor of the Committee of Merchants of the Gold Coast. |
1766 - 1769 |
Gilbert Petrie |
British
governor of the Committee of Merchants of the Gold Coast. |
1769 - 1770 |
John Crossle |
British
governor of the Committee of Merchants of the Gold Coast. |
1770 - 1777 |
David Mill |
British
governor of the Committee of Merchants of the Gold Coast. |
1777 - 1798 |
Osei
Kwame Panyin |
Unpopular ruler
who killed family members and subjects. |
1777 - 1780 |
Richard Miles |
British
governor of the Committee of Merchants of the Gold Coast. |
1780 - 1781 |
John Roberts |
British
governor for the second time. |
1781 - 1782 |
John B Weuves |
Acting
British
governor. |
1782 - 1784 |
Richard Miles |
British
governor for the second time. |
1784 - 1787 |
James Morgue |
British
governor of the Committee of Merchants of the Gold Coast. |
1787 |
Thomas Price |
British
governor of the Committee of Merchants of the Gold Coast. |
1787 - 1789 |
Thomas Morris |
British
governor of the Committee of Merchants of the Gold Coast. |
1789 - 1791 |
William Fielde |
British
governor of the Committee of Merchants of the Gold Coast. |
1791 - 1792 |
John Gordon |
British
governor of the Committee of Merchants of the Gold Coast. |
1792 - 1798 |
Archibald Dalzel |
British
governor of the Committee of Merchants of the Gold Coast. |
1798 - 1799 |
Opoku
Fofie |
|
1798 - 1799 |
Jacob Mould |
British
governor of the Committee of Merchants of the Gold Coast. |
1799 - 1800 |
John Gordon |
British
governor for the second time. |
1800 - 1823 |
Osei
Bonsu |
|
1800 - 1802 |
Archibald Dalzel |
British
governor for the second time. |
1800s |
By
now, Asante has grown to such a size that it has a population of two
million, an incredible number for nineteenth century Africa. It has more
than doubled its size since the seventeenth century, incorporating territory
that is a sixteen day walk away from the central capital at Kumasi. During
his reign, Osei Bonsu defeats the Fante confederation and dominates Gold
Coast trade.
 |
Asante was growing rapidly by the early 1800s, both its
empire and its capital at Kumasi which is shown here in
a late nineteenth century depiction
|
|
|
1802 - 1805 |
Jacob Mould |
British
governor for the second time. |
1805 - 1807 |
George Torrane |
British
governor of the Committee of Merchants of the Gold Coast. |
1807 - 1816 |
Edward White |
British
governor of the Committee of Merchants of the Gold Coast. |
1807 |
The
slave trade in
Britain
is abolished, and Asante is affected. Trade has to switch to other products
and Kumasi suffers a population drop as people move towards the southern
provinces, nearer the coast, to engage in new trading ventures. Payment in
gold for European items causes a shortage, so gold is hoarded and becomes
even more scarce. However, Asante has already started to expand towards that
same coast, impinging on neighbouring Fante territory from 1806. By 1814 the
Fante are broken. |
? - 1812 |
|
Henry Meredith |
British
commander of Fort Winnebah. Killed by natives. |
1816 - 1817 |
Joseph Dawson |
British
governor of the Committee of Merchants of the Gold Coast. |
1817 |
Thomas Bowditch visits the kingdom from
England and writes a remarkable account of his attendance at the royal
court, noting its lavish display of showy cloths and silks, animals, and
golden swords. The king wields great power over his people, and is happy
to display his wealth by wearing more gold than anyone else while his
ministers hold the skulls of opponents who have been overcome by the king. |
1817 - 1822 |
John Hope Smith |
British
governor of the Committee of Merchants of the Gold Coast. |
1821 |
Britain
abolishes the African Company of Merchants and seizes privately held land
along the coast, incorporating it into the Gold Coast colony. Suddenly
Asante is forced to recognise that it is not the only major power in the
region and the two begin an unspoken struggle for superiority.
As far as Britain is concerned, the formalisation of the Gold Coast crown
colony not only helps to keep the competing
French
and their Ivory Coast territory from expanding eastwards, but also gives
Britain a foothold in influencing Asante's affairs. Only grass and bush
separates the French West Africa territories to the north from Asante, and
the kingdom of Dahomey borders
Asante to the east so the French focus their attentions here instead. |
1822 |
Sir Charles MacCarthy |
British
governor of the Gold Coast. |
1822 |
James Chisholm |
British
governor of the Gold Coast. |
1822 - 1824 |
Sir Charles MacCarthy |
British
governor of the Gold Coast for the second time. Killed. |
1822 - 1831 |
A
misunderstanding occurs between the Ashanti, the Fante, and the
British
which causes the asantehene to take offence. The British prepare
the entire coast defensively and the Ashanti mobilise their forces for
the First Anglo-Ashanti War. The British march against them but
are overwhelmed and the severed head of the governor, Sir Charles MacCarthy,
is taken back to Kumasi. The fighting eventually dies down in 1831 and
the region is more or less peaceful for the next three decades. |
1824 |
James Chisholm |
British
governor of the Gold Coast for the second time. |
1824 - 1834 |
Osei
Yaw Akoto |
|
1824 - 1825 |
Edward Purdon |
British
governor of the Gold Coast. |
1825 - 1826 |
Major-General Sir Charles Turner |
British
governor of the Gold Coast. |
1826 |
Sir Neil Campbell |
British
governor of the Gold Coast. |
1826 - 1827 |
Henry John Ricketts |
British
governor of the Gold Coast. |
1827 - 1828 |
Hugh Lumley |
British
governor of the Gold Coast. |
1828 |
George Hingston |
British
governor of the Gold Coast. |
1828 |
Henry John Ricketts |
British
governor of the Gold Coast for the second time. |
1828 |
The
British
government allows control of the Gold Coast settlements to revert to the
British African Company of Merchants, at which time relations with Asante
are still problematic. From the Asante point of view, the British have
failed to control the activities of their local coastal allies. Had this
been done, Asante may not have found it necessary to attempt to impose a
peace on the coastal peoples. MacCarthy's encouragement of coastal
opposition to Asante and the subsequent 1824 British military attack has
further indicated to Asante authorities that the Europeans, especially the
British, do not respect Asante. |
1828 - 1830 |
John Jackson |
British
governor of the Committee of Merchants of the Gold Coast. |
1830 - 1836 |
George Maclean |
British
governor of the Committee of Merchants of the Gold Coast. |
1830 - 1831 |
Having
been selected as the governor of Gold Coast by the
British
African Company of Merchants in 1830, Captain George Maclean immediately
arranges a peace treaty with Asante in 1831. He also supervises the coastal
people by holding regular court at Cape Coast where he punishes those found
guilty of disturbing the peace. No confrontations occur with Asante during
his period in office and trade triples. |
1834 - 1867 |
Kwaku
Dua I |
Died suddenly
and unexpectedly. |
1836 - 1838 |
William Topp |
British
governor of the Committee of Merchants of the Gold Coast. |
1838 - 1843 |
George Maclean |
British
governor for the second time. |
1841 - 1844 |
Kwaku
Dua fights against the Gonja and Dagomba to the north, while to the south
matters are largely peaceful. George Maclean's time in office as governor
of Gold Coast has been so successful for peaceful relations and trade that
a Parliamentary
committee has recommended that the
British
government permanently administer its settlements and negotiate treaties
with the coastal chiefs that will define Britain's relations with them.
The government does this now, in 1843, reinstating crown government.
Commander Henry Worsley Hill is appointed the first 'proper' governor of
the Gold Coast.
 |
This image shows Kumasi in 1824, complete with British guard,
possibly during a meeting between the asantehene and the
governor of Gold Coast (with Sir Charles MacCarthy being the
most likely candidate)
|
|
|
1843 - 1845 |
Henry Worsley Hill |
British governor of the Gold Coast. |
1845 - 1846 |
James Lelley |
British governor of the Gold Coast. |
1846 - 1849 |
William Winniett |
British governor of the Gold Coast. |
1849 - 1850 |
James Coleman Fitzpatrick |
British governor of the Gold Coast. |
1850 |
Sir William Winniett |
British governor for the second time. |
1850 - 1852 |
On
13 January 1850 the administration of Gold Coast is separated from that
of Sierra Leone which, until now, has provided the function of 'head office'
to which the Gold Coast governors have had to report. On 30 March 1850, the
former
Dutch
Gold Coast settlements are incorporated into the
British territories.
Two years later, in April 1852, growing acceptance of the advantages offered
by the British presence leads local chiefs and elders to meet at Cape Coast
to consult with the governor on future means of raising revenue. With the
governor's approval, the council of chiefs constitutes itself as a
legislative assembly, albeit without any formal powers. |
1850 - 1851 |
James Bannerman |
British governor of the Gold Coast. |
1851 - 1854 |
Stephen John Hill |
British governor of the Gold Coast. |
1854 - 1857 |
Henry Connor |
Acting
British governor of the Gold Coast. |
1857 - 1858 |
Sir Benjamin Chilley Campbell Pine |
British governor of the Gold Coast. |
1858 - 1860 |
Henry Bird |
Acting
British governor of the Gold Coast. |
1860 - 1862 |
Edward B Andrews |
British governor of the Gold Coast. |
1862 |
William A Ross |
Acting
British governor of the Gold Coast. |
1862 - 1865 |
Richard Pine |
British governor of the Gold Coast. |
1863 |
The brief Second Anglo-Ashanti War is triggered when a large Ashanti
force crosses the river in pursuit of a fugitive by the name of Kwesi Gyana.
The British
governor of Gold Coast defends the territory under his command but his
request for more troops from home is declined and sickness forces him to
withdraw.
Although the relationship between Britain and Asante is one of advantageous
mutual trade, some of the southernmost Asante provinces have gradually
turned to the British for protection following the ending of the slave trade
and the migration of people away from the capital. Now Asante decides that
it wants firmer, more direct control of these wayward provinces, but to
have the kingdom strong and fully in control of all trade is not in
Britain's best interests. The two sides begin to manoeuvre for superiority. |
1865 |
Rokeby Jones |
Acting
British governor of the Gold Coast. |
1865 |
W E Mockler |
Acting
British governor of the Gold Coast. |
1865 - 1867 |
Edward Conran |
British governor of the Gold Coast. |
1867 - 1874 |
Kofi
Karikari |
Grandnephew.
Dethroned following his defeat. |
1867 - 1872 |
Herbert Taylor Ussher |
British governor of the Gold Coast. |
1871 |
British influence over the Gold Coast increases further when Elmina
Castle is purchased, this being the last of the
Dutch
forts along the coast. The Asante, who for years have considered the
Dutch at Elmina to be their allies, now lose their last trade outlet to
the sea. To prevent this loss and to ensure that their revenue stream
continues, an invasion of the coast is planned for the following year.
 |
Elima Castle was the last of the Dutch forts on Ghana's Gold
Coast, and it passed peacefully into British hands in 1871,
ending Dutch involvement in the region
|
|
|
1872 |
John Pope Hennessy |
British governor of the Gold Coast. |
1872 |
Charles Spencer Salmon |
Acting
British governor of the Gold Coast. |
1872 - 1873 |
Robert William Harley |
British governor of the Gold Coast. |
1873 |
Robert William Keate |
British governor of the Gold Coast. |
1873 - 1874 |
Major General Garnet Joseph Wolseley |
British governor of the Gold Coast. |
1873 - 1874 |
As tensions mount between Asante and the
British,
the Asante take several Europeans hostage. This is the signal for the
Third Ashanti War. In February 1874, Under Wolseley's command British
troops march into Kumasi, the first foreign troops to do so. They burn
it to the ground and Asante is forced to accept the loss of its southern
provinces. In August 1874, these provinces become part of the aptly-named
British Gold Coast colony. The Asante remove Kofi Karikari from the
throne following his defeat and replace him with Mensa Bonsu. |
1874 |
James Maxwell |
Acting
British governor of the Gold Coast. |
1874 |
Charles Lees |
Acting
British governor of the Gold Coast. |
1874 - 1883 |
Mensa
Bonsu |
Younger brother.
Forced to abdicate and banished. |
1874 - 1876 |
George Cumine Strahan |
British governor of the Gold Coast. |
1876 |
Charles Lees |
Acting
British governor for the second time. |
1876 - 1878 |
Sanford Freeling |
Acting
British governor of the Gold Coast. |
1878 - 1879 |
Charles Lees |
Acting
British governor for the third time. |
1879 - 1880 |
Herbert Taylor Ussher |
British governor for the second time. |
1880 - 1881 |
William Brandford Griffith |
Acting
British governor of the Gold Coast. |
1880s |
Having lost much of its prestige with the comprehensive defeat of 1874, the
Asante kingdom is heading towards civil war as other provinces demand more
freedom, or simply detach themselves from the confederation to seek closer
ties with Gold Coast. King Mensa Bonsu undertakes punitive expeditions
seemingly only as part of his own pursuit of gold and women, and two
attempts to dethrone him are made (1877 and 1880), with the the third being
successful in 1883. The Asante Civil War follows almost immediately and
lasts for five years. |
1881 - 1884 |
Sir Samuel Rowe |
British governor of the Gold Coast. |
1884 |
Kwaku
Dua II |
Died following
a short illness. Interregnum followed until 1888. |
1884 - 1885 |
W A G Young |
British governor of the Gold Coast. |
1885 - 1895 |
William Brandford Griffith |
British governor for the second time (first time acting). |
1888 |
The Asante empire has been managed since 1884 by an interim council until
1887 and then by a regent. Now the various factions in the Asante Civil
War agree to a peaceful settlement which sees a new asantehene
ascend the throne, the sixteen year-old Prempeh I (originally known as
Prince Kwaku Dua III prior to becoming king). |
1888 - 1896 |
Agyeman
Prempeh I |
Acceded aged
16. Exiled. |
1895 - 1897 |
William Edward Maxwell |
British governor of the Gold Coast. |
1895 - 1896 |
With fighting against Gold Coast continuing to break out,
Britain
decides that Asante should become part of the British protectorate.
King Prempeh refuses to accede of course, so another British expedition
reaches Kumasi after a hard-fought campaign, this time under Colonel Sir
Francis Scott. The Fourth Ashanti War sees Prempeh forced to accept
exile, along with his immediate family and some close advisors. They are
given passage to Sierra Leone where they remain for three years before
being moved to the Seychelles. The removal of the asantehene stops
Asante's resurgence dead in its tracks.
The position of rulers is now reversed, with the Asante kings being shown
with a shaded background and the British governors being shown as normal.
Protection is now extended by the British to the Northern Territories whose
trade with the coast had formerly been controlled by Asante. This is
prompted primarily by the need to forestall the
French
and
Germans,
who have been making rapid advances in the surrounding areas. |
1896 - 1931 |
Agyeman Prempeh I |
Asantehene of Asante in exile. |
1897 - 1900 |
Frederick
Mitchell Hodgson |
British governor of the Gold Coast (acting until May 1898). |
1900 |
W Low |
Acting
British governor of the Gold Coast. |
1900 - 1904 |
Sir
Matthew Nathan |
British governor of the Gold Coast. |
1902 |
Asante is forcibly incorporated into the
British
Gold Coast crown colony (it having gained this status on 26 September 1901),
along with the Northern Territories, which had not belonged to the kingdom
itself. Having already amicably demarcated the boundaries between the
Northern Territories and the surrounding
French
and
German colonies (in 1898 and 1899), the Northern Territories are now
proclaimed a British protectorate. Save for the later addition of British
Togoland, this creates borders for the colony that are essentially those
of modern Ghana.
 |
Asantehene Prempeh I is shown in this photograph having
arrived in the Seychelles, having been transferred there from
Sierra Leone during his exile of 1896-1925
|
|
|
1904 |
Herbert
Bryan |
Acting
British governor of the Gold Coast. |
1904 - 1910 |
John
Pickersgill Rodger |
British governor of the Gold Coast. |
1910 |
Herbert
Bryan |
Acting
British governor for the second time. |
1910 - 1912 |
James
Jamieson Thorburn |
British governor of the Gold Coast. |
1912 |
Herbert
Bryan |
Acting
British governor for the third time. |
1912 - 1919 |
Sir
Hugh Charles Clifford |
British governor of the Gold Coast. |
1919 |
Alexander
Ransford Slater |
Acting
British governor of the Gold Coast. |
1919 - 1927 |
Frederick
Gordon Guggisberg |
British governor of the Gold Coast. |
1925 - 1927 |
The first legislative council elections take place in Gold Coast, and King
Prempeh is allowed to return to his homeland. Provincial councils of chiefs
are established in all three of the colony's territories, partly to give the
various native chiefs a colony-wide function. This move is followed in 1927
by the promulgation of the 'Native Administration Ordinance', which replaces
an 1883 arrangement that had placed chiefs in the Gold Coast colony under
British supervision. The purpose is to clarify and to regulate the powers
and areas of jurisdiction of chiefs and councils. |
1927 |
Sir
James Crawford Maxwell |
Acting
British governor of the Gold Coast. |
1927 |
John
Maxwell |
Acting
British governor of the Gold Coast. |
1927 - 1932 |
Sir
Alexander Ransford Slater |
British governor for the second time (the first time acting). |
1931 - 1970 |
Osei Tutu Agyeman Prempeh II |
Nephew of Prempeh I. Asantehene of Asante. |
1932 |
Geoffrey
Northcote |
Acting
British governor of the Gold Coast. |
1932 - 1934 |
Sir
Shenton Thomas |
British governor of the Gold Coast. |
1934 |
Geoffrey
Northcote |
Acting
British governor for the second time. |
1934 - 1941 |
Sir
Arnold Weinholt Hodson |
British governor of the Gold Coast. |
1935 |
The Native Authorities Ordinance combines the central colonial government
and the local authorities into a single governing system. New native
authorities, appointed by the governor, are given wide powers of local
government under the supervision of the central government's provincial
commissioners, who provide assurance that their policies will be those of
the central government. |
1941 - 1942 |
George
Ernest London |
Acting
British governor of the Gold Coast. |
1942 - 1947 |
Sir
Alan Cuthbert Maxwell Burns |
British governor of the Gold Coast. |
1948 - 1949 |
Sir
Gerald Hallen Creasy |
British governor of the Gold Coast. |
1949 |
Sir
Robert Scott |
Acting
British governor of the Gold Coast. |
1949 |
Thorleif
Rattray Orde Mangin |
Acting
British governor of the Gold Coast. |
1949 |
Sir
Robert Scott |
British governor for the second time (the first time acting). |
1949 - 1957 |
Sir
Charles Noble Arden-Clarke |
British
governor. Became first post-colonial governor-general. |
1956 - 1957 |
The
British
half of Togoland, a thin strip of territory running the length of the Gold
Coast's eastern border along and above Lake Volta, elects to join Gold Coast
via a plebiscite which is pushed by the United Nations in 1956. The
following year modern Ghana is formed
from the merger of these two colonial possessions - Gold Coast and British
Togoland. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Modern Ghana
AD 1957 - Present Day
Known formally as the republic of Ghana, the modern state is located on
the southern coastline of Western Africa, which is known as the Gulf of
Guinea. It has its capital at Accra, which is also its largest city, and
operates as a unitary presidential constitutional democracy. It is
bordered by Togo to the east, Burkina Faso to the north, and Ivory Coast
to the west.
Modern Ghana was formed from the merger of two colonial possessions -
the Gold Coast and
British
Togoland. The Gold Coast was formed in 1874 after Britain and the kingdom
of Asante fought a brief war to see
who would be master in the region. Britain won, and Asante's southern
provinces (including
Akwamu) were removed
from it to become the Gold Coast. British Togoland was formed in 1916
by splitting occupied
German Togoland into
French
and British divisions. The French half eventually became Togo, The British
half, a thin strip of territory running the length of the Gold Coast's
eastern border along and above Lake Volta, elected to join Gold Coast and
form Ghana via a plebiscite which was pushed by the United Nations in 1956.
Thanks to the 1956 plebiscite, Ghana became the first sub-Saharan African
nation to gain independence. A presidential democracy was established,
initially led by one of the main activists against colonial rule, Kwame
Nkrumah. Despite years of military coups and rule, today it is one of Africa's
most advanced sub-Saharan states, offering a remarkably stable and peaceful
life for its twenty-seven million-or-so inhabitants (in 2014). It also has
some of Africa's largest reserves of gas and oil, and is a major diamond and
cocoa producer, all of which contribute to its comparative wealth.
The former Asante kings are still elected as king of the Asante themselves,
and still weild considerable political power, but they play no part in the
nation's politics. Their residence is at Kumasi, the Asante capital which
lies near Lake Bosumtwi in south-western Ghana. Successive Asante kings are
shown with a shaded background.
(Information by Peter Kessler, with additional information from the Ghana
Statistical Service, from English Chief Factors on the Gold Coast
1632-1753, R Porter, from Ghana: A Country Study, Berry La Verle
(Ed), 1994, and from External Links:
BBC Country Profiles, and
Manhyia Palace,
and
British Battles, and
The British Empire,
and the Encyclopaedia
Britannica, and
Country Studies -
Ghana, and
World Statesmen.) |
1957 |
Sir
Charles Noble Arden-Clarke |
British
governor-general. Former Gold Coast
governor since 1949. |
1957 - 1960 |
William
Francis Hare |
British
governor-general. |
1960 - 1966 |
Ghana's
'First Republic' period begins upon the withdrawal of the
British
governor-general. Kwame Nkrumah, one of the leaders of Ghana's push for
independence, takes the reigns of power as the country's first president.
In 1964 the country becomes a one-party state.
 |
Kwame Nkrumah, first president of an independent Ghana,
proclaims Ghanaian independence at midnight on 6 March
1957
|
|
|
1966 - 1969 |
Kwame Nkrumah is deposed by a military coup whilst abroad on official
duties, perhaps with support from the
USA.
Chinese and
Russian
technicians are expelled from the country. The coup is one of many during
these years, with rule being handled by various councils. |
1969 - 1972 |
A new constitution facilitates the transfer of power to a civilian
government which is led by Kofi Busia. This is Ghana's 'Second Republic'
period, which is halted by another unelected change in power when Busia is
ousted in a military coup that is led by Colonel Ignatius Acheampong. |
1970 - 1999 |
Opoku Ware II |
Nephew of Prempeh II. Asantehene of
Asante. |
1972 - 1978 |
Ignatius
Acheampong |
Military coup
leader. Forced to resign. Executed in 1979. |
1978 - 1979 |
Frederick
Akuffo |
Military
general. Deposed and executed. |
1979 - 1981 |
Akuffo is deposed in coup led by Flight Lieutenant Jerry Rawlings. He has
Acheampong and Akuffo executed. In September of the same year, Rawlings
hands over power to an elected president, Hilla Limann. This is Ghana's
'Third Republic' period. |
1981 |
Flight Lieutenant Jerry Rawlings stages his second coup and takes power
again, ending the third republic and ousting President Limann after two years
of weak government and economic stagnation. Rawlings suspends the constitution
and bans political parties, replacing them with conservative leadership and
abolishing subsidies and price controls. Many Ghanaians emigrate to
Nigeria during the period, but Nigeria
forcibly returns many of them in 1983. Slowly the country begins to recover. |
1981 - 1992 |
Jerry
Rawlings |
Seized power for
a second time and retained it. |
1992 - Present |
In April a constitution allowing for a multi-party system is approved in a
referendum, ushering in a more permanent period of democracy. This is
Ghana's 'Fourth Republic' period. After overseeing this process, Rawlings
is elected president, twice, serving until 2000. The country is a secure
and stable democracy by now, which sees free and fair elections on a
regular basis.
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Ghanaian leader for thirty-four years, Jerry Rawlings, led
two coups to establish an improved level of democracy, albeit
retaining power himself for a large period of time after the
second coup
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1994 - 1995 |
Land disputes in the north erupt into ethnic violence. Ethnic clashes
between the Konkomba and the Nanumba have been taking place over land
ownership, but the bloodshed now results in the deaths of a thousand
people and the displacement of a further 150,000. |
1999 - Present |
Osei Tutu II |
Formerly Prince Nana Dua. Asantehene of
Asante. |
2001 |
This year is a troubled one for Ghana. In February, petrol prices rise by 60%
following the government's decision to remove fuel subsidies. In April the
country accepts debt relief under a scheme designed by the World Bank and the
IMF. In May, a national day of mourning is proclaimed after a football stadium
stampede leaves 126 people dead. An inquiry blames the police for overreacting
to crowd trouble. In June, the government scraps a public holiday that celebrates
Rawling's military coup in an effort to wipe out the legacy of his rule. Finally,
in June floods hit Accra, causing ten deaths and forcing 100,000 to flee their
homes. |
2002 - 2004 |
A state of emergency is declared in the north in April after a tribal chief
and more than thirty others are killed in clan violence. The state of
emergency is lifted in August 2004. |
2007 |
Ghana experiences mixed fortunes in 2007 but with the promise of better
times to come. In June a major offshore oil discovery is announced.
President Kufuor states that the oil will turn Ghana into an 'African
tiger', a reference to the rapidly-growing Far Eastern economies of the
early part of the twenty-first century. In September, Ghana suffers its
worst floods for more than thirty years, causing widespread devastation and
destroying much of the annual harvest. |
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