The Asante Empire, today commonly called the Ashanti Empire, was an Akan state that lasted from 1701 to 1901, in what is now modern-day Ghana. It expanded from the Ashanti Region to include most of Ghana and also parts of Ivory Coast and Togo. Due to the empire's military prowess, wealth, architecture, sophisticated hierarchy and culture, the Ashanti Empire has been extensively studied and has more historic records written by European, primarily British, authors than any other indigenous culture of sub-Saharan Africa.
Kente cloth, the traditional garment worn by Ashanti royalty, has been widely adopted throughout the Ashanti Kingdom.
Golden Stool (Sika dwa) in the Ashanti Kingdom, 1935
Aban Palace at the time of the Third Anglo-Ashanti War in 1874
Manhyia Palace. Current official residence of the Asantehene.
The Akan people are a Kwa group living primarily in present-day Ghana and in parts of Ivory Coast and Togo in West Africa. The Akan speak dialects within the Central Tano branch of the Potou–Tano subfamily of the Niger–Congo family. Subgroups of the Akan people include: the Agona, Akuapem, Akwamu, Akyem, Anyi, Ashanti, Baoulé, Bono, Chakosi, Fante, Kwahu, Sefwi, Wassa, Ahanta, and Nzema, among others. The Akan subgroups all have cultural attributes in common; most notably the tracing of matrilineal descent in the inheritance of property, and for succession to high political office.
Cast brass weights used to measure precise amounts of gold dust. Weights in this system were developed in the seventeenth century. These weights are from the nineteenth century.
17th Century Akan Terracotta – Metropolitan Museum of Art
Akan Woman.
Akan metalwork from the Brooklyn Museum, New York City, United States.
