Akwamu

Akwamu National State Symbol

Akwamuman or in English: The Akwamu Nation, is an Akan nation, comprised with mainly Akan people. Akwamu is one of the oldest Akan states along with the Fante and Akyem states. The Akwamu are ruled by the king of all Aduana abusua or maternal clan. The Aduana along with the Asona are also one of the oldest clans. The Aduana and Asona are the most numerous and the only clans that intermarriage between the same clan members are allowed amongst Royals.[3]

According to the oral traditions, the Akans originated from ancient Ghana. By 750 AD, the kingdom had become the ancient Ghana Empire. The Empire lasted from 750 AD to 1200 AD and collapsed as a result of political instability, decline of trade and the rise of the Sosso and Mali kingdoms.[4] Their ancestors left for Kong (i.e. present day Ivory Coast). From Kong they moved to Wam. From Wam they moved to Bono Manso, then to Dormaa (these are both in present-day Bono region of Ghana). The movement from Kong was necessitated by the desire of the people to find suitable Savannah conditions since they were not used to Forest life. Around the 14th century, they moved from Dormaa south and went eastwards to Twifo-Hemang, North West Cape Coast. The move was commercially motivated and settled at the Twifo-Heman forest in the later part of the 16th century. According to oral tradition, a succession dispute resulted in Otomfuo (brass-smith) Asare deserted the family to form a new state or city called Asaremankesee (Asare's big state). The modern city of Asamankese was founded and occupied by the Akwamus.

Akwamu expansion started between 1629 and 1710. They expanded into the Akuapem area, including Kyerepon and Larteh, Denkyera, Ga-Adangbe; and the Ladoku states of Agona, Winneba, Afram plains, Southern Togoland and into Ouidah (said as: Oh-Whee-da or Whydah) in present-day Benin. The powerful king Otumfuo Ansa Sasraku I annexed the Guan and took over the traditional areas of the Kyerepon. He ruled over them until Asonaba Nana Ofori Kuma and his followers, after a succession dispute in an effort to form their own State, engaged them in a fierce war. The Akwamu were driven away from the mountains.

These Asona family members and their followers were given a piece of land by the Guan and Kyerepon, the original settlers, to form the Akuapem state. Most of the present Akuapem still have their roots at Akwamufie, especially those bearing the names Addo and Akoto, or who are from the Aduana family.

According to Akwamu tradition, Otumfuo Ansa Sasraku I, also played an important role in the life of the King Osei Tutu I of Asante by protecting him from the Denkyera. Osei Tutu's father name was Owusu Panin from Akwamu and his mother was named Manu Kotosi from Kwaaman. She was the sister of Oti Akenten and Obiri Yeboah the late kings of Kwaaman. When Manu was unable to have children, her brother Obiri Yeboah sent her to a shrine called Tutu in Akuapem for help. Later she conceived and gave birth to a baby boy (Osei Kofi) and named him after the shrine called Tutu; by then Kwaaman was under the Denkyera so when Osei was teenager, he was sent to serve at the court of Odeefuo Boa Amponsem, the then king of Denkyera. Later, Osei got himself into trouble by impregnating the king's sister Akobena Bensua and ran to his father at Akwamu for protection. When Osei got to Akwamu, Otumfuo Ansa Sasraku received him and treated him very well; and also protected him from the Denkyeras. Later, Osei Tutu met Kwame Frimpong Anokye (a.k.a. Okomfo Anokye) and he became his friend. Shortly after that Osei's uncle, Obiri Yeboah, the then king of Kwaaman died in their war against Domaa; and as a result, Osei had to become the next king but he was afraid of the Denkyeras to go back to Kwaaman so Otumfuo Ansa Sasraku detached 300 Akwamu warriors to guide him to Kwaaman. When the soldiers got to Kwaman, they settled among them and later became citizens of Asafo.

Akwamu leaders then restructured the Asante army as the replica of the well-organised army. Also with the help of Akwamu, they embarked on a series of campaigns which led to the defeat of the Denkyera. The Asante Stool then became the wife of the Akwamu Stool, symbolism to show the closeness of the two Akan states. The Asante nation later becoming an Empire and even refers to its Emperor also as Otumfuo, which derives from Akwamuman. When Akwamu was facing the combined force of Akyem (Akyem Abuakwa, Akyem Kotoku and Akyem Bosome), Ga, Kyerepong, and the Dutch, Asante pretended they knew nothing about it and did not help Akwamu which led to their defeat in 1734. Although Akwamuman lost the western part of the Empire, it was quick to re-establish itself and controlled the eastern part of the Empire that was from the east bank of the Volta river to Dahomey. When Asanteman fought the British in their third and fourth wars, Akwamu tried to help but withdrew their help, because in 1867. Akwamu and Anlo(the two allies of Asante), signed diplomatic agreement with British government; therefore based on the agreement, Akwamu could no longer team up with Asante to fight the British again and Asante was defeated. Despite all this Akwamus and Asantes are still strong allies. They fought in many wars as allies, one of the most difficult ones was the "Krepi war" in 1869 where the Dutch and the Ewe forces inflicted heavy casualties on Asante and Akwamu forces to the extent that Otumfuo Kofi Karikari, the then Asantehene decided to withdraw from the war, so he ordered Adu Bofo, the Asante army general to abandon the Krepi war; but Bofo continued to the end, and later demanded heavy ounces of gold for the captured German and Dutch missionaries. After the Krepi war, Peki and the majority of Ewes gained their independence; the Akwamu domination over the Ewelands came to a halt; and the empire finally collapsed in 1869.

Nana Osei Tutu was assisted in execution cases by the Anumfuo (later Adumfuo) who accompanied him from Akwamu. In the 21st century, numerous Asante trace their ancestry to Akwamu especially; these included people from Asafo and Adum, as well as sections of the people from Bantama and Barekese, all towns in the Asante city capital of Kumasi.

After the death of Nana Ansa Sasraku, he was succeeded by two kings collectively, Nana Addo Panin and Nana Basua. It was during this time that the Akwamu took over the possession of the trading Danish Castle at Christianborg at Osu, in present-day Accra.

Because of the cordial relationship between Akwamu and Asante, during the 19th-century expansion of Asante, Akwamu, Anlo and Asante fought as allies. Akwamu controlled eastern part of the Volta river and the Asante also controlled the western part of it until all of them came under British, German, and French control. During the Golden Anniversary of Nana Kwafo Akoto II (Regent),Nana Opoku Ware I crossed the Pra River to spend two days at Akwamufie.

At the peak of their power, the Akwamu state encompassed much of the eastern part of the present-day Ghana. It is traditionally thought that between 1677 and 1681, the Akwamu state conquered the states of Ladoku, Agona and the fort of Whydah, as well as the Ewe people of the Ho region.[5] The Akwamu also conquered the Ga people and occupied the old Ga Kingdom.[5]

In 1693, the Asimani of Akwamu led a raid and seized Osu Castle from the Danish colonists.[6] The Akwamu thus controlled many of the trade routes from the interior to the coast in the eastern half of what is now Ghana and created a capital at Nyanoase.[7]

In the 1720s a civil war in the Akwamu state caused great hardship. The victors sold most of the King's allies as slaves and they were transported to the Caribbean island of St. John. In 1733 they fomented a slave revolt on the island.[8]

In 1734 the Akwamus were defeated by the Akyem (Abuakwa, Kotoku and Bosome), Ga, Kyerepong, and the Dutch forces, and lost half of their empire. The Akwamus were pushed to Akwamufie, the location of their current capital; but in 1869 while Akwamu was facing the Dutch and the Ewe forces in the Krepi war, Akyem, Akuapem, and others saw an opportunity to join the Dutch and the Ewe forces to crush Akwamu once and for all; so Dompre, the then king of Akyem Kotoku organized the Akuapem, Ga, and Akyem forces and matched against Akwamu, unfortunately, the Akwamus saw revenge so when W. H. Simpson, the then Acting-Administrator of the Gold Coast tried to intervene diplomatically, the Akwamu arrested him and kept him for five days until Adu Bofo, an Asante army general persuaded them to release him without provoking British to war and they released him, but went ahead and captured Dompre and executed him; and also defeated his forces and Akyem never made such an attempt again.