The Asante Nation Profile picture
Sep 21, 2020 15 tweets 3 min read Read on X
ABAKƆSƐM BRƐ: ASANTE NATION UNDER OTUMFOƆ MENSA BONSU (1874 - 1883).

(11th Occupant of The Golden Stool)

Otumfoɔ Kofi Kaakari was succeeded by Otumfoɔ Osei Mensa Bonsu in the year (1874). Probably, this is the first ever photo taken of an Asantehene. Image
His main objective on his enstoolment was to restore the Asante Nation to its former glory and status.

To do this he planned first to get the states which had broken back to the fold.

His first target was to get Dwaben (Juaben) back to back into the fold.
He discovered that Dwaben had been joined by Asokore, Nsuta, Effiduase and Oyoko. He therefore explored all avenues at his disposal to get them back in a peaceful way. After all such efforts had failed, he took arms. 

States like Kokofu, Bekwai, and Asumegya joined Kumase state
to subdue Dwaben. According to W. Claridge, the war was fierce but Dwaben ran out of gun powder after three days of heavy fighting and was defeated. This was on 3rd November, 1875.

Asafo Agyei, the chief of Dwaben and his men broke away and found refuge with the Akyems.......
...where they founded New Dwaben, Asokore, Oyoko, Effiduase and Dwumaapo (Jumapo) in Koforidua.

He and his people were told to live there peacefully, but in 1877 the government detected that Asafo Agyei and some coastal chiefs had planned to fight the Asante Nation to pave way
...for Dwabens in exile to come back to their own land. 

The Governor, Sandford Freeling heard of of the plan and sent messengers to warn Asafo Agyei to desist from those threats. When the Governor found out that Asafo Agyei did not heed to his warning, he deported him to Lagos.
Nana Mensa Bonsu reigned from 1874 to 1883. Because of what happened to Asante Nation as a result of the war in 1874 war, Nana Mensa Bonsu resolved never to have any open confrontation with the British.

He also decided to find peaceful ways of winning back the states...
which had broken away from the Asante Nation.

He realised that his moves to get the other states back to the Kingdom was supported by the other Asante States.

After the Dwaben war he made Gyaman and other states his next target.
However, his dislike for war created annoyance among a section of the Kumase people who were warlike.

They realised that the British were victorious in the 1874 war because they used a superior so they procured some of the superior rifles and engaged a German adventurer...
named Neilson to train them and a corps of Hausa troops they had engaged. Their main aim was to wait for a chance when they could sort it out with the British.

It was at that particular time that a neighboring tribe attacked Banda people.
They sought protection from the Gyamans. The Gyamans gave them land on which to stay

However, the Bandas realised their mistake in bargaining their independence for protection and wanted to transfer their allegiance to Asante even though they were still occupying the Gyaman land
This led to trouble between the two states and gave the war party in Kumase a chance to bring both Banda and Gyaman states back into the kingdom.

However, Nana Mensa Bonsu, insisting on his vow of no confrontation with the British sent to ask for the Governor's advice.
This latest move by him made the war party and some of the chiefs angry and therefore they destooled him.

They were disappointed that he couldn't be a warrior like Otumfoɔ Osei Asibe Bonsu whom he was named after.
Other charges levelled against him were imposing heavy fines for small offences and also being lustful.

Piawwwww!!!

This is how we wrap up tonight's class.

However, tomorrow we will bring to you the detailed history between the Kumasi State and Dwaben State.
And what brought the feud between the two states that brought about Dwaben's migration to the Eastern Region.

Our next class comes off on Wednesday.

All your questions are warmly welcome.

Goodnight Abusuafoɔ.

Piawwwww!!!

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with The Asante Nation

The Asante Nation Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @Ashanti_Kingdom

Oct 26, 2023
QUEEN ABLA POKOU (Abena Pokua), THE ASANTE PRINCESS WHO ESTABLISHED THE BAOULE KINGDOM OF IVORY COAST.

The story of Queen Abla Pokou goes hand in hand with the creation of the Baoulé tribe and is a reminder of the importance of the mother figure in the entire Akan culture. Image
Some Three Hundred Years ago, in 1720; a sad event occurred in Kumase that tested Asanteman unity.

Asanteman passed the test. Queen Abla Pokou was born a princess in the Asante kingdom of Ghana. She was the niece of the Great King Osei Tutu, founder of the Asante Empire.
In the Ashanti culture, succession is matrilineal. So when King Osei Tutu died, it was Nana Dako, the brother of Queen Abena Pokua who took power. Mpanimfuo se “Akonwa tɔ fie a obiara pre bi”.

After Opoku Ware was nominated as the successor to King Osei Tutu who died in 1717,
Read 33 tweets
Sep 27, 2023
THE ASANTE NATION (PORCUPINE)

For the past week, we've discussed the history and origin of the eight Akan families, their totems and Partriachs; limiting it to the Asante Nation. The eighth (8) Akan clans are Oyoko (Falcon), Biretuo (Leopard), Aduana (Dog), Asona (Crow), Image
Agona (Parrot), Ekuona (Buffalo), Asakyiri (Vulture), and Asenie (Bat).

It is only in Asante Kingdom that these eight clans are well represented in all our structures with influential paramount chiefs belonging to one of these clans, with some being the Abusua Piesie (Clan Head
Our ancestors came together from all these Clans to form the largest union of States "Amankuo" within the Akan Ethnic group and the largest nation within Ghana. They created a new name and new identity for themselves, ASANTE (ƐSA-NTI) meaning "Because of War".
Read 10 tweets
Sep 24, 2023
The ASAKYIRI CLAN (VULTURE/EAGLE)

The Asakyiri Clan are also referred to as Amoakaadefuo. This is the oldest family among the 8 Akan families or clans. It can be classified as the mother of all the Akan families. Unfortunately, this family is relatively small in their numbers. Image
Some historians say the name might mean that initially the Asakyiri people were in their numbers and very prosperous until the main family members decided to move on to establish their towns and territories, those who decided to stay behind later became Asakyirifuo.
This, they believe might be the reason for the name and also the reason why they are so small in number.

Others also narrate that the name Asakyiri came about when a vulture (Kɔkɔsakyi/pɛtɛ) was seen eating a corpse in a bush.
Read 6 tweets
Sep 23, 2023
The ASENIE CLAN (BAT)

The Asenie family or clan like almost all the Akan families, also originated from Adanse, the last among the families. The first known woman ancestress of the Asenie family was Nana Ama Gyata who is said to have emerged from a cave at Bona Bon in Adanse. Image
She gave birth to two children Nana Damte and Nana Dufie Gyampontima.

They migrated to Dompoase and Nana Dufie gave birth to six children at Dompoase including Nana Adutwumwaa and Nana Dwirayikwaa. Some of Nana Dufie's children then migrated to places like Asantemanso, Amakom,
Aduaben and Awukuguaa. From Asantemanso, a section of the family migrated to Nkuroso, near Bonwire and finally to Agona Akyempem.

Nana Dwirayikwaa gave birth to Okomfo Yamoa who later became the chief of Agona during the time of Kwamanhene Obiri Yeboah.
Read 10 tweets
Sep 22, 2023
The AGONA CLAN (PARROT)

The Agona Abusua or Family is classified as a brother to the Bretuo family. According to Rattray, these two families both lived together at Ahensan in Adanse and as a result of expansion, some members left to settle at a place they later called Denkyera, Image
in so doing they changed their family and became the Agona family.

According to oral tradition, these people were very powerful in terms of statesmanship With the help of their King Nana Boa Amponsem, they founded one of the fiercest Akan Kingdoms, the Denkyira Kingdom.
The Denkyira Kingdom dominated the trade with Europeans on the Western Coast.

The Agona family members are by nature very good businessmen because it is said that their ancestors had always controlled the gold and kola trade before arriving at Adanse.
Read 9 tweets
Sep 21, 2023
The EKUONA CLAN (BUFFALO)

The Ekuona Abusua is also referred to as Ekuo ne Asimpi. This clan is also sometimes referred to as Asokorefuo. It is believed that most of the Akan families originally belonged to this family. Image
They were the first settlers in Adanse and thus the royal family was Ekuona. The Ekuona family members are believed to be the first among the Akans who built houses hence the name "Adan-sifuo" meaning, "house builders".
Sɛ Ɛsono nni hɔ ɛkuo ne Piesie. Ahwenie a ɛda yaawa mu. Ɛkoɔ Asimpi Asare a ne din ase ne sɛ: Asare ne mu yɛ duru te sɛ sumpie.

It is traditionally believed that it was the Ekuona family that gave birth to the Oyokuo.
Read 8 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Don't want to be a Premium member but still want to support us?

Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal

Or Donate anonymously using crypto!

Ethereum

0xfe58350B80634f60Fa6Dc149a72b4DFbc17D341E copy

Bitcoin

3ATGMxNzCUFzxpMCHL5sWSt4DVtS8UqXpi copy

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us!

:(