The Ashanti live in Central Ghana. With a population of 2,800,000 (2004), they are the largest population group in Ghana. Together with the Fanti and the Akwapem Twi, they belong to the Akan group, who populate almost the entire area south-west of the Black Volta. Historically the Akan are said to have immigrated from the north to settle in the coastal region (now inhabited by Fanti) in the south. The central section of the Akan territory consists mainly of rain forest and is inhabited by the Ashanti. This migration is said to have taken place in the 13th century as a result of the gold trade. Some of the Ashanti ended up in Ivory Coast, where they established the Baule community. The great Ashanti kingdom was only established in the 17th century under King Osei Tutu. The centre of the Ashanti kingdom is in and around the city of Kumasi, where the palace of the Ashanti king (Ashantehene) is also located.
The Ashanti have a matrilinear social system built up around the traditional family or the abusu, the basis of the matrilinear clan. This exogamous matrilinear clan system largely determines the local identities and the individual status, the passing on of tradition, the succession of prosperity and the political persuasion, and partly also traditional religion. The traditional positions of chief are nevertheless taken up by the men. A man can inherit the title of chief but remains partly subject to the matrilinear system of the extended family unit. A child is thought to inherit the spirit of the father (ntoro) and the flesh and blood from the mother (mogya), which allows the children to get closer to the mother clan.
Artistically, the Ashanti distinguish themselves by their metalwork and their wood sculptures. Their metalwork includes copper and gold jewellery, produced using the lost-wax technique, and the gold weights made of brass or gold as well as objects made of hammered metal sheets. In their wood sculpture, the akwaaba fertility figures and the esi mansa mother-and-child figures are particularly worthy of note.
Ashanti art is mainly known for its court art, including the royal staff, the parasols (palankuine) and of course the Golden Chair, which is the symbol of the Ashanti kingdom above all others. The Ashanti chair is considered sacred because it possesses the sumsum or the soul of the Ashanti people. No-one is permitted to sit on the chair as a result.
Kente is part of the ceremonial dress of the Ashanti. This traditional dress, decorated with adinkra symbols, is worn during specific social and religious gatherings. This kente fabric symbolizes the history, philosophy, oral literature, moral values, social code, religious values and the aesthetic principles of the Ashanti people. The adinkra symbols are named after Adinkra, who was king in Ivory Coast in the early 19th century, and they are still used to decorate fabrics, musical instruments and as decorative elements in architecture.
The Ashanti economy used to be based on the trade of gold and slaves for the Mande and Hausa trade caravans and the Europeans along the coast. Today the Akan economy has grown into a world market in the export of timba wood, cocoa beans and pineapples.
© RMCA/Dominik PHYFFEROEN