XVIIIᵉ siècle – XXᵉ siècle
Gold Coast, West Africa
Traduction non disponible · Original (anglais) · français indisponible
The Asante Empire was a powerful West African polity centered on Kumasi and organized through an Asante Union of member states and dependent territories. The excerpt describes its fragmentation after the 1874 war, its partial reunification under Prempeh, and its final subordination after British military intervention in 1896. Asante resistance resumed in 1900 under Yaa Asantewaa, following British interference with chiefly authority and the sacred Golden Stool.
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Le récit
The Asante Empire entered a period of severe political crisis after the 1874 war. Under the Treaty of Fomena, Asante recognized the independence of its southern vassal states, while territories north of the Volta also broke away as Asante military power weakened. The internal core then began to fragment, encouraged by British efforts to prevent the restoration of a unified Asante state.
Conflict between Kumasi and Dwaben developed into a civil war, ending in the defeat of Kumasi and the migration of its people into the newly proclaimed British Protectorate and Colony of the Gold Coast. After the death of a successor, another civil war followed over the succession. In 1888, Prempeh emerged as Asantehene and confronted the task of restoring political cohesion.
Prempeh reunited the member states of the Asante Union within three years and persuaded Dwaben to return. British officials, alarmed by this revival and by the possibility of French or German intervention, offered protection, but Prempeh rejected the proposal. His government instead pursued its own regional policy, including military action against Nkoransa, Moa and Abease in 1892.
After refusing a British Resident and financial arrangements imposed on Asante, Prempeh sent a diplomatic mission to the Queen of England in 1894. The mission was refused an audience, while the British governor was instructed to issue an ultimatum demanding the acceptance of a Resident and payment of the indemnity imposed after the 1874 war. A British expedition under Sir Francis Scott entered Kumasi in January 1896 without a battle, because Prempeh and his advisers chose acceptance of British protection rather than armed confrontation.
The British nevertheless arrested and deported Prempeh, his mother, his uncles and several war chiefs, first to Sierra Leone and later to the Seychelles in 1900. Prempeh explained that he preferred surrender in order to preserve the lives and tranquillity of his people. His decision reflected the military superiority of Britain and the destructive experience of the earlier war, even though it marked the loss of Asante sovereignty.
In 1900, British demands concerning chiefly authority, taxation and the Golden Stool provoked a renewed Asante uprising. The Golden Stool was regarded as the embodiment of the Asante soul and a symbol of national survival. Asante forces besieged the British party in the fort at Kumasi and fought several pitched battles from April to November, when Yaa Asantewaa and other Asante generals were arrested and deported to the Seychelles.
XVIIIᵉ siècle – XXᵉ siècle
Gold Coast, West Africa
Traduction non disponible · Original (anglais) · français indisponible
The Asante Empire was a powerful West African polity centered on Kumasi and organized through an Asante Union of member states and dependent territories. The excerpt describes its fragmentation after the 1874 war, its partial reunification under Prempeh, and its final subordination after British military intervention in 1896. Asante resistance resumed in 1900 under Yaa Asantewaa, following British interference with chiefly authority and the sacred Golden Stool.
Poursuivre l’exploration
Le récit
The Asante Empire entered a period of severe political crisis after the 1874 war. Under the Treaty of Fomena, Asante recognized the independence of its southern vassal states, while territories north of the Volta also broke away as Asante military power weakened. The internal core then began to fragment, encouraged by British efforts to prevent the restoration of a unified Asante state.
Conflict between Kumasi and Dwaben developed into a civil war, ending in the defeat of Kumasi and the migration of its people into the newly proclaimed British Protectorate and Colony of the Gold Coast. After the death of a successor, another civil war followed over the succession. In 1888, Prempeh emerged as Asantehene and confronted the task of restoring political cohesion.
Prempeh reunited the member states of the Asante Union within three years and persuaded Dwaben to return. British officials, alarmed by this revival and by the possibility of French or German intervention, offered protection, but Prempeh rejected the proposal. His government instead pursued its own regional policy, including military action against Nkoransa, Moa and Abease in 1892.
After refusing a British Resident and financial arrangements imposed on Asante, Prempeh sent a diplomatic mission to the Queen of England in 1894. The mission was refused an audience, while the British governor was instructed to issue an ultimatum demanding the acceptance of a Resident and payment of the indemnity imposed after the 1874 war. A British expedition under Sir Francis Scott entered Kumasi in January 1896 without a battle, because Prempeh and his advisers chose acceptance of British protection rather than armed confrontation.
The British nevertheless arrested and deported Prempeh, his mother, his uncles and several war chiefs, first to Sierra Leone and later to the Seychelles in 1900. Prempeh explained that he preferred surrender in order to preserve the lives and tranquillity of his people. His decision reflected the military superiority of Britain and the destructive experience of the earlier war, even though it marked the loss of Asante sovereignty.
In 1900, British demands concerning chiefly authority, taxation and the Golden Stool provoked a renewed Asante uprising. The Golden Stool was regarded as the embodiment of the Asante soul and a symbol of national survival. Asante forces besieged the British party in the fort at Kumasi and fought several pitched battles from April to November, when Yaa Asantewaa and other Asante generals were arrested and deported to the Seychelles.