The 25-million-strong Akan, a cultural-linguistic group found
predominantly in present-day Ghana and to a lesser extent Togo and
Ivory Coast, has established a legacy as widely known as its bright
kente cloth. From the fourth century on, the Akan created numerous
states based largely on gold production, commerce linked to Sudanic
Africa and the Mediterranean world, and an agrarian culture.
Attracted by its gold, Europeans established their West African
bases in the region they called the Gold Coast and built commercial
relations with indigenous states like Denkyira and Akwamu. As these
states gained wealth from regional and European commerce, gold was
surpassed by the trafficking in African captives to be used in the
overseas European colonies. Europeans established over 40 trading
forts along 341 miles of the Akan coastline, underscoring the
importance of the region. The lessons learned from the rise and
fall of numerous Akan states ultimately led to the rise of the
best-known Akan empire, the Asante Empire. Throughout its history,
the Akan have been innovators of sophisticated socio-political
organisations and in material culture, producing notables such as
the pan-Africanist and Ghana's first president, Kwame Nkrumah, and
Sub-Saharan Africa's first U. N. Secretary General, Kofi Annan.
This first-of-its-kind collection features a new array of primary
sources that provide fresh and nuanced perspectives on the
histories of the Akan peoples. This is and abridged version of the
academic hardcover edition for the general readers and students.
This first-of-its-kind collection features a new array of primary
sources that provide fresh and nuanced perspectives and histories
of the Akan peoples.
General
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