Ashanti Protectorate
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Ashanti Protectorate is alleged to have been established in 1902 from the Ashanti Confederacy, now
Ashanti Region The Ashanti Region is located in the southern part of Ghana and is the third largest of Regions of Ghana, 16 administrative regions, occupying a total land surface of and making up 10.2 percent of the total land area of Ghana. It is the List of ...
. There are multiple references to an "Ashanti Protectorate" in writings. However, so far no legal instrument has been identified that establishes this. This is because, in fact, the territory in question was established as a
Crown Colony A Crown colony or royal colony was a colony governed by Kingdom of England, England, and then Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain or the United Kingdom within the English overseas possessions, English and later British Empire. There was usua ...
on 1 January 1902. A Crown Colony is not a
Protectorate A protectorate, in the context of international relations, is a State (polity), state that is under protection by another state for defence against aggression and other violations of law. It is a dependent territory that enjoys autonomy over ...
. They are two different things. After several prior wars with British troops, Ashanti was once again occupied by British troops in January 1896. In 1900 the Ashanti Uprising took place. The British suppressed the violence and captured the city of
Kumasi Kumasi is a city and the capital of the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly and the Ashanti Region of Ghana. It is the second largest city in the country, with a population of 443,981 as of the 2021 census. Kumasi is located in a rain forest region ...
. Ashanti's traditional king, the Asanthene, and his counselors were deported. The outcome was the annexation of Ashanti by the British so that it became part of His Majesty's dominions and a British Crown Colony with its administration undertaken by a Chief Commissioner under the authority of the Governor of the Gold Coast. Ashanti was classed as a colony by conquest. The legislation by which this annexation was effected and the administration constituted was the Ashanti Order in Council 1901 made on 26 September 1901. The Ashanti lost their sovereignty but not the essential integrity of their socio-political system. In 1935, limited self-determination for the Ashanti was officially regularized in the formal establishment of the Ashanti Confederacy. Ashanti continued to be administered with the greater Gold Coast but remained, nonetheless, a separate Crown Colony until it became united as part of the new dominion named
Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...
under the
Ghana Independence Act 1957 The Ghana Independence Act 1957 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that granted the Gold Coast fully responsible government within the British Commonwealth of Nations under the name of Ghana. The Act received royal assent on 7 F ...
.


References

Ashanti Region Former British protectorates States and territories established in 1902 Former British colonies and protectorates in Africa States and territories disestablished in 1957 {{ghana-stub