Akyem Abuakwa is a traditional kingdom in Ghana. It dates from at least the 16th century. Its capital is and was

Kyebi Kibi or Kyebi is a town located in the East Akim Municipal District, Eastern Region, Ghana, Eastern Region of Ghana. Its population is 11,677 people as of 2013. History Kibi is the traditional capital of the Akyem Abuakwa state in the Ea ...

. Currently, it is a

non-sovereign monarchy A non-sovereign monarchy, subnational monarchy or constituent monarchy is one in which the head of the Monarchy, monarchical polity (whether a geographic territory or an ethnic group), and the polity itself, are subject to a temporal authority h ...

and part of

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 ...

, one of the three Akyem states, the others being

Akyem Kotoku Akyem Kotoku is a traditional kingdom in Eastern Ghana. It dates back to at least the 16th century, and its capital is and was Akyem Oda. Akyen Kotoku is one of the three independent states along with Akyem Bosome and Akyem Abuakwa that forms the ...

and

Akyem Bosome Akyem Bosome is a traditional kingdom in Eastern Ghana. It dates from at least the 16th century, and its capital is and was Akyem Swedru. It is the smallest of the three Akyem states, including Akyem Abuakwa and Akyem Kotoku, that form the Akyem M ...

. Historically, the Akyem were part of the Adansi Kingdom, which was the first nation to build buildings out of mud. They were therefore named

Adansi Adanse or Adansi is one of the earliest Akan states, located in the southern part of present-day Ashanti Region, Ghana. Widely regarded in oral tradition as a spiritual and ancestral homeland of many Akan polities, Adansi was an early center of ...

(builders). In the 18th century, the

Ashanti Empire The Asante Empire ( Asante Twi: ), also known as the Ashanti Empire, was an Akan state that lasted from 1701 to 1901, in what is now modern-day Ghana. It expanded from the Ashanti Region to include most of Ghana and also parts of Ivory Coast ...

emerged, and under the leadership of King Osei Tutu, defeated the Adansi and annexed them into the Ashanti Empire. The three Akyem nations that were part of the Adansi Kingdom

seceded Secession is the formal withdrawal of a group from a political entity. The process begins once a group proclaims an act of secession (such as a declaration of independence). A secession attempt might be violent or peaceful, but the goal is the c ...

and crossed the River Pra.

History

According to tradition, the founder of the kingdom migrated from

. By the seventeenth century Akyem Abuakwa dominated the trade routes and gold-producing districts around the Birim River, and developed into a large, wealthy, powerful kingdom. King Tutu I decided to pursue the Akyems across River Pra against the advice of Okomfo Anokye. While crossing the river with his army, he was shot by the Akyems in an ambush. He was killed and fell into the river. The Ashantis say "Meka Yawada" which means "I swear by Thursday" because the day the king died was on Thursday and the Akyems were known as "Abuakwanfo" or "Abuakwafo" (

guerrilla Guerrilla warfare is a form of unconventional warfare in which small groups of irregular military, such as rebels, Partisan (military), partisans, paramilitary personnel or armed civilians, which may include Children in the military, recruite ...

fighters). The Ashantis retreated and this defeat created a

taboo A taboo is a social group's ban, prohibition or avoidance of something (usually an utterance or behavior) based on the group's sense that it is excessively repulsive, offensive, sacred or allowed only for certain people.''Encyclopædia Britannica ...

preventing any Ashanti

King King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

up to the time of Nana Prempeh I (in

1900 As of March 1 ( O.S. February 17), when the Julian calendar acknowledged a leap day and the Gregorian calendar did not, the Julian calendar fell one day further behind, bringing the difference to 13 days until February 28 ( O.S. February 15 ...

) to cross the Pra to the south. After his death, his nephew King Opoku Ware I became the

king King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

of the Ashanti Empire and vowed to avenge his uncle's death. He restarted the

war War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...

against the Akyems. The Akyems, knowing that the Ashantis would invade again, migrated southeastwards. Because of the travel, most of the Kotokus and some others settled in the present-day Ashanti Akyem region. The majority traveled until they met

Akwamu The Akwamu Empire was a powerful Akan state that rose to prominence in the 17th century in what is now southeastern Ghana. According to oral tradition, the Akwamu traced their origins to the Twifo-Heman area, but the earliest historical records p ...

s, a powerful nation inhabiting and ruling the

tribe The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide use of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. The definition is contested, in part due to conflict ...

s from Asamankese to Nyanawase, which was then their capital and part of Akwapim. The Abuakwas fought the Akwamus and

settled A settler or a colonist is a person who establishes or joins a permanent presence that is separate to existing communities. The entity that a settler establishes is a settlement. A settler is called a pioneer if they are among the first settli ...

in the area of the Akwamus. The Abukawas made temporary capitals in several areas, including Praso, before settling at Pameng. In the reign of King Ofori Panin the capital was moved to Kyebirie. The Abuakwas fought few battles with their rival tribes and were an independent state until in 1852, the Abuakwas surrendered to the

British Empire The British Empire comprised the dominions, Crown colony, colonies, protectorates, League of Nations mandate, mandates, and other Dependent territory, territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It bega ...

and they became a British administrative region.

References

External links

Okyeman Association, Toronto
{{coord missing, Ghana Akan Akyem Geography of Ghana Former countries in Africa

History

See also

References

External links