Osei Tutu Unifies the Akan States and Founds the Asante Empire

Around 1701, Osei Tutu united several Akan chieftaincies in the forest region of modern-day Ghana into the Asante Empire, centered at Kumasi. According to tradition, the priest Okomfo Anokye summoned the Golden Stool from the sky as a symbol of collective Asante identity, binding the confederated states into a single political entity. The empire developed sophisticated bureaucratic governance, controlled the gold-rich Akan goldfields, and became a major power in the Atlantic trade network. At its height the Asante Empire governed approximately three million people and fielded an army of 80,000, resisting British colonial expansion until forced annexation in 1902.