0:00:05 > 0:00:09The kingdom of Asante once ruled supreme in West Africa.
0:00:09 > 0:00:11It was a kingdom that became an empire.
0:00:14 > 0:00:16It played a pivotal role in commerce,
0:00:16 > 0:00:21linking three continents, and it was built on slaves and gold.
0:00:26 > 0:00:30This is just a selection of the Asante crown jewels.
0:00:32 > 0:00:34It gives a real sense of the power
0:00:34 > 0:00:38and the sophistication of this kingdom.
0:00:40 > 0:00:44Africa's history isn't always revealed in written records
0:00:44 > 0:00:48it's found instead in artefacts,
0:00:48 > 0:00:50culture and the traditions of the people.
0:00:55 > 0:00:59We know less about Africa's distant past
0:00:59 > 0:01:02than almost anywhere else on Earth
0:01:02 > 0:01:05but the history of this continent is as important and valuable
0:01:05 > 0:01:07as any other.
0:01:07 > 0:01:10In this series I'm exploring some of the richest
0:01:10 > 0:01:13and most vibrant histories in the world.
0:01:13 > 0:01:18I've come to Ghana, in West Africa, to explore the kingdom of Asante.
0:01:19 > 0:01:22It's just one of the continent's many historic
0:01:22 > 0:01:24and often over looked kingdoms.
0:01:24 > 0:01:26Asante was among the most impressive,
0:01:26 > 0:01:31there was found deep in the tropical forest which raises some questions.
0:01:31 > 0:01:34How did a sophisticated society
0:01:34 > 0:01:37emerge from some of the toughest conditions on the planet?
0:01:37 > 0:01:41How was the Asante kingdom created and what happened to it?
0:01:51 > 0:01:54Kumasi, Ghana's second city.
0:01:54 > 0:01:57Today it's home to one-and-a-half million people.
0:01:57 > 0:02:00In the 18th and 19th centuries
0:02:00 > 0:02:03Kumasi was the centre of power of the Asante kingdom.
0:02:06 > 0:02:11A British visitor named Thomas Bowditch came here in 1817.
0:02:13 > 0:02:18He wrote a remarkable account of the Royal court he encountered.
0:02:18 > 0:02:20"The king, his tributes and his captains
0:02:20 > 0:02:21"were resplendent in the distance
0:02:21 > 0:02:25"surrounded by attendants of every description.
0:02:25 > 0:02:28"At least a hundred umbrellas or canopies,
0:02:28 > 0:02:31"which could shelter 30 persons,
0:02:31 > 0:02:35"were sprung up and down by the bearers with brilliant effect,
0:02:35 > 0:02:38"being made with the most showy cloths and silks
0:02:38 > 0:02:42"and crowned on top with crescents, pelicans, elephants, barrels
0:02:42 > 0:02:44"and arms and swords of gold."
0:02:45 > 0:02:47Wow, it sounds quite something.
0:02:47 > 0:02:52Yes, and there is a pictorial depiction of this scene
0:02:52 > 0:02:57in this book itself so I could show that to you.
0:02:57 > 0:03:02Historian Mary Owusu is an expert in the Asante kingdom.
0:03:02 > 0:03:04Here it is.
0:03:04 > 0:03:06Luckily it's in colour, you know.
0:03:07 > 0:03:10It's truly spectacular,
0:03:10 > 0:03:14and when one talks about kings and courts you have, a kind of,
0:03:14 > 0:03:19certain idea of the extravagance and bright cloths and everything
0:03:19 > 0:03:21and this fulfils all of that.
0:03:21 > 0:03:25You can see... is this figure here?
0:03:25 > 0:03:29That would be the Asantehene, the king, you see?
0:03:29 > 0:03:32And he has a lot more gold on him
0:03:32 > 0:03:36and then the people, but that's also what power is about.
0:03:36 > 0:03:38It's about human beings,
0:03:38 > 0:03:41the number of people you control
0:03:41 > 0:03:44as well as having the wealth to go with that control.
0:03:44 > 0:03:46There's a real display of power
0:03:46 > 0:03:50and I guess the most significant sign of that
0:03:50 > 0:03:53is just how much gold is in evidence just everywhere.
0:03:53 > 0:03:56It's pretty obvious looking at these, Mary,
0:03:56 > 0:03:59they're trying to send a message.
0:03:59 > 0:04:01The Asanthene's right at the centre.
0:04:01 > 0:04:06The British who've come to visit, all of his different subjects.
0:04:06 > 0:04:09There's something you are seeing but not seeing properly.
0:04:09 > 0:04:10What aren't I seeing?
0:04:10 > 0:04:12- See these people here. - Yes.
0:04:12 > 0:04:16They are holding skulls, human skulls.
0:04:16 > 0:04:21Skulls of important individuals who have been overpowered,
0:04:21 > 0:04:25to show how much control the king had.
0:04:25 > 0:04:28This illustration shows a wealthy state
0:04:28 > 0:04:31with an uncompromising grip on the kingdom.
0:04:31 > 0:04:34Fascinating though the account is,
0:04:34 > 0:04:39Bowditch only really got a snapshot of the Asante,
0:04:39 > 0:04:43and it doesn't reflect one of the most remarkable things
0:04:43 > 0:04:45about this kingdom.
0:04:45 > 0:04:48How it came into being in the first place.
0:04:49 > 0:04:53Asante emerged a little over 300 years ago,
0:04:53 > 0:04:57in territory now occupied by the Republic of Ghana
0:04:57 > 0:04:59in the heart of West Africa's forest zone.
0:05:05 > 0:05:11Dense forest is an unusual place for large civilisations to establish.
0:05:11 > 0:05:13The heat and humidity are relentless.
0:05:17 > 0:05:18Despite the conditions,
0:05:18 > 0:05:21a complex and sophisticated kingdom emerged here,
0:05:21 > 0:05:24that dominated a vast area for more than 200 years.
0:05:26 > 0:05:29The vegetation seems so impenetrable
0:05:29 > 0:05:33that the scale of the achievement is hard to comprehend.
0:05:33 > 0:05:35Discovering how they did it
0:05:35 > 0:05:38and where they started,
0:05:38 > 0:05:40has preoccupied historians for decades.
0:05:43 > 0:05:47In 2010, archaeology carried out by the University of Ghana
0:05:47 > 0:05:51made some important, new discoveries
0:05:51 > 0:05:53about ancient life in this part of Africa.
0:06:01 > 0:06:04These are fired clay figurines,
0:06:04 > 0:06:08recovered from a site in Northern Ghana
0:06:08 > 0:06:11dating to the 9 and 10th centuries.
0:06:13 > 0:06:16Dr Benjamin Campiere and his colleagues
0:06:16 > 0:06:19found some 80 terracotta figures,
0:06:19 > 0:06:21perhaps a 1,000 years old,
0:06:21 > 0:06:26in savannah north of the forest depicting animals and humans.
0:06:26 > 0:06:29He believes they were part of a shrine.
0:06:29 > 0:06:33What this points to is a very complex culture.
0:06:33 > 0:06:35I mean, even if you look at these
0:06:35 > 0:06:39as depictions of the world that surrounded the people that made them
0:06:39 > 0:06:43you can see that they're wearing jewellery, body adornments,
0:06:43 > 0:06:47that this is obviously a very complex culture.
0:06:47 > 0:06:48For sure, yeah.
0:06:48 > 0:06:53As far as we know, one of the markers of civilised society
0:06:53 > 0:06:59are ritual complexity, possibly marked by these artistic figures,
0:06:59 > 0:07:01quality ones, as well.
0:07:03 > 0:07:08The figurines indicate sophistication among the peoples
0:07:08 > 0:07:11who lived in this region of West Africa.
0:07:12 > 0:07:15But so far, archaeologists haven't proven any link
0:07:15 > 0:07:17between these objects and Asante.
0:07:22 > 0:07:27In fact, conclusive evidence has yet to be found of the precise
0:07:27 > 0:07:30origins of the Asante people, for good reason.
0:07:30 > 0:07:34It's challenging for archaeologists looking for ancient sites
0:07:34 > 0:07:38in this thick vegetation that thrives in heat and humidity.
0:07:38 > 0:07:41They simply don't know where the early Asante came from.
0:07:44 > 0:07:47The forest is yet to give up the physical evidence
0:07:47 > 0:07:50that might reveal what happened many centuries ago.
0:08:00 > 0:08:04Asante's history isn't as elusive as it might seem, however.
0:08:05 > 0:08:09Evidence does exist but it appears in different forms
0:08:09 > 0:08:12which are still incredibly valuable.
0:08:13 > 0:08:16Narrative, oral history, stories of the past,
0:08:16 > 0:08:18they're all important here
0:08:18 > 0:08:20and knowing why is essential in understanding
0:08:20 > 0:08:24how the Asante kingdom came about and what held it together.
0:08:30 > 0:08:36These people are heading to the most hallowed spot in Asante territory.
0:08:36 > 0:08:38This is oral history in action.
0:08:40 > 0:08:43Their destination is a sacred site,
0:08:43 > 0:08:46within a forest called Asanti Mansa
0:08:46 > 0:08:50where a seldom held ceremony is taking place.
0:08:53 > 0:08:55It celebrates the seven clans
0:08:55 > 0:08:59who first established communities in the forest,
0:08:59 > 0:09:02and in so doing, laid the foundations of the Asante kingdom.
0:09:08 > 0:09:09According to legend,
0:09:09 > 0:09:13they emerged from holes in the ground within the forest.
0:09:19 > 0:09:22Sacrifice emphasises the significance and rarity
0:09:22 > 0:09:25of the ritual.
0:09:41 > 0:09:44I may find it uncomfortable viewing,
0:09:44 > 0:09:46but it's an important part of the ceremony,
0:09:46 > 0:09:48celebrating the origin of the Asante people.
0:09:56 > 0:09:59It doesn't really matter whether we believe
0:09:59 > 0:10:02the Asante came from a hole in the ground or not.
0:10:02 > 0:10:06These myths are every bit as important today as they ever were.
0:10:08 > 0:10:12Many things decay in the heat and humidity of the forest,
0:10:12 > 0:10:14but folk memory lasts.
0:10:14 > 0:10:20Archaeologists can't be certain that Asante's ancestors
0:10:20 > 0:10:22came from exactly this spot,
0:10:22 > 0:10:24but the belief in forest origins
0:10:24 > 0:10:26does chime with what historians have established.
0:10:29 > 0:10:32The ancestors of Asante were Akan people,
0:10:32 > 0:10:34whose language is still spoken.
0:10:34 > 0:10:40The Akan hunted and foraged for food around 600 years ago.
0:10:40 > 0:10:44But 300 years later a sophisticated kingdom had emerged.
0:10:44 > 0:10:47In between, the Akan people and their environment
0:10:47 > 0:10:51went through a significant and rapid transformation.
0:10:53 > 0:10:57Before a community could establish itself in one place
0:10:57 > 0:11:00a major obstacle had to be overcome,
0:11:00 > 0:11:02the forest.
0:11:29 > 0:11:31Just unbelievable.
0:11:32 > 0:11:35If you think, the original Asante,
0:11:35 > 0:11:39that they cleared this forest, trees of that size, by hand.
0:11:42 > 0:11:47During the peak of the forest clearance 500 years ago,
0:11:47 > 0:11:50the Akan used axes to weaken the trunks
0:11:50 > 0:11:52and then pulled the trees down with twine.
0:11:54 > 0:11:59Clearing the forest was a vital precondition for settled society.
0:11:59 > 0:12:03Before that Akan people were part of the hunter gatherer society.
0:12:03 > 0:12:06With the forest cleared, agriculture could happen.
0:12:08 > 0:12:12Only with the space to cultivate land and grow food crops
0:12:12 > 0:12:15could groups of Akan people expand their populations.
0:12:17 > 0:12:19Today in a forest in the West of Ghana
0:12:19 > 0:12:24machinery makes short work of ancient trees.
0:12:26 > 0:12:30Hardwood timber, such as mahogany and teak,
0:12:30 > 0:12:33is among Ghana's most important exports.
0:12:36 > 0:12:41Licensing regulations attempt to protect the environment,
0:12:41 > 0:12:44but there's an understanding among forestry workers
0:12:44 > 0:12:47that Ghana's history is worth safeguarding too.
0:12:49 > 0:12:53The forest, it's important to the people, to the Akan,
0:12:53 > 0:12:54the forests are important, are they?
0:12:54 > 0:12:57Yes, it means something to the people.
0:12:57 > 0:12:59We have some areas we don't enter.
0:12:59 > 0:13:00We name the place,
0:13:00 > 0:13:05maybe this is the place where the Asante people come from.
0:13:05 > 0:13:09Yes, so the forest is very important to us.
0:13:12 > 0:13:16For the Akan people in the 15th and 16th centuries
0:13:16 > 0:13:19forest clearance was mind boggling work.
0:13:19 > 0:13:25Researchers have calculated that for one man to clear one hectare
0:13:25 > 0:13:31it would take him 500 days to remove more than 1,200 tonnes of vegetation.
0:13:34 > 0:13:37Since the fertility of the soil deteriorates so quickly,
0:13:37 > 0:13:40he would have to rotate his crops,
0:13:40 > 0:13:44meaning he would need to clear six hectares to feed his family.
0:13:47 > 0:13:49Faced with such an enormous task
0:13:49 > 0:13:52the Akan people needed additional labour.
0:13:52 > 0:13:55There weren't enough of their own people to do the job,
0:13:55 > 0:13:56so they used slaves.
0:13:59 > 0:14:01An expert in the earlier Akan societies,
0:14:01 > 0:14:05that were the foundation of the Asante kingdom,
0:14:05 > 0:14:07is Dr Wilhelmina Donkell.
0:14:07 > 0:14:13Yes, I mean, importing people from outside
0:14:13 > 0:14:16was a really useful venture for them.
0:14:16 > 0:14:19Traders from outside coming in.
0:14:19 > 0:14:24At different times, they must have brought in people...
0:14:24 > 0:14:31even from possibly as far afield as maybe Nigeria,
0:14:31 > 0:14:35the Sierra-Gambian areas and so on.
0:14:35 > 0:14:40How did this early kind of slavery differ from transatlantic slavery,
0:14:40 > 0:14:43which comes slightly later?
0:14:43 > 0:14:46The system that operated here was quite different,
0:14:46 > 0:14:50in the sense that all unfree people,
0:14:50 > 0:14:56or people of unfree descent, could marry, have offspring of their own,
0:14:56 > 0:15:00could accumulate property, and all that.
0:15:00 > 0:15:07And sometimes they could even marry into the lineages of their,
0:15:07 > 0:15:09shall I say, their masters,
0:15:09 > 0:15:12or the people who had initially procured them.
0:15:12 > 0:15:16So, it wasn't very hostile.
0:15:16 > 0:15:24It did not remove the basic humanity of those who had lost their freedom
0:15:24 > 0:15:27but still, it's a loss of freedom,
0:15:27 > 0:15:32in the sense that you were removed from your own kinsmen
0:15:32 > 0:15:37to join a different set of people.
0:15:40 > 0:15:45With the help of unfree labour the Akan made clearances in the forest
0:15:45 > 0:15:47on an unprecedented scale.
0:15:47 > 0:15:50For the first time, the forest was a viable place
0:15:50 > 0:15:53to have organised, settled societies.
0:15:53 > 0:15:59It was still 200-300 years before the Asante kingdom
0:15:59 > 0:16:02but this achievement had a long lasting effect.
0:16:02 > 0:16:07The act of clearing the forest shaped Akan identity.
0:16:07 > 0:16:09There was a great sense of pride
0:16:09 > 0:16:12for this effort against the forest had been successful
0:16:12 > 0:16:15but that only drove the imperative to do more.
0:16:18 > 0:16:21Farmers settled in the clear areas and grew crops
0:16:21 > 0:16:24needed to support an expanding population.
0:16:29 > 0:16:33Today, cultivation still happens among the dense undergrowth.
0:16:35 > 0:16:39- This is your farm is it? - This is my farm.
0:16:39 > 0:16:43And can you tell me, what sort of produce do you farm here?
0:16:43 > 0:16:50Here, I do produce this type of food, it is plantain.
0:16:52 > 0:16:55I planted this and it takes one year to harvest.
0:16:56 > 0:17:00This is called cocoyam and I planted cocoyam.
0:17:00 > 0:17:07- It's like a potato it's a starchy... - Yeah, it's starchy like a potato.
0:17:07 > 0:17:11How do you keep back all of the weeds and the big trees
0:17:11 > 0:17:15that seem to be growing so voraciously
0:17:15 > 0:17:17on the edge of your farm?
0:17:17 > 0:17:23We use this cutlass, so all of them will come once weed everything.
0:17:28 > 0:17:31Having cleared space for agriculture,
0:17:31 > 0:17:35the ancestors of Asante were determined to make the most of it.
0:17:35 > 0:17:37The pursuit of abundance
0:17:37 > 0:17:40quickly became ingrained in the Akan society.
0:17:41 > 0:17:45The productiveness of the forest required a lot of hard work.
0:17:45 > 0:17:47Much of it carried out by slaves,
0:17:47 > 0:17:50but none of that could have happened without a commodity
0:17:50 > 0:17:53that the Akan exchanged for slaves in the first place.
0:18:00 > 0:18:05Still found deep within the forest is the precious resource
0:18:05 > 0:18:07that paid for labour, and transformed the Akan people.
0:18:10 > 0:18:14I'm on my way to one of the ten largest gold mines in the world.
0:18:23 > 0:18:25This is the Abwassi gold mine.
0:18:28 > 0:18:31Today, gold bearing rock is extracted from shafts
0:18:31 > 0:18:35that reach 1,500 metres under ground.
0:18:38 > 0:18:41The chemical process separated the precious metal from the ore
0:18:41 > 0:18:44and smelting results in gold bullion.
0:18:48 > 0:18:51The heat is so intense, I've never felt anything like it.
0:18:51 > 0:18:53It's unbelievable!
0:18:57 > 0:19:00Gold worth over £6 billion at today's prices
0:19:00 > 0:19:06has been extracted from here since the end of the 19th century.
0:19:06 > 0:19:10But it's been mined in this region for a lot longer than that.
0:19:12 > 0:19:15No-one now knows when the Akan people discovered gold,
0:19:15 > 0:19:17but it is clear that they were mining it
0:19:17 > 0:19:20when they were clearing the forest in the 15th century.
0:19:21 > 0:19:26In those days the gold was found much nearer the surface
0:19:26 > 0:19:29and it was smelted by the Akan using iron age technology.
0:19:29 > 0:19:34The precious resource was critical to the transformation of the forest
0:19:34 > 0:19:37and to the foundations of the Asanti kingdom.
0:19:39 > 0:19:41And gold provided by the forest,
0:19:41 > 0:19:45gave the people a significant place in the much wider economy.
0:19:47 > 0:19:50Akan gold found its way to North Africa and beyond
0:19:50 > 0:19:52via trans-Saharan trade routes,
0:19:52 > 0:19:55and gold paid for not just slaves,
0:19:55 > 0:19:58but textiles, brass, copper and salt.
0:19:58 > 0:20:02From the 1470's Akan gold had a direct route to Europe
0:20:02 > 0:20:06via Portuguese merchants on the coast
0:20:06 > 0:20:09in exchange for gold they sold guns.
0:20:13 > 0:20:15A map made by a merchant in the 16th century
0:20:15 > 0:20:18shows who the Portuguese were dealing with.
0:20:18 > 0:20:22The most successful Akan were amassing power.
0:20:27 > 0:20:30The developing entrepreneurial spirit
0:20:30 > 0:20:35would have a major impact on culture in the kingdom of Asante.
0:20:37 > 0:20:40The Akan businessmen had accumulated gold,
0:20:40 > 0:20:43slaves and land and they were known as "beren pon", big men.
0:20:43 > 0:20:47And they shared one thing in common, one ultimate symbol of authority.
0:20:49 > 0:20:53It wasn't a crown or even gold regalia.
0:20:53 > 0:20:56It was a small, wooden stool.
0:20:59 > 0:21:05The village of Oweir is a centre of stool craftsmanship.
0:21:05 > 0:21:10Every stool is carved from a single piece of sese wood.
0:21:10 > 0:21:12The finest stools made here
0:21:12 > 0:21:16are used by senior figures in Ghanaian society.
0:21:16 > 0:21:22Less ornate stools are for everyday use and tourist souvenirs.
0:21:22 > 0:21:26According to leading Asante scholar, Professor Kwame Ahima,
0:21:26 > 0:21:29the stool was more than a seat to the Akan big men.
0:21:30 > 0:21:32It was a symbol of citels.
0:21:32 > 0:21:41Citels in the sense of authority, power
0:21:41 > 0:21:45and standing in society.
0:21:45 > 0:21:53It begins with the earliest village family unit.
0:21:55 > 0:21:59The eldest had to have a symbol of authority over everybody,
0:21:59 > 0:22:02so, then he had the stool made for him.
0:22:02 > 0:22:04And why is the stool the symbol?
0:22:04 > 0:22:09I suppose the material used for it was durable,
0:22:09 > 0:22:12because you see you wanted it to last.
0:22:12 > 0:22:17Now, a stool is a way of remembering,
0:22:17 > 0:22:20a means of remembering.
0:22:20 > 0:22:24So, in a way, the stools actually became symbols of the history...
0:22:24 > 0:22:25That's right
0:22:25 > 0:22:27..and also at the same time?
0:22:27 > 0:22:31The symbols of office, symbols of authority, symbols of a power
0:22:31 > 0:22:37and also reminders of their particular achievements.
0:22:37 > 0:22:42'The experience of literally hacking their culture out of the forest
0:22:42 > 0:22:45'was bound up in Akan stools.
0:22:45 > 0:22:49'They helped to emphasise the roots of their organised society
0:22:49 > 0:22:50'and much more.'
0:22:52 > 0:22:55It's not just about rootedness, it's also about power,
0:22:55 > 0:22:57about lineage, about family.
0:22:57 > 0:23:01They actually have, in the centre of them,
0:23:01 > 0:23:05an empty space where people could put things that they treasured,
0:23:05 > 0:23:08that brought this object to life,
0:23:08 > 0:23:10made it more than just a seat.
0:23:10 > 0:23:13It became, in a way, a vessel that carried history.
0:23:15 > 0:23:21'The stool's authority translated into political power for its chief.
0:23:21 > 0:23:23'As the communities around each stool grew,
0:23:23 > 0:23:26'they became less a collection of farmers and workers
0:23:26 > 0:23:30'and more like highly centralised states.
0:23:32 > 0:23:34'By the mid-1600s,
0:23:34 > 0:23:36'dozens of independent village communities
0:23:36 > 0:23:40'had turned into a patchwork of Akan states.
0:23:40 > 0:23:43'The most powerful was Denkyira.
0:23:43 > 0:23:46'It controlled some of the richest gold mines in the forest.
0:23:46 > 0:23:51'For decades, its neighbours sent tribute by way of slaves
0:23:51 > 0:23:54'and other gifts to keep the peace.
0:23:54 > 0:24:01'But Denkyira's position as the most powerful of the Akan states was not to last.'
0:24:01 > 0:24:06I'm on my way to the birthplace of the man who challenged Denkyria
0:24:06 > 0:24:11and in the process, founded the Asante kingdom.
0:24:16 > 0:24:18'Denkyira's demands on its neighbours
0:24:18 > 0:24:22'left it with few friends and many enemies.
0:24:22 > 0:24:28'In 1701, an alliance of states defeated Denkyira in battle.
0:24:29 > 0:24:32'The leader of the alliance was Osei Tutu,
0:24:32 > 0:24:36'the first Asantehene or King of Asante.
0:24:38 > 0:24:42'According to legend, this village is where it all started.'
0:24:42 > 0:24:45This is a beautiful place.
0:24:45 > 0:24:49'I've been offered a guided tour by the chief of the nearby town.'
0:24:49 > 0:24:53This place is particularly special, though, isn't it?
0:24:58 > 0:25:00So, Osei Tutu was born here?
0:25:03 > 0:25:08'Osei Tutu is thought to have been born sometime during the 1640s.
0:25:08 > 0:25:11'There are very few certainties known about him,
0:25:11 > 0:25:15'but I find it peculiar that there aren't many artistic impressions
0:25:15 > 0:25:17'of what he might have looked like.
0:25:17 > 0:25:20'The chief is taking me to see one of the very few.'
0:25:33 > 0:25:39'This little shrine shows an infant Osei Tutu in his mother's arms.
0:25:39 > 0:25:43'It doesn't give much of an idea of what the man was like.'
0:25:45 > 0:25:47What kind of person was he?
0:26:13 > 0:26:16'The sculpture's strikingly western in its appearance
0:26:16 > 0:26:20'and I think the use of Christian iconography's deliberate.
0:26:20 > 0:26:24'If Osei Tutu is to be remembered as a messiah,
0:26:24 > 0:26:27'it makes sense in this now very Christian country,
0:26:27 > 0:26:31'to remind people of Mary and Jesus.
0:26:31 > 0:26:34'I was keen to see the place where, according to legend,
0:26:34 > 0:26:37'Osei Tutu's mother gave birth.'
0:26:42 > 0:26:46'It's in a wooded area just outside the village.'
0:26:49 > 0:26:51I would love to.
0:26:56 > 0:26:58I have to take my shoes off?
0:27:04 > 0:27:07'Unfortunately, the site is regarded as so sacred,
0:27:07 > 0:27:12'not even the chief has the authority to cross its boundary.
0:27:12 > 0:27:15'There's genuine reverence for the stories of the past,
0:27:15 > 0:27:18'whether provable or not.'
0:27:18 > 0:27:23Can I ask you about the importance of history to the Asante people?
0:27:58 > 0:28:01'The notion of modifying history to suit the present
0:28:01 > 0:28:06'is an intriguing idea, but not a new one.
0:28:06 > 0:28:11'It's exactly what happened when the Asante kingdom was created over 300 years ago,
0:28:11 > 0:28:15'an event commemorated in its capital, Kumasi.
0:28:23 > 0:28:27'This was the seat of Osei Tutu's power
0:28:27 > 0:28:31'and it's where a particular reading of the history is displayed.
0:28:36 > 0:28:40'This modern statue commemorates the most significant
0:28:40 > 0:28:44'and legendary moment in the creation of Asante.
0:28:44 > 0:28:46'The figure isn't Osei Tutu,
0:28:46 > 0:28:49'but his adviser, Okomfo Anokye.
0:28:49 > 0:28:53'He's seen summoning a golden stool down from the heavens.'
0:28:55 > 0:28:56According to folklore,
0:28:56 > 0:29:00the Golden Stool is the spirit of the Asante nation.
0:29:00 > 0:29:03When Okomfo Anokye summoned it from the sky,
0:29:03 > 0:29:06it settled gently on Osei Tutu's knees,
0:29:06 > 0:29:10anointing him the great leader of the Asante kingdom.
0:29:12 > 0:29:17'Okomfo Anokye was Merlin to Osei Tutu's King Arthur.
0:29:17 > 0:29:19'Historians aren't even certain that he ever existed
0:29:19 > 0:29:22'but by promoting the myth,
0:29:22 > 0:29:26'the Asante state deliberately mixed belief with fact.
0:29:26 > 0:29:29'The Golden Stool gave Osei Tutu spiritual power
0:29:29 > 0:29:33'to bolster the military leadership he'd already shown.
0:29:33 > 0:29:37'The Golden Stool was displayed periodically
0:29:37 > 0:29:40'to reinforce the legend.
0:29:40 > 0:29:45'The rarity of its public appearances adds to its mystique.
0:29:45 > 0:29:48'The faith in the stool's supernatural origins
0:29:48 > 0:29:50'gave its owner authority
0:29:50 > 0:29:56'and gave the Asante people a strong sense of belonging.'
0:29:56 > 0:30:00Nothing lasts forever in the forest. Even kings.
0:30:00 > 0:30:03But if the Golden Stool contained the spirit of the Asante nation,
0:30:03 > 0:30:05then the kingdom could last forever.
0:30:05 > 0:30:09THEY DRUM
0:30:11 > 0:30:15'Asante royalty follow the ancient Akan tradition
0:30:15 > 0:30:17'of succession on the mother's line.
0:30:17 > 0:30:21'With the spiritual authority of the Golden Stool
0:30:21 > 0:30:23'and with the help of European firearms,
0:30:23 > 0:30:29'Osei Tutu and his successors embarked on campaigns of expansion.
0:30:29 > 0:30:33'Drums were vital to the kingdom's ambitions.
0:30:33 > 0:30:36'Long distance communication meant Asante's imperialism
0:30:36 > 0:30:39'could be fast and effective.'
0:30:45 > 0:30:49These are the atompan drums - the talking drums of Asante.
0:30:49 > 0:30:51They're a means of communication,
0:30:51 > 0:30:54but perhaps not in the way you might imagine.
0:30:59 > 0:31:03'These drums don't just beat out a rhythm, they speak.
0:31:07 > 0:31:12'And if you know the language, you can hear words and phrases.'
0:31:14 > 0:31:16That was great.
0:31:16 > 0:31:19Thank you so much. That was just amazing.
0:31:19 > 0:31:23You don't just hear it, you feel it. It's absolutely wonderful.
0:31:23 > 0:31:27Each one of these drums have a different sound, is that right?
0:31:37 > 0:31:44'To get an idea of drum language, I've come to speak to drum-maker James Acheampong.'
0:31:44 > 0:31:47- And these drums speak, is that right?- Yes.
0:31:47 > 0:31:51How do they actually communicate? I'm fascinated by that.
0:31:51 > 0:31:55There is a certain basic drum language
0:31:55 > 0:32:00which is very familiar to anybody within the community.
0:32:00 > 0:32:06Such like, maybe we are going to war, someone is lost in the forest
0:32:06 > 0:32:09and we are going to communal labour,
0:32:09 > 0:32:14the king is calling everyone - we have to come report at the palace,
0:32:14 > 0:32:17those are the basic things.
0:32:17 > 0:32:20Everyone within the community knows that.
0:32:22 > 0:32:28'Drum language is possible because it doesn't simply imitate the syllables of spoken words,
0:32:28 > 0:32:30'but their tone, as well,
0:32:30 > 0:32:34'thanks to the combinations of sounds the drums can produce.'
0:32:34 > 0:32:38I see. So, together, they make a full sound?
0:32:43 > 0:32:46If you hear the rhythm, I can call you.
0:32:46 > 0:32:50- You can call me?- What is your name? - My name? My name is Gus.
0:32:50 > 0:32:54- How would you do that? How would you call me?- He shall call you.
0:32:54 > 0:32:57- Amatar, you call me.- Amatar.
0:32:57 > 0:32:58HE BANGS DRUM
0:32:58 > 0:33:03I'm not... I don't... I apologise for my stupidity.
0:33:03 > 0:33:06But I just can't see the relationship. Do Gus again.
0:33:06 > 0:33:10No, no, no. Do Gus again, please. Do Gus.
0:33:15 > 0:33:20See? A-ta-ta-ta. Come.
0:33:23 > 0:33:26The talking drum, in the olden days, was the only means
0:33:26 > 0:33:31to communicate from a village to another village.
0:33:31 > 0:33:34So, there was no telephone then,
0:33:34 > 0:33:39so, normally, the community use the talking drum
0:33:39 > 0:33:45to send messages from village to other village.
0:33:48 > 0:33:51If you kill a thousand, a thousand will come. Asante Kotoko.
0:33:51 > 0:33:55So, that's the great Asante saying, isn't it?
0:33:55 > 0:33:58- Asante Kotoko.- Asante Kotoko.
0:34:01 > 0:34:03So, that one's saying,
0:34:03 > 0:34:06- when you kill a thousand, a thousand will come.- Yes.
0:34:09 > 0:34:11'The common language of the region
0:34:11 > 0:34:14'made this form of communication extremely effective.
0:34:17 > 0:34:19'Asante had no standing army.
0:34:19 > 0:34:23'Instead, every village was expected to contribute soldiers
0:34:23 > 0:34:26'to campaigns ordered by the Asantehene.
0:34:26 > 0:34:30'The reservists responded to the drummer's call to war
0:34:30 > 0:34:35'and the kingdom expanded rapidly in the first half of the 18th century.
0:34:35 > 0:34:38'Asante soon dominated territory
0:34:38 > 0:34:42'that stretched beyond the borders of modern Ghana.
0:34:42 > 0:34:46'Previously independent states were coerced into a federation
0:34:46 > 0:34:49'with power centralised in Kumasi.
0:34:51 > 0:34:55'States were either forcibly conquered or submitted to Asante's power.
0:34:57 > 0:34:59'They became provinces of the kingdom.
0:34:59 > 0:35:05'Their chiefs became vessels of the Asante king - the Asantehene.
0:35:11 > 0:35:13'As the kingdom expanded,
0:35:13 > 0:35:17'Asante grew rich from the proceeds of warfare.'
0:35:19 > 0:35:25The wars of expansion resulted in the accumulation of vast numbers of slaves -
0:35:25 > 0:35:27far more than they could possibly use,
0:35:27 > 0:35:29but this also raised an opportunity.
0:35:34 > 0:35:38'110 miles south of Kumasi is Ghana's coast...
0:35:39 > 0:35:43'..and a poignant reminder of African history.
0:35:46 > 0:35:50'After the Portuguese began trading in the 1470s,
0:35:50 > 0:35:54'other Europeans followed to what became known as the Gold Coast.
0:35:56 > 0:36:00'Cape Coast Castle was originally a base for Swedish merchants,
0:36:00 > 0:36:02'but by the mid-1660s,
0:36:02 > 0:36:05'it had been taken over by the British.
0:36:07 > 0:36:09'As Asante rose to prominence,
0:36:09 > 0:36:11'the white men were less interested in gold
0:36:11 > 0:36:16'than in another valuable commodity - labour.'
0:36:16 > 0:36:19The Asante captured slaves in the interior
0:36:19 > 0:36:22and sold them to the British and other European powers.
0:36:22 > 0:36:28'Gold had once connected the Akan to the economies of Europe.
0:36:28 > 0:36:30'Now, slavery entwined West Africa
0:36:30 > 0:36:34'in a system that linked it to Europe and the Americas.'
0:36:36 > 0:36:39More than a million Africans were sold off of this coast
0:36:39 > 0:36:42to a life of slavery in the New World.
0:36:43 > 0:36:48'And they were captured and sold by their fellow Africans.
0:36:50 > 0:36:55'The institution of slavery had been part of the economic normality of West Africa
0:36:55 > 0:36:57'for hundreds of years.
0:36:58 > 0:37:02'Selling slaves to Europeans for use in the Americas
0:37:02 > 0:37:04'was a lucrative new business
0:37:04 > 0:37:09'not exclusive to the Asante, but used by them for their own advantage.
0:37:09 > 0:37:12'Dr Kwabena Adu-Boahen is an expert on the Asante
0:37:12 > 0:37:14'and the slave trade.'
0:37:16 > 0:37:19After it had been established as a kingdom,
0:37:19 > 0:37:21for economic reasons and for other reasons,
0:37:21 > 0:37:26Asante began to expand beyond the boundaries of the whole kingdom
0:37:26 > 0:37:31and that is where the issue of acquiring slaves for sale came in.
0:37:31 > 0:37:33Under normal circumstances,
0:37:33 > 0:37:36when you are fighting, you kill your enemies, you see,
0:37:36 > 0:37:40but the slave trade had already emerged as an economic system.
0:37:40 > 0:37:45So, as Asante was expanding, it was getting a lot of war captives
0:37:45 > 0:37:48and constant warfare
0:37:48 > 0:37:51meant constant production of war captives
0:37:51 > 0:37:54and while there was a marketing system on the coast,
0:37:54 > 0:37:59logically and rationally, that was going to make them rich.
0:37:59 > 0:38:02So, it's a formidable model that they expand,
0:38:02 > 0:38:06they capture more people, those people are then sold as slaves
0:38:06 > 0:38:10- which then feeds the economy and allows them to expand even more. - Expand even more.
0:38:10 > 0:38:13Acquire the instruments for their expansion, that is firearms.
0:38:13 > 0:38:17And can I ask you a very 21st century question -
0:38:17 > 0:38:21how did the Asante deal with the morality of slavery?
0:38:21 > 0:38:24Of selling human beings?
0:38:24 > 0:38:27We, in the 21st century, look back
0:38:27 > 0:38:30and look at it from the moral perspective,
0:38:30 > 0:38:34but then, morality was not too important.
0:38:34 > 0:38:35It was business.
0:38:35 > 0:38:38It was business of the day
0:38:38 > 0:38:44and the resources were organised and invested in that business.
0:38:44 > 0:38:48So, yes, in our time, it was immoral.
0:38:48 > 0:38:53It's a terrible kind of situation in our thinking and in our estimation,
0:38:53 > 0:38:58but at that time, I don't think morality was a fact at all.
0:39:01 > 0:39:03'For many years in Africa and Europe,
0:39:03 > 0:39:06'slavery was simply a means to an end.
0:39:08 > 0:39:11'Just as their Akan ancestors had used un-free labour
0:39:11 > 0:39:14'to make clearings in the forest,
0:39:14 > 0:39:17'the Asante kings used the proceeds of slavery
0:39:17 > 0:39:20'to create a powerful kingdom.
0:39:20 > 0:39:23'But having created an empire of provinces,
0:39:23 > 0:39:27'the Asantehenes all faced a major challenge -
0:39:27 > 0:39:28'how to keep them together?
0:39:32 > 0:39:34'The Asante kings recognised the value
0:39:34 > 0:39:38'of a traditional culture of storytelling.
0:39:39 > 0:39:43'They understood that the old ways of recording history
0:39:43 > 0:39:44'could be made to work for them.
0:39:44 > 0:39:49'In the heart of the historic kingdom is evidence to show
0:39:49 > 0:39:53'how the Asante state deliberately created a sense of nationalism.'
0:39:55 > 0:39:59Surrounding Kumasi, communities developed a range
0:39:59 > 0:40:03of skills and crafts, places like this, Bonwire.
0:40:03 > 0:40:05They may not have been big or powerful,
0:40:05 > 0:40:09but they played a crucial role in binding the kingdom of Asante together.
0:40:13 > 0:40:19'I've come here to see kente - Ghana's famous patterned cloth.
0:40:20 > 0:40:24'To many people, this is simply brightly coloured material
0:40:24 > 0:40:29'used to make clothes, but there's a lot more to it than that.'
0:40:32 > 0:40:35What's amazing about kente cloth
0:40:35 > 0:40:38is every single one of these patterns has a different meaning
0:40:38 > 0:40:40and these are meanings that are used
0:40:40 > 0:40:43to weave the Asante community together.
0:40:44 > 0:40:48'Even the textile itself is symbolic.
0:40:48 > 0:40:51'Made by joining individual strips of material,
0:40:51 > 0:40:54'the word kente means whatever happens to it,
0:40:54 > 0:40:59'it will not tear and each pattern represents a proverb.'
0:41:01 > 0:41:03They call this My Heart's Desire.
0:41:03 > 0:41:05My Heart's Desire.
0:41:05 > 0:41:08'Isaac, one of the weavers of the workshop,
0:41:08 > 0:41:12'is showing me how messages can be found in the material,
0:41:12 > 0:41:15'many of them reinforcing a single basic idea -
0:41:15 > 0:41:18'we're better together than apart.'
0:41:30 > 0:41:33So, there's kind of a sense of narrative?
0:41:37 > 0:41:40Yeah, and is there a particular reason for the colours?
0:41:40 > 0:41:44They have particular meanings in particular configurations?
0:42:08 > 0:42:10I can understand how those tones...
0:42:10 > 0:42:13That they weave together a sense of community,
0:42:13 > 0:42:19but also, as you say, they represent something within the environment.
0:42:19 > 0:42:21It's wonderful.
0:42:21 > 0:42:27'Kente, rich with symbolism, was promoted by the Asantehenes.
0:42:27 > 0:42:29'By wearing the cloth of Bonwire,
0:42:29 > 0:42:33'the monarch recognised the contribution of Bonwire's craftsmen
0:42:33 > 0:42:37'to the Asante kingdom, while also advertising the kingdom's benefits.'
0:42:39 > 0:42:43I know these objects, but only from a distance, really.
0:42:43 > 0:42:47But to see them up close, you can see why the Asantehene wanted to invest in them.
0:42:47 > 0:42:51He wanted them to be a metaphor for the Asante nation
0:42:51 > 0:42:55and he chose alongside them drums, he chose gold,
0:42:55 > 0:42:58he chose a variety of different kinds of crafts
0:42:58 > 0:43:00that would bind the Asante together.
0:43:02 > 0:43:06'The people were proud to see their traditions being used by the king,
0:43:06 > 0:43:08'but the state's appropriation of local customs
0:43:08 > 0:43:13'revealed how determined it was to shape the kingdom as it saw fit.'
0:43:16 > 0:43:20The Asante nation wasn't just about weaving peoples together.
0:43:20 > 0:43:24Whilst there was consent, there was also control.
0:43:27 > 0:43:32'In 100 years, the kingdom had grown significantly.
0:43:32 > 0:43:36'At its largest extent in the early 1800s,
0:43:36 > 0:43:42'it included outlying provinces as far as 16 days journey from Kumasi.
0:43:42 > 0:43:45'Its population was over 2 million -
0:43:45 > 0:43:50'20 times more than South Africa in the same period.
0:43:50 > 0:43:55'A kingdom of this size required careful government.
0:43:55 > 0:43:58'I've been given permission to enter the Royal Palace in Kumasi
0:43:58 > 0:44:01'and to see some of the instruments of control
0:44:01 > 0:44:03'used by the state at the height of its power.
0:44:06 > 0:44:09'The original palace was the centre of Asante government.
0:44:09 > 0:44:14'From Kumasi, civil servants were sent all over the kingdom
0:44:14 > 0:44:18'to implement its policies and to apply its laws.
0:44:19 > 0:44:23'I've arrived just as the palace gunbearers
0:44:23 > 0:44:27'have come to remove historic weapons from the museum.'
0:44:30 > 0:44:32So, you carry the guns during ceremonies?
0:44:32 > 0:44:37Yeah and during the sitting of the king.
0:44:37 > 0:44:41Any time the king sits in state.
0:44:41 > 0:44:45The guards and their swords have to come out to signify that is the king.
0:44:45 > 0:44:47So, who did that belong to?
0:44:47 > 0:44:53- That is the first king of Asante - Osei Tutu I.- Oh, really?
0:44:53 > 0:44:56This is Osei Tutu's gun?
0:44:56 > 0:44:59How amazing!
0:45:01 > 0:45:05European firearms had been instrumental in creating
0:45:05 > 0:45:08and expanding the Asante kingdom during the 1700s.
0:45:12 > 0:45:16Threat of force was one way the kingdom maintained control
0:45:16 > 0:45:19but other methods were just as effective.
0:45:20 > 0:45:26The royal palace once housed the most important part of the kingdom's bureaucracy...
0:45:26 > 0:45:27..the Treasury.
0:45:27 > 0:45:30Since gold was first mined in the forest,
0:45:30 > 0:45:34the currency of this area of West Africa was gold dust.
0:45:36 > 0:45:40Scales and counterweights were used for precise measurements.
0:45:40 > 0:45:43even gold nuggets and ingots were smelted down
0:45:43 > 0:45:49and turned into gold dust so they could be accurately measured.
0:45:49 > 0:45:52Every transaction was in gold dust, including taxation.
0:45:54 > 0:45:59Look at that exquisite little object, a tiny little stool.
0:45:59 > 0:46:01It's actually a gold weight.
0:46:01 > 0:46:04You can imagine them weighing gold against something like this.
0:46:04 > 0:46:10It's an indication of just how important taxation
0:46:10 > 0:46:12and financial control actually was.
0:46:12 > 0:46:18And the treasury - it was a mechanism for administering
0:46:18 > 0:46:20all of the Asante bureaucracy.
0:46:20 > 0:46:25It's just another one of those institutions that was core
0:46:25 > 0:46:28to consolidating Asante power.
0:46:30 > 0:46:33Taxation didn't simply fund the government,
0:46:33 > 0:46:38it ensured that no individual could become significantly wealthy.
0:46:41 > 0:46:44Gold was not just money, it was power.
0:46:44 > 0:46:47And it was vital that power was held by the state.
0:46:47 > 0:46:52The regalia of the Asantehene had to be the very best.
0:46:53 > 0:46:57And the quality is just mindblowing.
0:46:57 > 0:46:59Exquisite work.
0:47:02 > 0:47:05Ostentatious demonstrations of wealth by the king
0:47:05 > 0:47:10reminded everyone of their history, of how the gold found in the forest
0:47:10 > 0:47:13had been instrumental in creating the kingdom.
0:47:13 > 0:47:17The Asante people had long accepted that the kingdom was
0:47:17 > 0:47:20safeguarded if the state was rich.
0:47:20 > 0:47:23But those assumptions were to be severely challenged.
0:47:33 > 0:47:37Asante had become wealthy and powerful in part because of
0:47:37 > 0:47:39the trade in slaves with Europeans on the coast,
0:47:39 > 0:47:42a trade controlled by the state.
0:47:43 > 0:47:47But in 1807 the slave trade was abolished in the British Empire,
0:47:47 > 0:47:52with far reaching consequences for the Asante.
0:47:52 > 0:47:56The economy shifted and the state's control over it weakened.
0:47:56 > 0:47:59People began to trade in new things with the British on the coast
0:47:59 > 0:48:02and with traders from across the desert.
0:48:05 > 0:48:09The people of Asante had always believed in the state's control
0:48:09 > 0:48:13over wealth, but now they were increasingly in contact
0:48:13 > 0:48:15with people from beyond the kingdom
0:48:15 > 0:48:18who were making money for themselves.
0:48:18 > 0:48:21Many abandoned Kumasi and migrated to the southern provinces
0:48:21 > 0:48:23for a piece of the action.
0:48:23 > 0:48:27Their ancestral entrepreneurial spirit re-awakened.
0:48:27 > 0:48:32At the same time, the sudden drop in the European demand for slaves
0:48:32 > 0:48:35meant that all goods had to be paid for in gold dust.
0:48:35 > 0:48:38It rapidly became scarce.
0:48:39 > 0:48:42These new influences had a profound effect.
0:48:42 > 0:48:47People started hoarding gold, they buried it to avoid paying tax.
0:48:47 > 0:48:51This was a direct assault on the power of the Asante state.
0:48:53 > 0:48:58These internal problems plagued the kingdom in the first half of the 19th century,
0:48:58 > 0:49:02and they were made worse by a fractious relationship
0:49:02 > 0:49:05with an international trading partner.
0:49:08 > 0:49:13The military museum in Kumasi was built as a fort by the British.
0:49:15 > 0:49:22This collection of photographs is testament to British involvement here from the late 19th century.
0:49:22 > 0:49:26But the British influence on the coast had been growing steadily
0:49:26 > 0:49:28for many decades before then.
0:49:30 > 0:49:33There were disagreements and outbreaks of hostilities
0:49:33 > 0:49:34between the British and the Asante,
0:49:34 > 0:49:36but, for the most part,
0:49:36 > 0:49:40relations between them were of two co-operative trading states.
0:49:40 > 0:49:44But then, in the late 1860s, everything changed.
0:49:46 > 0:49:49Asante wanted to restore its domination over
0:49:49 > 0:49:53its southern provinces, to tighten its grip on coastal trade.
0:49:56 > 0:50:00but some of those provinces had turned to the British for protection
0:50:00 > 0:50:05and an Asante trade monopoly was not in British commercial interests.
0:50:05 > 0:50:08The two powers were on a collision course.
0:50:09 > 0:50:13As tempers flared, the Asante took a number of Europeans as prisoners,
0:50:13 > 0:50:17an act that the British would cite as a justification for war,
0:50:17 > 0:50:19a war that would allow the British
0:50:19 > 0:50:22to consolidate their trading position on the coast.
0:50:25 > 0:50:29In February 1874, British forces marched into Kumasi,
0:50:29 > 0:50:33the first foreign troops to do so.
0:50:36 > 0:50:43They burned it to the ground, then returned to their base on the coast.
0:50:43 > 0:50:49The destruction of Kumasi was a shock to this previously undefeated kingdom,
0:50:49 > 0:50:51but the impact was more than psychological.
0:50:53 > 0:50:55As Kumasi lay in ruins,
0:50:55 > 0:51:00Asante was forced to accept the loss of its southern provinces.
0:51:00 > 0:51:05In August 1874, they became the British Gold Coast.
0:51:07 > 0:51:11100 years after Asante's empire building,
0:51:11 > 0:51:15the Europeans were gaining foreign lands.
0:51:15 > 0:51:17The authority of the Asante Kingdom
0:51:17 > 0:51:21had failed to withstand the challenges of the British,
0:51:21 > 0:51:25or the changing economic realities affecting its people.
0:51:25 > 0:51:29The kingdom's other provinces began asserting their power
0:51:29 > 0:51:34and in the 1880s, civil war threatened to tear Asante apart.
0:51:34 > 0:51:37The violence ended in 1888
0:51:37 > 0:51:40when the factions agreed to a new Asantehene,
0:51:40 > 0:51:43a 16-year-old named Prempeh I.
0:51:45 > 0:51:49'Professor Irene Odotei has explored his effect on a kingdom
0:51:49 > 0:51:51'on the verge of destruction.'
0:51:51 > 0:51:55So here was this young man, having come to power,
0:51:55 > 0:51:59the question was how was he going to manage?
0:51:59 > 0:52:02Manage to bring all these forces,
0:52:02 > 0:52:06the insiders who defected and all these other people,
0:52:06 > 0:52:12bringing them together to build a strong Asante nation once more
0:52:12 > 0:52:15that was his challenge - peaceful Asante nation.
0:52:15 > 0:52:21So what he did was to re-establish the importance of the Golden Stool
0:52:21 > 0:52:24as a unifying factor for the Asantes.
0:52:24 > 0:52:28So the Golden Stool, it's the rallying point for the whole nation.
0:52:28 > 0:52:33Yes, but at that time, we're talking about the British too,
0:52:33 > 0:52:35also saying, "Hey, wait a minute.
0:52:35 > 0:52:39"If this man succeeds in reuniting Asante
0:52:39 > 0:52:41"to make a strong Asante nation,
0:52:41 > 0:52:44"we will be in trouble because that's the last thing we want."
0:52:44 > 0:52:46Because the British were determined now
0:52:46 > 0:52:50to get hold of a Asante and make Asante a colony.
0:52:50 > 0:52:55So the governor comes to Kumasi
0:52:55 > 0:52:59and when he came to Kumasi, then he made demands on Prempeh I.
0:52:59 > 0:53:03I think by the time the British came to make their demands,
0:53:03 > 0:53:06he had decided, "I'm not going to fight any more wars.
0:53:06 > 0:53:09"Let me see if I can compromise.
0:53:09 > 0:53:14"If I compromise, one, I will save my nation,
0:53:14 > 0:53:18"and also probably I'll save myself." So that was the thing,
0:53:18 > 0:53:22but the British were so determined, so in spite of all that,
0:53:22 > 0:53:26they decided, "Hey, we are taking you and your mother
0:53:26 > 0:53:32"and some of the chiefs and then send them to Sierra Leone for three years,
0:53:32 > 0:53:34"and from there send them to the Seychelle islands."
0:53:36 > 0:53:40The enforced exile of Prempeh in 1896
0:53:40 > 0:53:44stopped the kingdom's resurgence in its tracks.
0:53:44 > 0:53:47Six years later, Asante was formally incorporated
0:53:47 > 0:53:50into the British Gold Coast colony.
0:53:57 > 0:54:00The Asante kingdom had been the result of centuries
0:54:00 > 0:54:03of a canned state building in the forest.
0:54:03 > 0:54:07Asante's pivotal position in an international economy
0:54:07 > 0:54:09had brought it wealth and power.
0:54:09 > 0:54:13In the final years of the 19th century,
0:54:13 > 0:54:17weakness and instability had allowed Britain to add Asante
0:54:17 > 0:54:19to its African possessions.
0:54:22 > 0:54:24The Asante kingdom was crushed.
0:54:24 > 0:54:25The British sought out
0:54:25 > 0:54:28the last symbols of independence to be destroyed,
0:54:28 > 0:54:32but something, something subtle, survived.
0:54:36 > 0:54:40The British had failed to destroy the spirit of the Asante nation,
0:54:40 > 0:54:45or its physical embodiment, the Golden Stool.
0:54:45 > 0:54:51It was a significant error, as palace historian Osei Kwadwo explained.
0:54:51 > 0:54:55Our spirit, our everything is in the Golden Stool.
0:54:55 > 0:55:00So that when even the British tried to take the Golden Stool away,
0:55:00 > 0:55:03we did our best to hide it and they never saw it.
0:55:03 > 0:55:06So they later found that
0:55:06 > 0:55:09it was not the occupant of the stool who mattered,
0:55:09 > 0:55:12because we fought so that they could not take the Golden Stool away
0:55:12 > 0:55:15and they never saw the Golden Stool.
0:55:15 > 0:55:17So to us, I say we were victorious.
0:55:17 > 0:55:19HE LAUGHS
0:55:24 > 0:55:29In 1924, Prempeh was allowed to return from exile.
0:55:29 > 0:55:32The Golden Stool reappeared at the Royal Palace.
0:55:33 > 0:55:39The kingdom was restored after Ghana gained independence in 1957
0:55:39 > 0:55:42and Asante's traditional festivals were revived.
0:55:43 > 0:55:46The Akwasidae festival is held every 42 days.
0:55:46 > 0:55:50It remembers the ancestors
0:55:50 > 0:55:53and celebrates the history of the kingdom.
0:55:53 > 0:55:56The same themes that were used to bind the kingdom together
0:55:56 > 0:55:58300 years ago are everywhere.
0:56:03 > 0:56:06The gold that was once mined deep in the forest,
0:56:06 > 0:56:09the drums that beat out the proverbs of Asante,
0:56:09 > 0:56:13the kente cloth that carries the slogans of unity,
0:56:13 > 0:56:16all in stunning display.
0:56:16 > 0:56:19You understand why they chose gold.
0:56:19 > 0:56:26In this light with the kente, it just looks extraordinary.
0:56:26 > 0:56:28All these symbols of power
0:56:28 > 0:56:31and suddenly you understand that they're just dazzling in this light.
0:56:35 > 0:56:39Provincial chiefs gather to pay homage to the current Asantehene,
0:56:39 > 0:56:41Osei Tutu II.
0:56:41 > 0:56:45He may not command an army or wield the power of his ancestors,
0:56:45 > 0:56:49but there's no doubt about his importance to the Asante people.
0:56:49 > 0:56:53Just amazing to get this close to the King of Asante
0:56:53 > 0:56:56when all of that gold, that kente,
0:56:56 > 0:57:01the story that we tried to tell is alive and well in this man,
0:57:01 > 0:57:03the embodiment of our story.
0:57:04 > 0:57:08This is a celebration of history,
0:57:08 > 0:57:11but it's history with a purpose.
0:57:11 > 0:57:16We dwell upon our history to improve upon our future.
0:57:16 > 0:57:19That is why our history is very important for us.
0:57:19 > 0:57:24And so for the future, do you feel that the kingdom is in good health?
0:57:24 > 0:57:26Yes.
0:57:26 > 0:57:30One thing I see is that our people are proud
0:57:30 > 0:57:32to keep the culture,
0:57:32 > 0:57:36and we are Asantes because of our culture.
0:57:38 > 0:57:43The Asante state once used mythology and traditions
0:57:43 > 0:57:47to assert its origins, reinterpret history and forge a kingdom.
0:57:47 > 0:57:53Now these festivals use history to maintain Asante's identity
0:57:53 > 0:57:58and its people sense of belonging within the Republic of Ghana.
0:57:58 > 0:58:00I came in search of a lost kingdom,
0:58:00 > 0:58:04but I found a kingdom which is very much alive,
0:58:04 > 0:58:08which still finds a coherence around those central core themes
0:58:08 > 0:58:12that were set up by Osei Tutu with the foundation of this empire -
0:58:12 > 0:58:17gold, kente, drumming, the stool,
0:58:17 > 0:58:20they still work for the Asante people
0:58:20 > 0:58:23as much today as they ever did.
0:58:37 > 0:58:40Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:58:40 > 0:58:42E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk