Osei Kwadwo

Osei Kwadwo was the 4th Asantehene of the Ashanti Empire who reigned from 1764 to 1777. He was succeeded by Osei Kwame Panyin.

Osei Kwadwo
Asantehene
Reignc. 1764 – 1777
PredecessorKusi Obodom
SuccessorOsei Kwame Panyin

Reign

Domestic affairs

The Kwadwoan Revolution occurred under Osei Kwadwo which was a period of bureaucratic reforms by the Asantehene. Osei Kwadwo replaced hereditary positions with appointive ones and the Ashanti administrative structure was professionalized as a result.[1][2] Authority was no longer obtained based on predetermined status as Thomas Edward Bowdich wrote in 1821 that "the aristocracy in Ashantee until Sai Cudjo's [Osei Kwadwo] time, always acquired this dignity by inheritance only."[3] The Asantehene's reforms enabled individuals to obtain power based on their merit.[4] The Ankobia was founded as an internal security force.[3][5]

The Asokwafo evolved under the Asantehene to administer over the company of state traders.[6][7] By the early 19th century, the leader of the Asokwafo was appointed Batahene to manage the state trading organization.[3] During his reign, Osei Kwadwo formed the office of the Akwanmofohene, which translates as "chief inspector of the nuisances and path cleaners." It was formed as the head of the Akwanmofo, which was the agency responsible for the maintaining the roads of the Ashanti Empire. The first to be appointed into the Akwanmofohene office was Adabo, son of Kusi Obodom.[8]

Foreign affairs

Osei Kwadwo engaged in war against Banda after the killing of Ashanti traders in the state.[9][10] Banda was supported by Gyaman, Denkyira, Wassa and the Kong Empire. The campaign took place as an open pitched battle of which Banda was able to resist Ashanti's attacks twice until they were subjugated into the empire during Ashanti's third attack.[9] During the reign of Kusi Obodom, an alliance was formed among the coastal states including Akyem, Wassa, Denkyira, Twifo and Fante. This alliance was formed to oppose Ashanti expansionism towards the Coast. By the late 1750s, the alliance disintegrated following the withdrawal of the Fante as well as the decline in relations with fellow member Denkyira.[11][12] In June 1765 Osei Kwadwo waged war on the alliance.[12] The armies of Wassa and Twifo escaped to Fante territory but the Akyem were defeated.[13][12] As a result, Akyem Abuakwa was conquered into the Ashanti Empire.[13] This conquest enabled the Ashanti to open the 5th Great Road by 1766.[13][14]

In 1765, Osei Kwadwo established a military camp in the Fante territory of Abora following an agreement between the Ashanti and Fante. The base was formed to foster attacks against Wassa.[12][15] In the process of this occupation, the Fante shared mistrust for Ashanti as this resulted in a decline of relations between both states. The Fante refused to share the spoils of the war against Akyem and they sold some Ashanti, who came into their villages for food, as slaves.[12] Emissaries were sent on behalf of Ashanti to investigate Fante's hostility, but they were captured. Ashanti declared war as the last alternative and a direct confrontation was reported to have occurred between 17 and 28 June 1765, but this did not evolve into full-scale war. Osei Kwadwo withdrew back inland around July due to factors such as poor logistics.[12]

Under his predecessor, Kusi Obodom, Ashanti–Dahomey relations had soured.[16] After Dahomean King Kpengla came into power in the late 18th century, he sent an embassy with gifts to Kumasi to improve the relations between the two states. Osei Kwadwo requited this gesture by sending an embassy to Abomey, the capital of Dahomey. Historian Wilks hypothesizes that it was through these exchange of missions between the two leaders that the Togo hills was affirmed as a neutral zone between Ashanti and Dahomey.[17]

See also

References
  1. Eisenstadt, Abitbol & Chazan (1988), pp. 80–81
  2. Fage, J.D. and Roland Oliver (1975). The Cambridge History of Africa: From c. 1600 to c. 1790, edited by Richard Gray. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 317. ISBN 0521204135.
  3. Wilks, Ivor (1966). "Aspects of Bureaucratization in Ashanti in the Nineteenth Century". The Journal of African History. 7 (2): 215–232. doi:10.1017/S0021853700006289. JSTOR 179951. S2CID 159872590.
  4. Davidson, Basil (29 October 2014). West Africa before the Colonial Era: A History to 1850. Routledge. p. 226. ISBN 978-1-317-88265-7.
  5. Eisenstadt, Abitbol & Chazan (1988), pp. 80
  6. Ivor Wilks (1989), pp. 455–456
  7. Kaminski, Joseph S. (2012). Asante Ivory Trumpet Music in Ghana: Culture Tradition and Sound Barrage. Ashgate Publishing. p. 100. ISBN 9781409426844.
  8. Ivor Wilks (1989), p. 35
  9. Ward, W.E.F. (2023). A History of Ghana, Volume 1 of Routledge Library Editions: Colonialism and Imperialism. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 9781000854855.
  10. Bravmann, Rene A.; Mathewson, R. Duncan (1970). "A Note on the History and Archaeology of "Old Bima"". African Historical Studies. 3 (1): 133–149. doi:10.2307/216484. JSTOR 216484. S2CID 163324050.
  11. Fynn, John K. (1965). "The Reign and Times of Kusi Obodum, 1750-64". Transactions of the Historical Society of Ghana. 8: 24–32. JSTOR 41403567. S2CID 155465956.
  12. Priestley, Margaret (1961). "The Ashanti Question and the British: Eighteenth-Century Origins". The Journal of African History. 2 (1): 35–59. doi:10.1017/S0021853700002139. JSTOR 179582. S2CID 153355150.
  13. Ivor Wilks (1989), p. 27-8
  14. Kurt, Beck.; Klaeger, Gabriel; Stasik, Michael (2017). The Making of the African Road. Brill. p. 91. ISBN 9789004339040.
  15. Sparks, Randy J. (2014). Where the Negroes Are Masters. Harvard University Press. p. 128. ISBN 9780674726475.
  16. Ivor Wilks (1989), p. 320
  17. Ivor Wilks (1989), p. 321

Bibliography


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