Enlightenment · Africa · Politics

1680

Asante Union Begins to Form

1680

In the forests of present-day Ghana, Akan-speaking chieftains began coalescing under the Oyoko clan's leadership, forging the alliances that would crystallize into the Asante confederacy. Gold, kola nuts, and enslaved captives from the interior fueled the union's growth. Within a generation the Golden Stool would symbolize one of West Africa's most powerful states.