Osei Tutu II and the Ashanti Golden Age

March 12, 1732

Under Opoku Ware I, successor to the founding king, the Ashanti Empire reached its greatest territorial extent, absorbing Bono, Dagomba, and Gonja into a confederation bound by the Golden Stool. Kumasi's court traded gold dust with the Dutch and adjudicated disputes with a sophistication that European visitors grudgingly admired. A network of roads radiated from the capital, and messengers carried royal decrees to vassal chiefs within days.