Ashanti

The Ashanti, or Asante, are an Akan ethnic group of south-central Ghana, historically united in the Ashanti Empire, founded around 1701 by Osei Tutu, which became one of the most powerful states in precolonial West Africa on the strength of the trans-Saharan and coastal gold trade. Ashanti political authority centers on the Golden Stool, believed to house the soul of the Ashanti nation, and the Asantehene, the paramount king, who still holds a significant ceremonial and customary role within modern Ghana. The Ashanti fought a series of wars against the British Empire between 1823 and 1900 before their kingdom was absorbed into the Gold Coast colony, and Ashanti remains among the largest and most culturally influential ethnic groups in Ghana today.