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Concept
Akan people
Summary
The Akan (ˈækæn) people are a Kwa group living primarily in present-day Ghana and in parts of Ivory Coast and Togo in West Africa. The Akan language (also known as Twi/Fante) are a group of dialects within the Central Tano branch of the Potou–Tano subfamily of the Niger–Congo family. Subgroups of the Akan people include: the Agona, Akuapem, Akwamu, Akyem, Ashanti, Bono, Fante, Kwahu, Wassa, and Ahanta. The Akan subgroups all have cultural attributes in common; most notably the tracing of matrilineal descent in the inheritance of property, and for succession to high political office.
Akan people are believed to have migrated to their current location from the Sahara desert and Sahel regions of Africa into the forest region. According to Eva Meyerowitz, it is possible that, in accordance with oral tradition, refugees from the Kingdom of Ghana could have played a part in founding Akan kingdoms to the south in the 11th century. Because historians admit the origin of the Akan people is unknown, they don't reject the Sudanese origin and maintain that oral tradition must also be considered. The ancestors of the Akan eventually left for Kong (i.e. present day Ivory Coast). From Kong they moved to Wam and then to Dormaa, located in present-day Bono Region of Ghana. The movement from Kong was necessitated by the desire of the people to find suitable savannah conditions since they were not used to forest life.
The kingdom of Bonoman (or Brong-Ahafo) was established as early as the 12th century. Between the 12th and 13th centuries a gold boom in the area brought wealth to numerous Akans. During different phases of the Kingdom of Bonoman, groups of Akans migrated out of the area to create numerous states based predominantly on gold mining and trading of cash crops. This brought wealth to numerous Akan states such as the Akwamu Empire (1550–1650), and ultimately led to the rise of the well known Akan empire, the Empire of Ashanti (1700–1900), the most dominant of the Akan states.
Official source
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