Prempeh I.

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Historical representation of Prempeh I.

Prempeh I (also called Kwaku Dua III.; * December 18, 1870 ; † May 12, 1931 ) was the Asantehene (ruler) of the Kingdom of Ashanti in present-day Ghana from 1888 to 1931 .

Consolidation of Power

Agyeman Prempeh reached the Ashanti Golden Chair at the age of 16 . When it was enthroned, the Ashanti Empire was at the low point of a decline that had lasted for years. His inauguration was to end a phase of anarchy in the country that had lasted since the sudden death of his predecessor Kwaku Dua II. Kumaa in 1883 . The vassal state of the Brong (the kingdom of Gyaaman ) and others had taken advantage of this phase and broke away from Ashanti. At the same time, the states of the empire that had not supported him in his accession to the throne (Kokofu, Mampong and Nsuta) rebelled against him. 14 years earlier, the British had also declared the entire south of the Gold Coast , which stretched between the Ashanti Empire and the sea, a crown colony and now threatened to cut off the Ashanti Empire from vital trade contacts with the Dutch allies in the coastal cities of Elmina and Accra .

Within a few months, Prempeh succeeded in suppressing the rebellion in the Ashanti core country using both military and diplomatic means and re-establishing the Ashanti Confederation.

Conflict with the British

After consolidating his power internally, he tried to regain the areas of the Ashanti Empire which had come under British rule or " protectorate power " during the civil war . In 1888 he wrote a letter to the British in which he claimed the Kwahu region, which was now under British "protection". In 1890 he asked the British in a further letter to help him restore the power of the Ashanti over the former vassal states and to hand over enemies who had fled to the Gold Coast crown colony . Furthermore, the Ashanti peoples of the Dwaben and Kokofu who had fled to Akyem followed his appeal to return to the Ashanti core country.

The British were so concerned about his successes in re-establishing the Ashanti power and the simultaneous expansion of French colonial power in the neighboring area of ​​what is now Ivory Coast that they expanded their protectorate further and in March 1891 sent an officer to the capital Kumasi to help Prempeh Offer "to make his empire under British protection. Prempeh I. rejected this offer and extended his power over former vassals in several steps in 1892 and 1893. In 1894 he also rejected the request of the British to establish a resident in Kumasi. Finally, in 1894, Prempeh I was officially enthroned on the Golden Chair with great celebrations.

Negotiation of Asantehene Prempeh I with a British general in a historical representation

In 1895 the British were apparently preparing to invade the Ashanti Empire. Prempeh tried unsuccessfully through diplomatic channels to avert war. In 1896 a strong British force armed with Maxim machine guns under the command of Robert Baden-Powell captured Kumasi and captured Prempeh. The British declared Asante a protectorate and deported Prempeh first to Elmina and later to their West African colony Sierra Leone .

In 1900 the British put down a month-long rebellion of the Ashanti under the queen mother Yaa Asantewaa , during which the rebels a. a. besieged the British governor at his fort in Kumasi. The British then formally annexed the Ashanti Empire as a crown colony and brought Prempeh I away from Sierra Leone and, together with Yaa Asantewaain, into a new exile thousands of kilometers away on the Seychelles Islands in the Indian Ocean , where he wrote a story of the Kingdom of Ashanti, The History of Ashanti Kings and the Whole Country Itself 'and Other Writings, by Otumfuo, Nana Agyeman Prempeh I , wrote.

After 20 years in exile, the British allowed his return to Ashantiland in 1924, where he received a triumphant welcome. The background to this decision was a change in the form of British rule over their Gold Coast colony under then Governor Gordon Guggisberg to a government based on the principles of " indirect rule ". But even according to these new principles, the colonial rulers did not allow Prempeh to be reinstated as Asantehene, but only granted him the title of Kumasihene , i.e. traditional ruler of Kumasi, until his death in 1931 .

literature

  • Basil Davidson : A History of West Africa. 1000 - 1800. New revised edition, 2nd impression. Longman, London 1977, ISBN 0-582-60340-4 ( The Growth of African Civilization ).

See also

Web links

Sources and web link

  1. ^ Davidson, Basil A History of West Africa 1000-1800. Longman 1977, p. 96.
  2. ^ Davidson, Basil A History of West Africa 1000-1800. Longman 1977, p. 97.
  3. ^ Davidson, Basil A History of West Africa 1000-1800. Longman 1977, p. 193.
  4. ↑ Oxford University Press on Prempehs work
personal data
SURNAME Prempeh I.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Kwaku Dua III.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Asantehene (ruler) of the Kingdom of Ashanti in what is now Ghana
DATE OF BIRTH December 18, 1870
DATE OF DEATH May 12, 1931