Anyi (people)
The Anyi or (in French spelling) Agni are an African people who live in the tropical rainforest on the border between Ivory Coast and Ghana . The Anyi language is the Anyin from the Volta-Congo branch of the Niger-Congo languages . Around the middle of the 18th century, many of the Anyi were expelled from Ghana by the Ashanti and moved west. They formed the people of the Sanwi Kingdom .
Their total number is around 860,000 to just over 1 million. In the Ivory Coast, the population is estimated at around 610,000. For Ghana the figures are given as 266,000 Anyi.
The Anyi, who live in scattered settlements , are shifting farmers who grow food crops such as yams , cassava and plantains , as well as market crops such as coffee and cocoa , with which they earn the majority of their income.
Traditionally, the Anyi were organized in small states with a social hierarchy made up of four layers: the royal family, village chiefs, free people, and slaves and their descendants. Today the village chief is elected by prominent villagers and a special family who own the so-called “hereditary ceremony chair”.
Traditional systems of succession are based on matrilineal ancestry, but the married couple live close to the husband's family. This system creates significant tensions, compounded by the planting of market crops, because although a young man typically works with his father, the father generally does not inherit the plantation he works on.
Although the Anyi have inherited much of Europe's material culture, the traditional elements of their social structure remain an effective basis for everyday political organization.
The Anyi territory borders on the Nzema territory in the south and the Brong territory in the north. The Anyi are predominantly Christians or followers of traditional religions.
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- ↑ a b c d e Anyi . In: Encyclopædia Britannica , last accessed January 6, 2017.
- ↑ a b Ethnologue.com