Kofi Karikari
Kofi Karikari (* approx. 1837 ; † 1884 ) was Asantehene (ruler) of the Kingdom of Ashanti from 1867 to 1874 , which ruled over the central and later the entire area of what is now Ghana from the beginning of the 18th to the mid-19th century . The reign of Kofi Karikari was marked by armed conflicts with the British and Fanti for suzerainty over the coastal town of Elmina and unhindered access to this trading center. Kofi Karikari suffered a decisive defeat against the British and left behind a desolate and significantly reduced empire when he was deposed.
The loss to the British
When the Dutch handed over their possession of Elmina to the British in 1870, Karikari sent an invading army to the coast towards Elmina in 1873. An epidemic weakened the Ashanti army and forced them to withdraw. Then British forces under Sir Garnet Wolseley pursued them to the capital Kumasi and burned them down.
The British forced the Treaty of Fomena on the Asantehene in 1874 , in which the Ashanti had to accept the independence of their former vassal states in what is now southern Ghana and give up their claims to Elmina. In addition, they had to accept the illegality of slavery and the slave trade and thus forego one of their formerly most important sources of income for good. The northern states ruled by the Ashanti also shook off the rule of the Ashanti, and even in the center of Ashanti, the core states of Dwaben and Adansi rebelled .
That same year, Kofi Karikari was deposed as Asantehene on the grounds that he had stolen gold from the graves of deceased kings.
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
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Karikari, Kofi |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Asantehene (ruler) of the Kingdom of Ashanti |
| DATE OF BIRTH | around 1837 |
| DATE OF DEATH | 1884 |