Yaa Asantewaa

Yaa Asantewaa (born October 17, 1863 , † October 17, 1921 ) was the queen mother of Edweso , a part of the Ashanti kingdom .

In 1900 she led the last great uprising of the Ashanti against British rule over their land and the then Gold Coast , later Ghana .

Prehistory of the uprising

As early as 1896, the British had deposed the last ruling Asantehene ("King") of the Ashanti and abducted him to Freetown , several thousand kilometers away . In 1900 they tried to finally break the Ashanti's will to resist by demanding the surrender of the Golden Stool , the Ashanti's golden chair. This golden chair has been the seat of the soul of the Ashanti people since the days of Okomfo Anokye in 1695. He was and is the most sacred national symbol of this people. On March 28, 1900, the British governor summoned all the heads of the Ashanti from the vicinity of their capital Kumasi and demanded that they surrender the Golden Chair. The assembled leaders left the meeting without answering.

The role of Yaa Asantewaas during the uprising

According to reports, in this critical situation between resignation and resistance, Yaa Asantewaa gave a startling speech to the heads of the Ashanti, in which she lamented the loss of bravery of the Ashanti and announced that women would go to war against the whites instead of men. if the men didn't. This speech was the decisive factor for the uprising.

Yaa Asantewaa probably did not participate directly in the fighting. She led the uprising and was the strategic mind behind the fighting. The Ashanti besieged the British in the fort of Kumasi and later used guerrilla tactics. It took the British four military expeditions (three of which were defeated) before they could break the resistance after several months.

The further fate of Yaa Asantewaas

Towards the end of the uprising, Yaa Asantewaa was captured by the British and, like the last Asantehene, was exiled in the Seychelles for the rest of her life . Yaa Asantewaa is still a legendary and popular figure in Ghana today, especially among the Ashanti. It is shown on the 20 Cedi note of independent Ghana from the 1980s.