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Ashanti-Culture |
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The "Golden Stool" of Ashanti
No Account
of Ashanti Nation
(Asanteman) would be complete without a note on the most
significant and most cherished one, The Golden Stool. It is
so highly respected, famous and significant to the Ashantis.
Let us go back to a period of time when there was no Ashanti
Nation. What is now Ashanti, was composed a little
independent tribes. Twum and Antwi are said to have been the
first chiefs of what is now the district of Kumasi whose
capital was called Kwaman. Their fifth successor was Nana
Osei-Tutu. He acceded to the Kumasi stool about the year
1697; and during the next thirty-four years he was destined
to turn the district of Kumasi into the Ashanti Kingdom
(Asanteman). Before the reign of Nana Osei-Tutu Kumasi was
subject to the Denkyira nation and had to pay annual tribute
to its king in the form of gold dust and wives. Osei-Tutu
was determined to put an end to this. He first set about
forming a loose confederation with the nearby chiefs,
through conquests, persuation and treaties. Soon he felt he
had sufficient strength to withstand the might of the
Denkyiras. He therefore declared was against Denkyiras by
mutilating the tribute collectors and sending them back with
stones. Ensuing war, the Denkyiras were totally defeated at
the famous battle of Feyyiase, near Kumasi, in 1701. Their
King, Ntim Gyakari, was captured and beheaded. Nana
Osei-Tutu achieved this feat with the help of his greatest
friend and counsellor, a man he had met in his boyhood,
while he was a servant at the palace of King of Denkyira.
This is no other than the celebrated Okomfo Anokye (the
priest Anokye), the greatest and most respected priest of
Ashanti. Besides his achievements as a priest, this man had
such talent for directing the affairs of state that he has
been described as the Cardinal Worsley of Ashanti. Many laws
and customs are referred to as Anokye's injunctions. The
union owed its secure foundation to his exceptional
qualities. History picture
1970 Tradition says Anokye
had such magical powers that some of this almost miraculous
deeds can be found to this day. The great influence Anokye
had on the foundation of the Ashanti nation is admitted by
all. If his fame is less than that of Nana Osei Tutu, it is
only because the latter was, after all the king. None of the
Achievements of Anokye can be compared with his creation of
the Golden Stool. The aim of the loose Ashanti alliance was
to throw off the yoke of the Denkyira people. This had been
realised. They went further and defeated other chiefs. The
crucial point now was whether, with its immediate object
realised, the Union was going to break up. Anokye made up
his mind that it must not he st to work to provide a common
stool, in order that the whole nation might be firmly
united, as each section was, through such one stool. Only
genius, and genius who was at the same time a priest with
good reputation, could have done so. He began work on his
objective and the result of his untiring efforts was the
institution of the Golden Stool. The day was Friday, Anokye
had summoned all the chiefs of the Union to a great
gathering at Kumasi. At that gathering he "brought from the
sky, with darkness and thunder, and in a thick cloud of
white dust, a wooden stool, adorned with gold, which floated
to earth and landed gently on Nana Osei Tutu's knee" Anokye
made a announcement that the spirit of the whole nation, and
all its strength and bravery depended on the safety of the
stool. To impress this on their minds, he caused the king
and the leading chiefs and queen mothers present, to give
him clippings from their nails and from their hair. These
were mixed into a medicine and smeared on the stool. The
remainder was drunk by the contributors as a sacramental
drink. Thus the Sunsum (Soul) Of each was provided a resting
or anchored place in the Okomfo Anokye succeeded in bringing
about the national consciousness the " henceforth Ashanti
was a nation linked by the common religious bond of which
the Golden Stool was the visible symbol. This is the origin
of the famous Asikadwa Kofi "Friday's Golden Stool" of
Ashanti, which has to this day survived many dangers with
tis unifying power unimpaired."
Asanthene Osei Agyeman Premheth