AKYEMj c. 1700-1874 A STUDY IN INTER-STATE RELATIONS IN PRE-COLONIAL GOLD COAST Thesis presented to the University of London for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy by STEPHEN FRED AFFRIFAH JANUARY 1976. ProQuest Number: 11010458 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a com plete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. uest ProQuest 11010458 Published by ProQuest LLC(2018). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States C ode Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106- 1346 ABSTRACT During the first quarter of the eighteenth century and long after, Bosome led a politically unexciting life. In contrast, the other two Akyera states, Abuakwa and Kotoku, pursued an aggressive foreign policy and tightly guarded their independence against hostile neighbours. Between 1730 and 17^2 they acquired imperial domination over the eastern half of the Gold Coast west of the Volta. In 17^> however, Kotoku succumbed to Asante authority. Abuakwa resisted Asante but yielded to that power in 1783* The fall of the Akyem empire increased the area of Asante domination. The Asante yoke proved unbearable; consequently between 1810 and 1831 the Akyem states, as members of an Afro-European alliance, fought a successful war of independence against that power. The European co-operation, however, led to an Anglo-Danish rivalry for Akyem, Akuapem, and Krobo as spheres of influence: the rivalry ended in 1850. Continued threat from Asante and bitter intra-Akyem relations compelled the Akyem states to tolerate British protection. The invasion of Kotoku-Bosome territory by Asante in 1863 underlined the wisdom in remaining under the British canopy. In late l860s the Kotoku, for example, affirmed their loyalty to the British by helping to re-establish British authority in the Lower Volta District from which it had been withdrawn in i860. The Kotoku involvement in the Volta conflicts, traditional animosity, and Anglo-Dutch deal over Elmina inspired Asante invasion of Akyem and other parts of the Protectorate in late 1872 and 1873* Close Akyem co-operation enabled the British to counter­ attack Asante successfully in 187^. The Akyem also incited Juaben secession from Asante and promoted the founding of the New Juaben State in Akyem. But the price for all this was the subjection of the Akyem and almost every other Gold Coast people to British colonial rule as from mid-1874. CONTENTS ABBREVIATIONS .......................................... 5 MAPS ................... .............................. PREFACE.................. ..............................7 - 9 INTRODUCTION.......................................... 10-16 CHAPTERS: 1. Emergence of Abuakwa and Kotoku to c. 1699........... 17-42 2. The Search for Supremacy and Security, 1700-1727 • - 43-78 3. Akyem Ascendancy in the South-East, 1728-1742 .... 79-117 4. Abuakwa, Kotoku, and Asante, 1742-1784 118-157 5. Under the Asante Domination, 1785-1831 158-198 6. Akyem, Asante, the British, and the Danes,1832 -1850. 199-223 7. Abuakwa-Kotoku Relations and the British, 1851-1860 . 224-257 8 . Impact of Kotoku Presence in Western Akyem, 1860-1867 258-304 9. Dompre of Nsawam, 1867-1871 ......................... 305-340 10. Akyem, Asante, and the British, 1871-1874 .......... 341-362 APPENDICES ............................................ 363-381 BIBLIOGRAPHY 382-395 ABBREVIATIONS AAT : Akyem Abuakwa Traditions. ABT : Akyem Bosome Traditions. AKT ; Akyem Kotoku Traditions. As-AkT : Asante-Akyem Traditions. BMA-PJC : Basel Mission Archives - Paul Jenkinsfs Collections. BGCA ; Bulletin of Ghana Geographical Association. BPP : British Parliamentary Papers. CAM : Committee of African Merchants. CCC : Cape Coast Castle. CCO : Christiansborg Castle, Osu. CO : Colonial Office, London. DAFG : Diverse Arkivalier fra Guinea. DFUA : Departmenter fur Underigske Anliggender. EC : Elmina Castle. PO : Foreign Office, London. GJ : Guineiske Joumaler. GNQ : Ghana Notes and Queries. IAS : Institute of African Studies, Legon. JAH : Journal of African History. NBKG : Nederlansche Bezittengen ter Kust van Guinea. RAC : The Royal African Company. SL ; Sierra Leone. STGJ : Sager til Guineiske Joumaler. TGCTHS : Transactions of the Gold Coast & Togoland Historical Society. THSG : Transactions of the Historical Society of Ghana. THSN : Transactions of the Historical Society of Nigeria. VgK : Vest-India Kompanie WIC : West Indische Compagnie. 6. MAPS 1. Modern Ghana showing the Akyem district. 2. A Dutch map of the Gold Coast, 1629. 3. Anvillefs map of the Gold Coast, 1729* A. Approx. limit of Abuakwa & Kotoku at the beginning of the Cl8th. 5. Political Expansion of Akyem, 1730-1742. 6. Extent of Akyem after 1831. 7 . The Kotoku-Asante War of 18 63: Movements of the Asante Army. 8. Nsawam and the Lower Volta District. PREFACE This study examines relations between the Akyem states of Abuakwa, Kotoku, and to a less extent Bosome, on the one hand and their neighbours on the other, as well as intra-Akyem relations, during the period between about 1700 and 1874. The aim is to determine the contribution, of the Akyem states to the political evolution of the Gold Coast. The choice of period is not altogether arbitrary. During the first twenty-seven years of the eighteenth century, Abuakwa and Kotoku for example struggled to preserve their political independence and territorial integrity against, and if possible, achieve political ascendancy over, their neighbours. A successful attack on Akwamu in 1729 swept them into imperial domination over the states and peoples inhabiting the entire area between river Ayensu in the west and the Volta in the east. This ascendancy they enjoyed till 1742: when a defeat by Asante shattered their empire. From then on the main concern of the two Akyem states was to ward off Asante overlordship. By 1744 Kotoku had submitted. Abuakwa followed in 1783* Bosome, nestling in extreme western Akyem, was a political backwater. Right from the first decade of the nineteenth century, Abuakwa and Kotoku started struggling to recover their independence. But they could only achieve this in 1826 when they allied with other states, the British, and the Danes, to defeat Asante in war. In 1831 a formal peace treaty with Asante endorsed the recovery of independence. However, the elimination of Asante authority only led to a situation whereby the Akyem states, and several 8 . others, were subjected to greater European political supervision which was converted to colonial rule by the British in July 187^. I am greatly indebted to a large number of persons who, in diverse ways, helped me in the course of my research: in England the archivists, librarians, and attendants of the Public Record Office, the British Museum, and the Commonwealth Society, all in London; also the officials of the various libraries of the University of London; in Denmark; the archivists and other officials of the Royal Archives and the Royal Library in Copenhagen; in Holland all the archivists and officials of the Rijks Archief, The Hague; and in Ghana the officials of the National Archives, and of the libraries of the Universities of Ghana and Cape Coast. My stay in Copenhagen was made most enjoyable by Mr. amd Mrs. Bendsten who offered me lodging and boarding; Miss Ingborg Stemann through whom I came to know the Bendtsens; Professor and Mrs. Jeppesen of the University of Copenhagen; and fellow researcher Ole Justesen, who all played host to me from time to time. Ole Justesen was additionally helpful in translating some of the Danish documents for me. In Holland many Ghanaians there made my stay a happy one, particularly Professor Bamfo-Kwakye, now Vice- Chancellor of the University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, who was then on sabbatical in Eindhoven. Dr. Albert van Danzig of the University of Ghana was most helpful in directing me to some of the Dutch sources. Besides, he put at my disposal some of his own material collected from the Dutch documents. Mrs. Marion Johnson of the University of Birmingham was also very helpful in directing me to some of the Danish sources. I also want to thank my cousin, Mr. S. K. Boateng and his family and the Okyenhene, Nana Ofori Atta III who readily came to my aid whenever I was faced with accommodation problem in London. In this respect my townsman Mr. I. E. Offeh Burobey, and my brother-in-law, Mr. Amponsa Abedi and his wife were also helpful. In many ways I owe a huge debt of gratitude to Professors A. A. Boahen of the University of Ghana, F. Agbodeka and Morton-Williams of the University of Cape Coast: these elderly scholars read the drafts and offered useful advice. My special and most sincere thanks, however, go to my supervisor, Mr. D. H. Jones, of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, for his patient and meticulous supervision. To the several typists who spared some of their time to help in typing out the drafts and the final thesis I say a big thank you, especially Mr. Paul Mensah and Mrs. V. Williams and her group. Another special and great gratitude goes to my wife who, besides sharing with me the depressions and occasional joys of a research student, worked, in spite of her own studies, to supplement the financial support I received from the University of Cape Coast. But for this support and the study leave granted me by the University of Cape Coast this study would have been impossible. To the University I owe a great debt of gratitude. 10. INTRODUCTION By the beginning of the eighteenth century Akyem Abuakwa and Akyem Kotoku had been established as firmly organized inland states for upwards of half a century.