Ashanti kingdom in Africa with the upper floors made from wood Much of the old city of Cairo, and also of many port cities in North Africa—Algiers, Tunis, and Casablanca—dates from this period Further reading: Fletcher, Bannister A History of Architecture on the Comparative Method London: The Athlone Press, 1961; Clark, Kenneth Civilisation London: British Broadcasting Corporation and John Murray, 1971; Jacquet, Pierre History of Architecture Lausanne: Leisure Arts, 1966; Pevsner, Nikolaus An Outline of European Architecture Harmondsworth, UK: Penguin Books, 1968; Richards, J M Who’s Who in Architecture from 1400 to the Present New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1977 Justin Corfield Ashanti kingdom in Africa The Ashanti kingdom, or Asante, dominated much of the present-day state of Ghana during the period between the late 17th and early 20th centuries It was ruled by an ethnic group called the Akan, which in turn was composed of up to 38 subgroups, such as the Bekiai, Adansi, Juabin, Kokofu, Kumasi, Mampon, Nsuta, Nkuwanta, Dadussi, Daniassi, Ofinsu, and Adjitai In the late 1500s, there were at least 30 small states, which corresponded to the subsections of the Akan people By 1650, these groups had been reduced to nine, and by 1700, they united Ultimately the groups formed a confederation headed by the chief of the Kunasi group The kingdom, formed by its legendary warrior Osei Tutu in 1691, was in fact a confederacy of both Akan and non-Akan people The king’s symbol was the golden stool; equivalent to the throne, the stool became the symbol of kingship, so that a ruler was said to be enstooled or destooled The asantehene, or king, had authority when he was raised three times over the stool Even after 1901, when Ashanti became a protectorate, and 1957, when it became part of the modern state of Ghana, the stool and the enstooling ceremony of the Asantehene were important ceremonies The Ashanti kingdom, although originally a confederacy, had three bases of power—administration, communications, and economics—and was located in what is now north Ghana Osei Tutu took over the administration set up by Denkiyira, the former hegemon, and added to it Communities within 50 miles of the capital city of Kumasi were directly ruled by the asantehene Under Osei Tutu and his successor, Osei Apoko (whose reign 23 collectively lasted from approximately 1690 to 1750), the state expanded so much that by 1750, it encompassed about 100,000 square miles, with a population of to million All of present-day Ghana with the exception of areas directly on the coast with small adjacent areas in the contemporary states of Togo, Ivory Coast, and Burkino Faso were part of the Ashanti state In order to accommodate the new extent of the state, the administration divided itself into a metropolitan and a provincial area The metropolitan area consisted of those towns within a 50-mile radius of Kumasi The rulers of these towns were made up of the confederacy Their only obligation was to pay annual tribute to Kumasi and troops in the event of war This practice was extended to newer members of the state All towns elected a governing advisory council composed of powerful members of the community The towns were considered part of the Kumasi sphere, as they paid taxes that supported a steady army in the early 20th century After a revolt of a military chieftain in 1748, a palace guard was organized The rulers of the metropolitan spheres were members of the royal Oyoko clan and served on the royal council and had autonomy in nonfiscal and military matters The Council for the Asantehene had gained substantial power; it occasionally destooled an incompetent ruler and formally helped to choose the new asantehene bureaucratic control The provincial aspect of administration was subject to increased centralization as the centuries progressed Outlying Akan districts did not participate in the royal selection process but were forced to pay taxes By 1800, they were also forced to pay tribute They were subject to increasing bureaucratic control such as a state agency that controlled all internal and external trade The non-Akan areas controlled until the mid-19th century also sent thousands of slaves annually to Kumasi The effectiveness of the Ashanti state relied on communication processes The complex bureaucracy served as a conduit throughout the state In addition both taxes and tribute were used to establish a well-maintained army throughout the century Most famously were the talking drums Since the national language of Ashanti, called Twi, was polytonal, any military commander or administrator could send out messages by matching syllables to the tones of the drum in a fashion similar to Morse code Economics The mainspring of the confederation was economic It had fertile soil, forests, and mineral resources, most notably