`The History of Ashanti Kings and the Whole Country Itself' and Other Writings, by Agyeman Prempeh

by Prempeh, Agyeman; Akyeampong, E.; Adu Boahen, A.; Lawler, N.; McCaskie, T. C.; Wilks, I.

• ISBN13: 9780197262610
• ISBN10: 0197262619
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2003-08-28
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

This is a key text for understanding the history of the great West African kingdom of Asante (now in Ghana). It is perhaps the earliest example of history writing in English by an African ruler. The result is an indispensably detailed account of the Asante monarchy from the seventeenth to the nineteenth centuries. Context is provided by the inclusion of other writings by or about Agyeman Prempeh, together with four introductory essays by the world's leading scholars of Asante history.

Table of Contents

List of Plates and Figures	viii
Preface	ix
PART I: ESSAYS
CHAPTER ONE: Agyeman Prempeh before the Exile, T. C. McCaskie
Introduction	3	(1)
Kinship, Royalty and the Birth of Agyeman Prempeh	3	(3)
Agyeman Prempeh's Childhood	6	(3)
Agyeman Prempeh, Yaa Kyaa, and Civil War	9	(6)
Agyeman Prempeh, Asante, and the British	15	(6)
CHAPTER TWO: Agyeman Prempeh in the Seychelles, 1900-1924, A. Adu Boahen
Introduction	21	(2)
Daily Life at Le Rocher: Asante in Microcosm	23	(3)
Education, Christianity, and Modernity	26	(3)
Agyeman Prempeh, Asante, and Repatriation	29	(11)
Homecoming	40	(3)
CHAPTER THREE: Agyeman Prempeh's Return from Exile, 1924-1931, Emmanuel Akyeampong
Introduction	43	(1)
Our King is Back! But What Kind of King?	44	(3)
British Colonial Rule in Asante	47	(2)
Renegotiating 'Kingship' in Colonial Asante: Agyeman Prempeh,1924-31	49	(6)
Conclusion	55	(2)
CHAPTER FOUR: Agyeman Prempeh as Author: Textual History, Ivor Wilks
Literacy in Asante before the Exile	57	(2)
Literacy and the Exiles	59	(3)
History of the Text of HAK	62	(4)
Genesis of the New Edition	66	(2)
Establishing a Text of HAK	68	(1)
HAK, A Related Text, and Other Pieces	69	(14)
PART II: THE SEYCHELLES WRITINGS transcribed and presented by Nancy Lawler, T C. McCaskie and Ivor Wilks
Conventions	83	(2)
CHAPTER FIVE: Historical Pieces
The Arrival of Ankyewa Nyame at Asantemanso	85	(1)
Ankyewa Nyarne and the Gathering of the Clans (Mmusua)	86	(3)
The Reigns of Akyampon Tenten, Twum, Antwi, and Kwabia Anwanfi	89	(2)
The Reign of Oti Akenten	91	(2)
Osei Tutu at Denkyira	93	(3)
The First Domaa War	96	(1)
The Reign of Obiri Yeboa	97	(3)
Osei Tutu Succeeds Obiri Yeboa	100	(1)
Osei Tutu Defeats the Domaa	101	(1)
Reorganisation of the Kumase Army	102	(1)
The Defeat of Asiedu Papaa Kesee	103	(1)
The Dispute with Denkyira	104	(1)
Okomfo Anokye and the Preparations for the Denkyira War	105	(2)
The Denkyira War	107	(2)
The Elmina Tribute	109	(1)
The War with Adanse	110	(1)
The Denkyira Rebellion	110	(1)
The Attack on Kaase	111	(1)
The Attack on Tafo	111	(1)
The Attack on Amakom	112	(1)
Osei Tutu and the Succession	113	(2)
CHAPTER SIX: Ethnographic Pieces
Introduction	115	(1)
The Akan "Cities"	115	(1)
The NT)R) and Soul-Washing	116	(1)
The Calendar	117	(1)
The Origins of Apafram	118	(1)
The Origins of At)pere and the Adanse-Denkyira Conflict	119	(3)
The "Reserve" Asantehenes	122	(1)
The Funeral of an Asantehene	123	(2)
The Division of Revenues	125	(1)
The Akwamu Factor in the Rise of Asante	125	(2)
CHAPTER SEVEN: Office Lists and Genealogies
Office Lists: Introduction	127	(2)
The Genealogies	129	(1)
The Pre-Asante Rulers	129	(2)
The Descendants of Manu	131	(7)
The Census of "Royals"	138	(9)
CHAPTER EIGHT: Memoirs
Introduction	147
The Petition of 1913	141	(9)
The Memoir of 1922-23	150	(9)
History and Apologia	159	(16)
CHAPTER NINE: Reporting to the Living, Accounting for the Dead
Agyeman Prempeh's Report of 1925	175	(7)
The Disposition of the Dead	182	(3)
The Matter of the "Brass Pan"	185	(8)
PART III: WORKS CITED	193	(4)
PART IV: CONCORDANCE	197