Page 23 - Msingi Afrika Magazine Issue 10

CULTURE

The war between the Asanti kingdom and the British. Source: www.politics-history.mozello.com/

more? I cannot believe it. It cannot a large number of British and Hausa union with Ghana on independence
be! I must say this, if you, the men under siege. The absconders evaded from the British. The sika 'dwa
of Ashanti, will not go forward, the main thrust of the Abrade, (Golden Stool), the Asante Imperial
then we will. We, the women, will. eventually making it to Accra by Palace and other artifacts remain to
I shall call upon my fellow women. ship. Later an embattled troop of this day, a reminder of the golden
We will fight the white men. We will British soldiers returned to Kumasi, age of the Asanteman.
fight till the last of us falls in the having faced great resistance along
battlefields.” the way from those aligned with the (Sources: pbs.org, blackpast.org,
Asante. They eventually rescued the msingiafrikamagazine.com, Wikipe-
With that, she gathered a fighting remainder of those under siege who dia, refworld.org, changeforghana.
force from the enraged people and were said to be two days away from org, natal1906.wordpress.com, BBC
ambushed Hodgson’s deputy, Cap- surrender. World Service)
tain Cecil Armitage. He and his men Eventually, upon defeating the resis-
escaped to their offices in Kumasi tance, the British, deported Queen
only because of a sudden rain- Yaa Asantewaa I and other leaders
storm. The mighty Asante staged to Seychelles as well.
a long siege against them from the The exiled Asantehene was allowed
29th of April 1900 to the evening to return to Kumasi in 1924 and the
of the 15th of July 1900. They cut British recognized the Asante con-
their telegraph wires, blockaded federacy as a political entity in 1935.
their food supplies and repelled The Empire later entered into a
relief columns. All roads leading to
Kumasi were blockaded with mas-
sive six-foot-high logs which were
impervious to artillery fire, yet had
holes that allowed the Asante to fire
through upon the British.
For those in the British offices, sup-
plies were low and sickness joined
in the battle against them. A rescue
party provided an opportunity for
Hodgson, his wife and 100 of some
500 Hausas who were locked in with
them to escape and be evacuated
with 12,000 Asante Abrade (war-
riors) in hot pursuit, leaving behind
A model of the Golden Stool of the Asante kingdom

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