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The Ashanti (also spelled Asante) Empire (1701–1957) was an Akan people empire and kingdom of what is now often called the Ashanti Region. The Ashanti Empire expanded its borders from Ashanti to include the Brong-Ahafo, Central region, Eastern region, Greater Accra region, and Western region, of present-day Ghana. The Ashanti ethnic group inhabit the exclave Ghana. Ashanti people used their military power, which came from effective strategy and an early adoption of firearms, to create an empire that stretched from central Ghana to present-day Ivory Coast. Due to the empire's military prowess, wealth, architecture, sophisticated hierarchy and culture, the Ashanti empire was studied and had one of the largest historiographies by European, primarily British, sources of any indigenous Sub-Saharan African political entity. From the 17th century AD, the Ashanti king Osei Tutu ( – 1717), along with Okomfo Anokye, established the Ashanti Kingdom, with the Golden Stool of Asante as a singular unifying symbol. Osei Tutu engaged in a massive Ashanti territorial expansion.〔 He built up the army based on introducing new organization and turning a disciplined royal and paramilitary army into an effective fighting machine.〔 In 1701, the Ashanti army conquered Denkyira, giving the Ashanti access to the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean coastal trade with Europeans, notably the Dutch. King Opoku Ware I (1720–1745) engaged in further Akan territorial expansion, and king Kusi Obodom (1750–1764) succeeded Opoku Ware I.〔 Asante king Osei Kwadwo (1764–1777) imposed administrative reforms that allowed the Ashanti Kingdom to be governed effectively. King Osei Kwame Panyin (1777–1803), and King Osei Tutu Kwame (1804–1824) continued the Ashanti Kingdom's territorial consolidation.〔Collins and Burns (2007), p. 140.〕 The Ashanti Kingdom is the home to Lake Bosumtwi, Ghana's only natural lake. The state's current economic revenue is derived mainly from trading in gold bars, cocoa, kola nuts and agriculture; forest has also been cleared to plant cassava, maize and yams.〔Collins and Burns (2007), p. 139.〕 Today the Ashanti monarchy continues as a constitutionally protected, sub-nation state and traditional state within Ghana. The current king of the Ashanti Kingdom is Otumfuo Osei Tutu II Asantehene. ==Etymology and Origins== The name ''Asante'' means "because of war." The word derives from the twi words ''asa'' meaning "war" and ''nti'' meaning "because of". This name comes from the Asante's origin as a kingdom created to fight the Denkyira Kingdom. The name "Ashanti" comes from British reports transcribing "Asante" as they heard it pronounced, ''as-hanti''. The hyphenation was subsequently dropped and the name ''Ashanti'' remained, with various spellings including ''Ashantee'' being common until the early 20th century. Between the 10th and 12th centuries AD the ethnic Akan people migrated into the forest belt of Southern Ghana and established several Akan states: Ashanti, Brong-Ahafo, Assin-Denkyira-Fante Confederacy-Mankessim Kingdom (present-day Central region), Akyem-Akwamu-Akuapem-Kwahu (present-day Eastern region & Greater Accra), and Ahanta-Aowin-Sefwi-Wassa (present-day Western region). Prior to the Ashanti Kingdom having contact with Europeans, trade between the Ashanti Kingdom and various African states flourished due to the Ashanti gold wealth. the Ashanti Kingdom trade with European states began after contact with the Portuguese in the 15th century AD.〔MacLean, Iain. ''Rational Choice and British Politics: An Analysis of Rhetoric and Manipulation from Peel to Blair'', 2001. Page 76.〕 When the gold mines in the Sahel started to dry up, the Ashanti Kingdom began to rise to prominence as the major player in the gold trade.〔 At the height of the Ashanti Kingdom, the Ashanti people became wealthy through the trading of gold mined from their territory.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Ashanti Empire」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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