Akyem Abuakwa 1700 1943

In the eighteenth century part of modern day Ghana consisted of the three Akyem states, yet in almost all historical works on Ghana the Akyem are presented as a single homogeneous people. The author, Senior Lecturer of History at the University of Cape Coast examines the three groups and analyses their vital role in the history of Ghana in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Covering the period of 1699-1875, the study relies primarily - though not exclusively - on documentary evidence.

This volume consists of multiple original comprehensive scholarship about and approaches to the history of the fortresses of Ghana and Benin. It suggests an alternative approach and view on them.

For many Africanist historians, traditional religion is simply a starting point for measuring the historic impact of Christianity and Islam. In Tongnaab, Jean Allman and John Parker challenge the distinction between tradition and modernity by tracing the movement and mutation of the powerful Talensi god and ancestor shrine, Tongnaab, from the savanna of northern Ghana through the forests and coastal plains of the south. Using a wide range of written, oral, and iconographic sources, Allman and Parker uncover the historical dynamics of cross-cultural religious belief and practice. They reveal how Tongnaab has been intertwined with many themes and events in West African history -- the slave trade, colonial conquest and rule, capitalist agriculture and mining, labor migration, shifting ethnicities, the production of ethnographic knowledge, and the political projects that brought about the modern nation state. This rich and original book shows that indigenous religion has been at the center of dramatic social and economic changes stretching from the slave trade to the tourist trade.

Covering the entire continent from Morocco, Libya, and Egypt in the north to the Cape of Good Hope in the south, and the surrounding islands from Cape Verde in the west to Madagascar, Mauritius, and Seychelles in the east, the Encyclopedia of African History is a new A-Z reference resource on the history of the entire African continent. With entries ranging from the earliest evolution of human beings in Africa to the beginning of the twenty-first century, this comprehensive three volume Encyclopedia is the first reference of this scale and scope. Also includes 99 maps.

It's uncommon to come across a book that offers such a wealth of information on all aspects of life in Ghana: traditional rural life, assimilating colonization, and mission education. In Hearing and Keeping--Remembering My Matrilineal Roots, author Charlotte Anokwa shares the experiences that helped to mold her into the person she is today. She introduces the people and institutions that have influenced and continue to influence her life; she shares memories of her childhood and upbringing; she describes traditional environments, including forests and foods; and she explains the use of the Twi language in the legendary Ananse stories for children and Akan proverbs. She writes...I was blessed enough to be born the last of eight, into a family, a community, and a people in rural Ghana with so much history, culture, talent and skills as well as spiritual connectedness that sharing and acknowledging one's blessings came naturally. I can only go peacefully to my grave if I carry on the tradition and share my experiences with those around me and those who would be interested in knowing... Through Hearing and Keeping--Remembering My Matrilineal Roots, Anokwa provides an easy-to-read reference for the young generation of people of African descent growing up abroad and inquiring non-Africans alike.

The communities along the coastline of Ghana boast a long and vibrant maritime culture. In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the region experienced creeping British imperialism and incorporation into the British Gold Coast colony. Drawing on a wealth of Ghanian archival sources, historian Kwaku Nti shows how many aspects of traditional maritime daily life—customary ritual performances, fishing, and concepts of ownership, and land—served as a means of resistance and allowed residents to contest and influence the socio-political transformations of the era. Nti explored how the Ebusua (female) and Asafo (male) local social groups, especially in Cape Coast, became bastions of indigenous identity and traditions during British colonial rule, while at the same time functioning as focal points for demanding a share of emerging economic opportunities. A convincing demonstration of the power of the indigenous everyday life to complicate the reach of empire, Maritime Culture and Everyday Life in Nineteenth- and Twentieth-Century Coastal Ghana reveals a fuller history of West African coastal communities.