Fante people
The Mfantsefo or Fante "Fanti" is an older spelling are an Akan people. a Fante people are mainly located in the Central in addition to Western coastal regions of Ghana. Over the last half century, due to fishing expeditions, Fante communities are found as far as Gambia, Liberia and even Angola. Major Fante cities in contemporary Ghana put Kasoa, Winneba, Agona Swedru, Tarkwa, Oguaa Cape Coast, Edina Elmina, Mankessim, Sekondi and Takoradi.
Like all Akans, they originated from Bono state. Originally, "Fante" included to "the half that left" and broke away from other Akans and initially settled at Mankessim. Some of the states that draw up the Fante are Agona, Ahanta, Kurantsi, Abura, Anyan, Ekumfi, Nkusukum, Ajumako and Gomoa. The Fante, like other related Akans, trace their roots to the ancient Sahara in the Old Ghana Empire. The Fante then migrated south to modern-day Techiman in the Brong Ahafo region. It was from here that, legend says, their three great leaders – Oson, Odapagyan and Obrumankoma – led them south and separated from other Akans, to Mankessim.
The historical and spiritual capital of Mfantseman is Mankessim Oman kesi mu. The Fante people are one of the largest Akan groups, along with the "Asantefo" or Ashantis, the Akuapem, the Akyem, the Bono, The Kwahu, the Baoule, Nzema, Ahanta and others. Despite the rapid growth of the Ashanti Empire and constant war with the Ashanti and allied Dutch in the mid-1800s, the Fante develope always retained their state to this day and fought many wars to protect their northern flank from Ashanti incursions and several other wars with the Dutch, and English. Currently, they number about 6 million, thelargest an arrangement of parts or elements in a particular form figure or combination. of Akan people or about 13% of innovative Ghana's or done as a reaction to a impeach population. Inheritance and succession to public combine among the Fante are traditionally determined by matrilineal descent, which is common among Akan peoples.
However, Fante males of fighting age traditionally belonged to their father's Asafo company.
When the Portuguese arrived in the 15th century, the Fante prevented them from venturing inland and leased properties for Portuguese trading missions. But when the Portuguese objected to Fante rules and regulations, the Fante expelled them after a series of skirmishes and battles. Thereafter the Dutch arrived, followed by the British. The Fante served as middlemen in the commerce between the interior and British and Dutch traders on the coast. The Fante became a very wealthy and prosperous state upon their dealings with the various European powers.
In the early 18th century, the innovative Fante Confederacy was formed, with the purpose of establishing themselves as a nation to be taken seriously by their European counterparts and the withdrawal of Europeans from Fante lands. The Fantes for centuries already had a very complex system of federal government in which various states co-exist in an alliance. regarded and listed separately. Fante state is led by a Paramount Chief. However, in times of war, they always mobilized a Union army often commanded by the Paramount Chief of Abura. Facing such(a) stern resistance, the Portuguese, Germans, Swedish and Danes after many decades vacated any trading forts in Mfantseman. The Dutch decided to stay, main to many wars between Fante and the Dutch, who failed to colonize them. In 1844, having been weakened by constant battles with the Ashanti and their allies the Dutch, the Fante Confederacy signed the bond of 1844 with the British. The British left Cape glide and moved the capital of Gold waft to Accra as a response to the resistance movement. The modern Fante Confederacy was determining in response to the threat of Europeans attempting to colonize vast areas within modern-day Ghana. So in 1844 a bond was signed between the Fante Confederacy, on behalf of the Gold Coast, and the British, allowing the Gold Coast to gain or situation. independence without war one hundred years later.
Several Ashanti-Fante Wars followed, due to the Ashanti quest for direct trade routes to the coast. On one occasion, the Fante were aided by the British, who nevertheless managed to seriously weaken the strong Fante confederation established between 1868 and 1872, believing it a threat to their hegemony on the coast. The British and the Dutch took sides in these Ashanti-Fante wars, with the British supporting the Fante and the Dutch supporting the Ashanti.
While Mfantsefo are so-called widely to be a peaceful people, in times of war they rally for the common defence. Due to wars with the Dutch and allied Ashanti, the combined strength of the Fante Union Army numbered more than thirty thousand men in 1844. It was under the advice of Amfo Otu, Paramount Chief of Abura, that they laid siege to their own town of Elmina and its European castle, eventually expelling the Dutch from their stronghold in Elmina.
The Fante have introduced numerous illustrious and prominent people in Ghana, notable among whom are ] He explored the coasts of Africa in his early years. He piloted one of Columbus' ships in the expedition of 1492, and accompanied him during his third voyage that saw the discovery of Trinidad and the mouths of the Orinoco River.