The Ashanti Confederacy
Even though for some reason, the Zulu receive a lot of praise from people...the Ashanti (or Asante) had an actual Empire/Kingdom in Western Africa!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empire_of_Ashanti
"The Ashanti Empire or Asante Empire, also known as the Ashanti Confederacy or Asanteman was a pre-colonial West African state of what is now the Ashanti Region in Ghana. Their empire stretched from central Ghana to present day Togo and Cote d' Ivoire."
Founded: 1670
Government: Monarchy
Religion: Ancestor Worship
Capital: Kumasi
Area as of 1874: 100,000 square miles (larger than the United Kingdom and the state of New York...about the size of the state of Colorado)
"The Ashanti were a powerful, militaristic, and highly disciplined people of West Africa. During the height of the Mali Empire the Ashanti, and Akan people in general, became wealthy through the trading of gold mined from their territory. Early in Ashanti history, this gold was traded with the greater Ghana and Mali Empires."
http://www.pbs.org/wonders/Episodes/Epi3/3_wondr1.htm
"The political, military, and spiritual foundations of the Ashanti nation date to the first Ashanti king, Osei Tutu. He forged the Ashanti Union by bringing together several subgroups from roughly 1670 to the 1690s. He also built a capital, Kumasi; created the legend of the Golden Stool to legitimize his rule.
By the early 19th century, Ashanti territory covered nearly all of present-day Ghana, including the coast, where the Ashanti could trade directly with the British. In exchange for guns and other European goods, the Ashanti sold gold and slaves, usually either captured in war or accepted as tribute from conquered peoples."
Why They Should Be in the Game
"During the 19th century, the Ashanti fought several wars with the British, who sought to eliminate the slave trade and expand their control in the region. A series of defeats at the hands of the British gradually weakened and reduced the territory of the Ashanti kingdom. After nearly a century of resistance to British power, the Ashanti kingdom was finally declared a Crown Colony in 1902 following the uprising known as the Yaa Asantewa War."
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They fought FOUR wars against the British....FOUR!!! And weren't totally defeated until 1902 after 100 years of on and off fighting (even though they did gradually lose land I believe)!!! The British even had to enlist the help of other smaller African tribes to assist them over time (like the Fante). And they didn't JUST use bows and arrows either, they had guns for hundreds of years due to their trade with the Portugese (Guns for Slaves I guess). If there is ANY African representation in E:TW...the Ashanti HAVE to be one of them. If not them, then at least the Ethiopians who defeated the Italians.
The Ashanti had a very complex beaurecracy as well. With various "Departments" that included Treasury and Foreign Relations.
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http://www.ess.uwe.ac.uk/genocide/reviewsw80.htm
"Edgerton shows how the Asante incorporated European weapons into their own military structure with considerable success. He also demonstrates how the Asante, over the course of the nineteenth century, were disadvantaged by a growing gap in military technology. The discussion of Asante innovations designed to cope with superior British firepower during the Yaa Asantewaa uprising of 1900--notably the construction of stockades (apparently an idea borrowed from the Mende of Sierra Leone)--is especially illuminating. It is reminiscent of James Belich's excellent account of Maori resistance in The New Zealand Wars (1986), although the Maori record was arguably even more impressive because they were both outnumbered and out-gunned."
Potential Units:
- Gunner Calvary
- Standing Gunners
- Asante Spearmen
- General's Royal Calvary
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Originally Posted by Tarik Ibn Zayid
