The Shona were a Bantu-speaking people who comprised the Rozwi, Kore kore, Zezuru and Manyika subgroups.

Political Organization of the Mwene Mutapa Empire

The emperor was the head of the state and government. Succession of authority was hereditary.
Important emperors included Chikura, Nyatsimba, Mutota and Matope.
Religion played a role in government and united people.
The emperor was a semi-divine religious leader, a military leader and the chief priest.
He was the only one who could communicate with the spirits of the ancestors.
It was believed that when Mwene Mutapa died, he became a Mudzimu and automatically qualified to be worshipped as a national ancestral spirit.

The ancestral spirits (Vadzimu) communicated people’s problems to god.
Religion also influenced laws.
The priests were used as spies and link between the emperor and the people.
Another unifying factor in the kingdom was the royal fire. It was from the continuous fire that each vassal chief carried a flame to his chiefdom that he kept burning as a symbol of national unity.

The empire was divided into provinces namely Guruhaswa, Mbire, Utere, Banua, and Manyika each headed by a lesser chief.
The most important chiefs in the empire sent their sons, with tribute in form of cattle, gold, slaves and ivory, each year to pay homage to the Mwene Mutapa as goodwill ambassadors.
There was a standing army of warriors which was used for defence and expansion of the kingdom. Revenue from trade was used to run the army and sustain the empire.

The position of importance held by Mwene Mutapa led to the creation of a complex Style of administration around him.
The government officials included the court steward, treasurer, commander-in-chief of the army and Mbokurumme (king’s sister-in-law).
Others were the queen mother, the emperor’s sister and nine principal wives, the doorkeeper and the chief cook and head drummer.

At the lower level were the lesser chiefs who paid tribute to the king by providing cattle, labour and agricultural produce.

Economic Organization of the Shona

• The Shona were mixed farmers who cultivated crops and reared animals. Among the agricultural produce were corn, millet, ground nuts, beans, watermelons, tomatoes, fruits and cabbages.
• The Shona practiced trade, specifically long distance trade between them and the Arabs and Waswahili at sofala. They gave Gold and ivory for cotton cloths, glassware, copper items, guns, daggers and knives.
• They were skillful hunters. They hunted elephants for their ivory which was in great demand. They also gathered wild honey and wild fruits to supplement their diet.
• The shona were skilled craftsmen who made articles like spears, hoes and knives. Others were goldsmiths who used gold to decorate. They also practiced cloth making from wild cotton and bark fibres.

Social Organization of the Shona.

Among the shona, Mwene Mutapa was regarded as a divine king and was therefore venerated.
When he was well, the nation was also well.
The shona religion was based on the Mwari cult. They believed in the all powerful God, Mwari/Murungu. His worship was done through several priests who were mainly produced by the Rozwi clan.

The priests presided over religious functions in sacred places of worship, shrines where sacrifices were offered.
The shona believed in ancestral spirits. They had two kinds of spirits, Vadzimu or family spirits and Mhondoro or clan spirits. The spirits communicated though an intermediary, Svikiro, a departed family or clan spirit.
The shona had a national spirit Chamiruka who settled clan disputes and also protected the people against injustice in the government.

The shona had a kinship system which was patrilineal (inheritance through the father) The shona were divided into clans whose names were coined from animals like leopard, monkey, elephant etc. it was a taboo to consume meat from such animals.
They were a polygamous community which was viewed as a means to enable the family to have enough members to provide labour.
The shona lived in stone buildings. Their skill in masonry is associated with the ruins of Mapungubwe found in Zimbabwe.

The Asante are one of the Akan-speaking peoples who occupy the southern part of Ghana, west Africa.

Origin of the Asante Kingdom

The empire Developed in the 1670’s. It was formed as a result of competition for gold fields in the Akan forestland. In the 1500’s: Akan peoples came into contact with Portuguese traders.
Wealthy owners of the Akan gold mines begin to trade gold for Benin slaves with the Portuguese.
A company of Akwamu troops are believed to have been instrumental in facilitating Osei Tutu’s rise to power.

He conquered the neighboring chiefdoms and took control of their trade. He took the title of ASANTEHENE.
He Collected taxes from the chiefdoms on profits from the gold mines.
He built a standing army by demanding that chiefdoms provide soldiers.
He sought the support of religious leaders throughout the region.
For example, a priest of the shrine of the war god (Otutu called Anokye in Akwapim played a role in ensuring that Osei Tutu became the Asantehene.).
He established the “GOLDEN STOOL” as a symbol of his rightful rule.

Factors that led to the rise and growth of the Asante Empire

• The Asante had a strong economy based on agriculture. Both food and cash crops like Kola nuts were cultivated.
• The Asante had capable political leaders they included Obiri Yeboa (1670-1678), Osei Tutu (1680-1717) who unified the people through the Golden stool that he created and Opuku Ware (1720- 1750).
• The several city-states that emerged around Kumasi supported each other. Most of them were related by the fact that they originated from the same Oyoko clan.
• The growth of the Trans- Atlantic slave trade brought a lot of wealth to the Asante people.
• The centralized political system under the Asantehene provided stability.
• The Odwira festival that was held annually helped to make the state more cohesive.
• The Asante were brave and proud people, and the need to free themselves from the oppressive rule of Denkyira, their former masters, motivated them to create a strong state.

Political Organization

The Asante had a centralized political system. The Nucleus of the Asante Empire was five citystates of Kumasi, Dwaben, Bekwai, Kokofu and Nsula.
The empire comprised of three parts, namely Kumasi (Metropolitan Asante), Amatoo states and Provincial Asante.
Each part had its own system of administration though the three cooperated in some areas.
Kumasi was directly ruled by the Asantehene and was recognized as Kumasihene.

Metropolitan Asante

These were the five states that lay 35 miles around Kumasi and which recognized the Asantehene as the supreme authority.
The government of the metropolitan Asante consisted the confederacy council made of the Kings (Omanhene) of the various states and presided over by the Asantehene.
All the states within the metropolitan Asante paid tax to the Asantehene which was used to pay for the administration and form an army.
Each of the five states had its own state council that made important decisions. Each also had its own Black stool that symbolized their power over the state.

The omanhenes were expected to give the right of declaring war on another Omanhene, attended the annual Odwira festival.
Neither the Asantehene nor the Omanhene enjoyed dictatorial powers.
The kingdom had an army that was divided into several wings.
The Asantehene was deputized by Mamphohene who automatically take over army leadership whenever the Asantehene was unavailable.
The Asantehene established a national festival called the Odwira festival during which all The Omanhene assembled in Kumasi to show their loyalty to the Asantehene, to honor the dead and to solve disputes amongst themselves. It also enhanced unity amongst the Asante states.

Provincial Asante

It comprised all the states conquered by the Asante in the 18th century (subject states). Such people were represented in the army and paid taxes to the Asantehene.
Osei Tutu appointed two consuls who resided in each subject state to supervise their affairs.
An efficient bureaucracy was established in each of the provincial Asante states with the Asantehene appointing senior officials directly himself.

Social organization.

The Kingdom was composed of many communities who spoke the Akan language.
The clans that made up the Akan speakers included the Akyem, Kwahu, the Fante, the Wassa, the Assin and the Akwapem. all these communities shared the same social institutions like the forty-day calendar, same marriage and naming rites.
The basic social unit was the clan.
They had a matrilineal system of inheritance. The birthright of each family passed through the mother from one generation to the other.

The practiced polygamy marriage due to wealth and comfort in society and prohibited inter clan (paternal and maternal clans) marriages.
The Odwira festival helped unite the society besides the golden stool.
The Asante was socially stratified into social classese.g. the rulers, rich, peasant farmers and slaves.
They believed in magic and superstition and also worshipped gods and goddesses i.e. they were polytheists.

Their supreme creator was Nyame (Nyambe).
They believed in their ancestors as mediators between the people and God (gods). The Odwira festival was held annually to honour ancestors and solves my disputes. They offered sacrifices to their gods/ancestors including human sacrifices.
The Asante hence was considered semi-divine being and highly regarded Creative arts like dancing music, sculpture were highly respected in society.

Economic organization of the Asante

• Being located at the point of convergence of the trans-Atlantic trade routes, the Asante people participated in the trade providing gold, slaves and ivory in exchange for cotton, cloth, guns and gunpowder. They also provided middlemen and porters during the trade.
• The Asante practiced agriculture, growing crops like yams, vegetables and fruits. They also kept livestock.
• The community practiced gathering of Kola nuts and hunting for game meat from the forest to supplement their diet.
• They practiced iron working and made crafts such as baskets and pots.
• The Asante community however became a victim of the same economic wars it waged against her neighbours especially the Fante and Denkyira. In 1873, the British came to the aid of the Fante thus greatly weakening the Asante power.

Reasons for the collapse of the Asante Empire

• The type of political organization in the kingdom did not encourage cohesion. Some states in the provincial Asante had no attachment to the golden stool/were semi-independent/ condition of a state within a state.
• Leadership struggle between the Asante and dwaben; a neighboring rival of Asante’s state.
• Civil wars /Constant rebellions from the conquered states /wars with other tribes e.g. war with the afante.
• British interference in the Asante affairs through the 19th c. they had a burning desire to destroy the Asante empire and colonize the region.. they even supported dwaben in her war against Asantehene.
• Periodic interference with trade and trade routes as a result of wars weakened the financial position of the empire i.e. Abolition of slave trade as a major source of income.
• The Anglo-Asante wars which the British won led to final destruction of the empire.