Prempeh I (Otumfuo Nana Prempeh I; 18 December 1870 – 12 May 1931) was the thirteenth king ruler of the Ashanti Empire and the Oyoko Abohyen Dynasty. King Prempeh I ruled from March 26, 1888 until his death in 1931, and fought an Ashanti war against Britain in 1895-6. King Asantehene Prempeh I's original throne name was Prince Kwaku Dua III Asamu of the Ashanti Empire. Prempeh I's mother, Queen Asantehemaa Yaa Akyaa, was queen mother of Ashanti from 1880 to 1917. Through strategic political marriages she built the military power to secure the Golden Stool for her son Prince Prempeh. In 1888 Prince Prempeh ascended the throne, using the name Kwaku Dua III. His kingship was beset by difficulties from the very onset of his reign. He began the defending of Ashanti from Britain and when Prempeh I was asked by Britain to accept a protectorate over Ashanti, he rejected it and stated in his reply that Britain had miscalculated. He began an active campaign of the Ashanti sovereignty. The British offered to take Ashanti under their protection, but he refused each request. Eventually a British expedition was launched on the basis of Prempeh's failure to pay an indemnity and his perpetuation of human sacrifices within his kingdom. In December 1895, the British left Cape Coast with an expeditionary

force. It arrived in Kumasi in January 1896 under the command of Robert Baden-Powell. The Asantehene directed the Ashanti not to resist the British advance, as he feared reprisals from Britain if the expedition turned violent. Shortly thereafter, Governor William Maxwell arrived in Kumasi as well. Britain annexed the territories of the Ashanti and the Fante people, despite the British and Fante being allies during this time. Asantehene Agyeman Prempeh was deposed and arrested, and he and other Ashanti leaders were sent into exile in the Seychelles. The Ashanti Empire was dissolved. The British formally declared the state of the Ashanti and the coastal regions to be the Gold Coast colony. A British Resident was permanently placed in the city of Kumasi, and soon afterwards a British fort was built there. Eleven years later, Baden-Powell published "Scouting for Boys". Eventually Prempeh was released, and subsequently he became Chief Scout of the Gold Coast. The Telegraph Battalion of the Royal Engineers (predecessor of the Royal Corps of Signals) played a prominent part in the Ashanti Campaign; men of the Telegraph Battalion hacked a path for an overhead line from the Coast to Prahsu, covering 72 miles through the jungle. These troops then staggered out of the jungle, confronted King Prempeh and accepted the surrender of his army. King Prempeh's throne is now displayed in the Royal Signals Museum at Blandford. In 1900, a request that the Ashanti people turn over the "golden stool" – the very symbol of Ashanti absolute monarchy governance to the Ashanti people. The Kingdom of Ashanti gave no resistance and became semi-autonomous members of the British Empire. The Ashanti did later rebel against the British to fight the War of the Golden Stool (also known as the Yaa Asantewaa War) in 1900-01. This resulted in the annexation of Ashanti to the British Empire, but preserved the sanctity of the Golden Stool. The British exiled Asantewaa and other Asante leaders to the Seychelles to join Asante King Prempeh I. In January 1902, Britain finally designated Asanteman as a protectorate. Asanteman was restored to independence on 31 January 1935. Prempeh I spent time in his villa on Mahe from repatriation, the largest island of the Seychelles in the Indian Ocean. The villa was formerly a huge plantation, covered with coconut trees, mango, breadfruit and orange trees as well as a two-story villa. Prempeh I villa, and 16 new wooden houses with sandy floors and roofed with corrugated iron sheets, were built in the Seychelles and allocated to the various Asante nobles. Prempeh made an effort to educate himself in English, and to make certain that the children received education. The King Asantehene Prempeh I once stated, "My Kingdom of Ashanti will never commit itself to any such policy of protection; Ashanti people and the Kingdom of Ashanti must remain an independent sovereign state as of old, and at the same time be friends with all white men".

The military of the Asante Empire first came into formation around the 17th century AD in response to subjugation by the Denkyira Kingdom. It served as the main armed forces of the empire until it was dissolved when the Asante became a British crown colony in 1901. In 1701, King Osei Kofi Tutu I won Asante independence from Denkyira at the Battle of Feyiase and carried out an expansionist policy. The Asante army prior to the 18th century used predominantly bows with poisoned arrows, swords, spears and javelins. King Osei Tutu I instituted reforms in the army such as the adoption of military tactics used by other Akan kingdoms. Through trade with Europeans at the coast, the Asante acquired firearms and artillery. By the 19th century, the army was primarily equipped with muskets and rifles. Transportation across water bodies was achieved through the use of canoes. The army was also accompanied by military engineers. Cavalry was not adopted alongside the Asante infantry. In order to mobilize personnel for the army, volunteers and contingents from tributaries were supplemented with a core of professional soldiers. The Asante developed various tactics such as encirclement and pincer movement. The Asantehene was the commander-in-chief of the Asante military. A war-tax was paid by all Asante citizens over the age of 18 to cover the expenses of warfare. The army of the Asante

Empire was organized into 6 parts. Each had various sub divisions. The organization of the Asante army was based on local Akan military systems such as the organization of the Akwamu army. The six parts of the Asante army were: Scouts (akwansrafo), Advance guard (twafo), Main body (adonten), Personal bodyguard (gyase), Rear-guard (kyidom), Two wings-left (benkum) and right (nifa). Each wing having two formations: right and right-half (nifa nnaase), left and left-half (benkum nnaase). In battle, the army used advanced guard, main body, rear guard and right and left wings on the move. This organization enabled the Asante generals to maneuver their forces with flexibility. Reconnaissance and pursuit operations were carried out by the scouts. The scouts were made up of professional hunters who used their skill of marksmanship to snipe at advancing enemy forces in response to detection by the enemy. This was executed often from a perch high in trees. In order to draw the enemy's force and compel them to reveal their positions in the jungle foliage, the scouts carried long wooden sticks with hooks on the end which they used to shake trees as if someone were in them. Scouts were precluded from an involvement in prolonged fighting. After exchanging a few shots with the enemy, they withdrew through the next wave of troops which was the advanced guards. The advanced guard could also serve as initial storm troops or bait troops to get the enemy to reveal their position and strength. The gyase or personal guards protected the king or high ranking nobles on the battlefield. The rear guard however, might function for pursuit or as a reserve echelon. The two wings aided in the tactics of the Asante during battle through the encirclement of the opposing force or striking at the rear. Individualized acts of daring were encouraged, such as rushing out into the open to behead dead or wounded enemies. A tally of these trophies was presented to the commanding general after the end of the engagement. Soldiers who tried to flee from battle were kept in check by sword-bearers who whipped them with heavy swords. Asante soldiers had to memorize the following saying: "If I go forward, I die; if I flee, I die. Better to go forward and die in the mouth of battle." The ankobia or special police functioned as special forces and bodyguards to the Asantehene. They served as a source of intelligence for suppressing rebellion. Horses were introduced into the state around the 18th century. Horses were recorded to have survived in Kumasi in contrast to the forest zone in the south due to the presence of the tsetse fly. Edgerton writes that although Asante high-ranking officers rode horses with the hauteur of European officers, a cavalry was not developed for the Asante military. Thornton adds that the Asante captured and rode horses after a campaign against states up north in the 18th century. This attempt at forming a cavalry was ineffective which Thornton puts up as; "...though they can be hardly an effective cavalry and reportedly all were killed in one engagement." Canoes were used for troop transport across rivers. British captain, Brackenbury described an amphibious landing of Asante troops in the late 19th century on Assin. He estimated that two ferries of boats crossed the River Pra with 12,000 men in five days with 30 men per boats and four trips an hour. In a feature seldom seen among African armies, the Asante also deployed units of medical personnel behind the main forces, who were tasked with caring for the wounded and removing the dead. A full time medical corps was established as a branch of the Asante army by the late 19th century. Asante king, Kwaku Dua signed a military agreement which involved the yearly supply of Asante troops to the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army in exchange for Dutch artillery pieces. The Dutch suppliers provided the Asante king with immobile cannons on ships rather than field carriages. There existed in Kumasi, a Cannon-square that housed a trophy of Dutch Cannons. They were captured from Denkyira after Asante emerged victorious at the Battle of Feyiase.

The Asantehene is the title for the monarch of the historical Ashanti Empire as well as the ceremonial ruler of the Ashanti people today. The Ashanti royal house traces its line to the Oyoko (an Abusua, or "clan") Abohyen Dynasty of Nana Twum and the Oyoko Dynasty of Osei Tutu Opemsoo, who formed the Empire of Ashanti in 1701 and was crowned Asantehene (King of all Asante). Osei Tutu held the throne until his death in battle in 1717, and was the sixth king in Ashanti royal history. The Asantehene is the ruler of the Ashanti people. The Asantehene is traditionally enthroned on a golden stool known as the Sika 'dwa, and the office is sometimes referred to by this name. The Asantehene is also the titular ruler of Kumasi, which served as the capital of the Ashanti Empire and today, the Ashanti Region. The Ashanti Empire comprised parts of present-day southern Ghana and portions of present-day eastern Côte d'Ivoire between the 17th and 20th centuries. During the period between the death of an Asantehene and

the election of a successor, the Mamponghene, the Asantehene's deputy, acts as a regent. This policy was only changed during a time of civil war in the late 19th century, when the Kwasafomanhyiamu or governing council itself ruled as regent. The succession is decided by a series of councils of Asante nobles and other royal family members. The Ashanti Confederacy was made a British protectorate in 1902, and the office of Asantehene was discontinued. In 1926, the British permitted the repatriation of Prempeh I – whom they had exiled to the Seychelles in 1896 – and allowed him to adopt the title Kumasehene, but not Asantehene. However, in 1935, the British finally granted the Ashanti moderated self-rule as the Kingdom of Ashanti, and the title of Asantehene was revived.