Асантеваа: Әйел батыры және алтын тақтың қорғаушысы

Ashanti queen mother and military leader
the TikToker

Yaa Asantewaa I (born October 17, 1840 – October 17, 1921) was the Queen Mother of Ejisu in the Ashanti Empire, now part of modern day Ghana. She was appointed by her brother Nana Akwasi Afrane Okese, the Edwesuhene, or ruler, of Edwesu. In 1900, she led the Ashanti war also known as the War of the Golden Stool, or the Yaa Asantewaa War of Independence, against the British Empire.

Yaa Asantewaa was born in 1840 in Besease, the daughter of Kwaku Ampoma and Ata Po. Her brother, Afrane Panin, became the chief of Edweso, a nearby community. After a childhood without incident, she cultivated crops on the land around Boankra. She entered a polygamous marriage with a man from Kumasi, with whom she had a daughter. Asantewaa died in exile in the Seychelles in 1921. She was a successful farmer and mother. She was an intellectual, a politician, a human rights activist, a queen and a war leader. Yaa Asantewaa became famous for commanding the Ashanti Kings in the War of the Golden Stool, against British colonial rule, to defend and protect the sovereign independence of the Golden Stool.

Yaa Asantewaa's older brother, Nana Akwasi Afrane Okpase was in a powerful position in the empire and selected Asantewaa as the Queen Mother. This was a prestigious position as she is responsible for protecting the golden stool, advising the King of Ashanti, and choosing candidates for the next king. During her brother's reign, Yaa Asantewaa saw the Ashanti Confederacy go through a series of events that threatened its future, including a civil war from 1883 to 1888. When her brother died in 1894, Yaa Asantewaa used her right as Queen Mother to nominate her own grandson as Ejisuhene. When the British exiled him to the Seychelles in 1896, along with the King of Asante Prempeh I and other members of the Asante government, Yaa Asantewaa became regent of the Ejisu–Juaben district. After the exile of PrempehI, the British governor general of the Gold Coast, Frederick Hodgson, demanded the Golden Stool, the symbol of the Asante nation. To dramatize her determination to go to war, Yaa Asantewaa seized a gun and fired a shot in front of the men. Yaa Asantewaa inspired and rallied her people to fight back against the British. The traditional Ashanti military was revitalized by her passion to resist colonization. She questioned male leader's response to British colonization. Yaa Asantewaa challenged gender roles and urged women to stand up to fight. The Ashanti British War of the Golden Stool – also known as the "Yaa Asantewaa War" – was led by Queen Mother Nana Yaa Asantewaa with an army of 5,000.

Beginning in March 1900, the rebellion laid siege to the fort at Kumasi where the British had sought refuge. The fort still stands today as the Kumasi Fort and Military Museum. After several months, the Gold Coast governor eventually sent a force of 1,400 to quell the rebellion. During the fighting, Queen Yaa Asantewaa and fifteen of her closest advisers were captured, and they, too, were sent into exile to the Seychelles. The rebellion represented the final war in the Anglo Asante series of wars that lasted throughout the 19thcentury. More than 2,000 Ashanti warriors were killed and 1,000 British troops. This was the highest death toll from the Anglo Asante wars and lasted 6 months. On 1 January 1902 the British finally annexed the territory that the Asante Empire had been controlling for almost a century, and the Asante was transformed a protectorate of the British crown. Arnold Fredrick Hodgson required the Ashanti empire to sacrifice their ancient "golden stool" when they surrendered. The golden stool has been a revered symbol of the Ashanti nation's soul since the 17th century. The stool is 18 inches tall and 12 inches wide. It is never to be sat on but instead is placed next to the throne of the Ashante king. Despite the British defeating the Ashanti army, the golden stool was never turned over. A fake golden stool was delivered to the British governor while the nation's symbol of freedom, the ancient golden stool was kept safely hidden. in 1920, a group of African railroad builders discovered the hidden golden stool and vandalized it. They were judged and sentenced to death by the Ashanti. British authorities exiled the criminals from the Golden Coast colony before they were killed. British colonists agreed to not get involved with the Golden stool after realizing the significance of the object. The Golden Stool is still used today to initiate and crown the asantehene (Ashanti ruler). Nana Yaa Asantewaa died in exile in the Seychelles on 17 October 1921. Three years after her death, on 17 December 1924,
King PrempehI and the other remaining members of the exiled Asante court were allowed to return to Asante. King PrempehI made sure that the remains of Nana Asantewaa and the other exiled Asantes were returned for a proper royal burial. Queen Asantewaa's dream for an Asante independent from colonial rule was realized on 6 March 1957, when the Asante protectorate gained independence as part of Ghana. Ghana was the first African nation in West Africa to achieve this feat.

Nana Yaa Asantewaa understood the ramifications of British colonial rule. She is seen by Ghanaians today as a queen mother who exercised her political and social clout to help defend her kingdom. The role she played in influencing the Ashanti men to battle the British appears to be a function of her matriarchal status. The Ashanti people are organized in a matrilineage, women descended from a common female ancestor. The ashanti believe a person's blood comes from the mother and spirit comes from the father. The queen mother was often the sister of the chief and was the head of kinship relations. Yaa Asantewaa status and warrior spirit lead the Ashanti people during an uncertain time. Nana Yaa Asantewaa's call upon the women of the Asante Empire is based on the political obligations of Akan women and their respective roles in legislative and judicial processes. The hierarchy of male stools among the Akan people was complemented by female counterparts. Within the village, elders who were heads of the matrilineages (mpanyimfo), constituted the village council known as the ôdekuro. The women, known as the mpanyinfo, and referred to as aberewa or ôbaa panyin, were responsible for looking after women's affairs. For every ôdekuro, an ôbaa panyin acted as the responsible party for the affairs of the women of the village and served as a member of the village council. The head of a division, the ôhene, and the head of the autonomous political community, the Amanhene, had their female counterparts known as the ôhemaa: a female ruler who sat on their councils. The ôhemaa and ôhene were all of the same mogya, blood or localized matrilineage. The occupant of the female stool in Kumasi state, the Asantehemaa, the united Asante, since her male counterpart was ex officio of the Asanthene, was a member of the Kôtôkô Council, the executive committee or Cabinet of the Asanteman Nhyiamu, General Assembly of Asante rulers. Female stool occupants participated not only in the judicial and legislative processes, but also in the making and unmaking of war, and the distribution of land.

For details see Yaa Asantewaa Festival.