Opoku Ware I
Second Asantehene; nephew (sister-son) and matrilineal-uncle-successor of Osei Tutu I. Born c. 1700 CE to Nyaako Kusiaa (sister of Osei Tutu I) and an unnamed father; acceded in 1720 CE after the three-year regency-and-civil-war period following Osei Tutu I's death. Conducted the great imperial expansion of the Asante Empire (1720s-1750), defeating Akyem (1742, avenging Osei Tutu's death), Akwamu, Akwapim, Aowin, Wassa, Sefwi, Tekyiman, and Bono — establishing Asante territorial dominance over most of modern southern Ghana and parts of Côte d'Ivoire. Earned the praise-name Katakyie ("the Brave"). Institutionally elaborated the Asante imperial structure: established the formal kingdom-tributary-vassal hierarchy, the imperial-state goldweighting and goldweight-currency standards, and the elaborated military-state organization centered on the imperial Mponponsuo regiment. His mother Nyaako Kusiaa (sister of Osei Tutu I) is now materialized as a linked figure; the maternal-uncle relation to Osei Tutu I follows from their shared matriline through Manu Kotosi. Died 1750 CE.
Parentage
- maternal: Nyaako Kusiaa
Domains
- kingship
- war
Relations
- descendant of: Osei Tutu ISecond Asantehene of the same Oyoko royal matrilineage; sister's-son and matrilineal successor of Osei Tutu I (dynastic descent within one lineage).Wilks, Asante in the Nineteenth Century (1975) (secondary)
Sources
- existence: Asante royal genealogy; Manhyia palace records (primary); Wilks, Asante in the Nineteenth Century (1975) (secondary); Fynn, Asante and Its Neighbours (1971) (secondary)