A Vanished Dynasty Ashanti

Abstract

This book claims to be only a brief, concise, and consecutive narrative of the traditional history of Ashanti, blended with known facts. With regard to the latter, the book is but a compilation of excerpts from the records of former authors. I know of no work, however, that deals exclusively with Ashanti, and it has been my endeavour to reproduce these facts in a convenient and epitomized form. Another aim of these pages is to save the more important historical traditions of the country from inevitable oblivion. The unborn generations of Ashanti’s will indubitably suffer from impaired memories consequent on the spread of education. A lack of reverence for and love of past deeds is already noticeable among the school-children of the present day, and unless the ancient national traditions are to be entirely lost, they should be set forth in print. These reasons ", just serve as an excuse for the present publication. Criticisms of past events have been purposely avoided, for I hold the opinion that no useful purpose would now be served by reopening controversy on irreparable acts. The "manners and customs" of the Ashanti’s have received scant attention in these pages, as the wealth of the subject-matter demands separate treatment.