The Ashanti Region has probably the most interesting part in Ghana's history. This takes us back to ancient Gana in Mali - when Gana broke up, the Akan tribe split up and one group settled in the region, which became the Ashanti Region. The Ashanti were a tribe of Warriors and after a short period had conquered the most of the tribes around them with the exception of the Denkyira, which made life difficult for them. The Denkyira oppressed the Ashanti which had to pay tribute to them in form of Gold and Slaves. The change came with King Osei Tutu who was able to conquer the Denkyira in 1700.

As it happens so very often in world history the oppressed became the oppressor. After their victory over the Denkyira, the Ashanti begun systematically to incorporate all surrounding tribes and villages into the Ashanti Kingdom. Due to the many wars the Ashanti had many prisoners of war which were sold to the Europeans as Slaves. This in turn resulted in a permanent war between the Fanti's from the coast and the Ashanti who did not want to use the Fanti as middlemen in their trade. This behavior of the Ashanti was noticed by the British and they in turn did not look favorably on this which ended in the war between this two headstrong parties - the Ashanti and the British. As the Ashanti had a strong army it took 7 wars between the years 1824 and 1901 until the British were able to conquer Kumasi in 1901.

Kumasi today also known as Garden City or Gold Town has an interesting tale to tell about how it came into existence. Okonfo Anokye the High Priest of Asantehene Osei Tutu planted two seeds of the Kum Tree at two different locations. One seed started to grow but one died. Kum Asi ( under the Kum tree ) was built at the location of the growing tree and another town was later built at the other location and became known as Kum Awu ( the Kum tree that died ). It was also Okonfo Anokye who brought down the Golden Stool from the sky. It is believed that the soul of the Asante people was put in the Golden Stool and it has been protected by every means ever since. The stool is never displayed in public, what you see is always an imitation. The only time the Asantehene sits on the Golden Stool is on his initiation day.

Almost none of the historic Kumasi is left today due to the burning down of the ancient Kum Asi by the British upon their victory in 1901. It took the Asante people twelve years to re- built their city but almost none of the original traces of their history remains.. After these years of struggle Kumasi entered a time of plenty and immense riches. The years after the second world war, Ghana became interesting once again for the western world due to the countries natural resources in Cocoa, Gold and Hard Wood. As all these are mostly found in the Ashanti Region the Asantehene and his people were able to profit immensely. The railway Line connecting the North and the South run through Kumasi and this boosted its importance yet again. Kumasi soon became the central Market point in Ghana which in turn attracted people to migrate from all over the country to settle. Schools were built, roads constructed, factories erected and Kumasi slowly grew into the second largest city in Ghana.

From the historical aspect the Brong Ahafo Region is the cradle of the Akan People as most of the Akan Tribes find their roots in the areas of Techiman and Kintampo. During some archeological expeditions amazing finds were made in these areas. The largest tribes in this region are the Bono and the Ahafo. Sunyani has always been a market place between the north and the south. The Salt Traders from the south and the north met here as well as the Kola Nut was traded between the east and the west. The area surrounding Sunyani used to be densely populated by Elephants which in turn attracted the hunters in search of Ivory. Once the Elephants diminished the town Sunyani lost it's attraction and this brought about the beginning of Cocoa Plantations. With the growing Cocoa demand in the world Sunyani again became interesting for traders. The farmers became rich and Sunyani grew into a flourishing city.

The Brong Ahafo Region used to be part of Ashanti until the 60's when it became a region of it's own. In the western part of this region near the Cote d'Ivoire border the vegetation is dense rainforest which makes up for the largest part of Ghana's forest reserve. The eastern border of the region is the Volta Lake which is at it's widest here. The northern area of the region shows a change in vegetation and the rainforest changes into tree savanna.

From the Ashanti & Brong Ahafo Region we select some sightseeing's.