Draugr (Draug, Draugen) - The Walking Dead of Norse Mythology | Norse Mytholgy Explained

If you, the men of Asante, will not go, then we will. I shall call upon my fellow women and we will fight the white men. We will fight until the last of us falls on the battlefield. How can a proud and brave people like the Asante sit back and look while the white man takes away their king and chief? And humiliate them with a demand for the Golden Stool? The War of the Golden Stool, also called the Yaa Asantewaa War, the Third Asante Expedition or the Asante Uprising, was the last and seemingly major war between the British and the Asante in the then Gold Coast, which is now the modern-day Ghana. The war was triggered on March 25th, 1900 by the colonial governor Frederick Mitchell Hudson when he demanded to sit on the Golden Stool, a sacred symbol of the Asante strength and independence, past, present and future. The Golden Stool had been the symbol of power in Asante kingdom since the 17th century. According to traditional accounts, Okomfo-Anokia, the high priest and one of the two founders of the Asante confederacy, conjured the magnificent stool and invoked it to descend from the sky where it floated onto the feet of the first Asante king, Osei Tutuwan. The high priest then declared that the soul of the nation resided in the stool. The Asantes maintained the Golden Stool as their most prized possession. Its entire surface is made with gold and hung with golden bells to warn the king of impending danger. Prior to war, their war chiefs consulted it. As time progressed and as the Asante scored more victories over their rivals, turning their kingdom into an empire, the Golden Stool became even more revered. Then came the British. The queen of England had sent Sir William Edward Maxwell to the Asante kingdom to subdue them and bring them under the British crown as a colony. Sir Maxwell started with diplomatic talks and subtle threats, which later evolved to force and brute on the Asante people. But the then king Prem P1 and his people strongly refused to accept the proposition for their land and gold to be annexed and ruled by the British. The continuous resistance of the Asante people led to a brief battle which lasted for about three months from December of 1895 to February of 1896. The British, with their sophisticated weapons, had the upper hand and thus won the battle. And as punishment for resisting and defying the authority of the British, King Prem P1 was exiled to Seychelles alongside other notable chiefs of the Asante kingdom. Just before leaving, King Prem P1 advised his people not to put up more resistance after his exile. This was to try to negotiate with the British and save the lives of his people. Little did he know that an even bigger war was brewing. The British government was bent on totally subduing the Asante kingdom. By this time, the region had been signed over to the British protectorate and Sir Frederick Hudson had taken over as the governor of the region and was intensifying the British rule and suppression of the Asante people. When news of the Asante golden stool reached Hudson, the news of how symbolic it was for the ruler of the Asante people and tradition, Hudson turned his attention to the chair. He believed, as the new ruler of the Asante region, he should sit on the golden stool, instead of the ordinary chair he was offered. Arriving on March 25, 1900, Hudson called a meeting of Asante chiefs, at which he said as thus, Your King Prem P1 is in exile and will not return to Asante. His power and authority will be taken over by the representative of the Queen of Britain. The terms of the 1874 peace treaty of Formena requires you to pay with interest the sum of £160,000 a year. Then, there is the matter of the golden stool of Asante. The Queen is entitled to the stool. She must receive it. Where is the golden stool? I am the representative of the paramount power. Why have you relegated me to this ordinary chair? Why did you not take the opportunity of my coming to Kumasi, to bring the golden stool, for me to sit upon? Hudson clearly had not the slightest idea, the uproar, his words would bring. I demand to sit on this stool, so that I, will be the supreme leader of the Asante man. Perhaps, he did not understand the significance of the stool, to the Asante empire, but the mere suggestion, that he, a foreigner, should sit on the golden stool, the very soul of the Asante empire, and the very symbol and identity of the Asante people, living, dead, and yet to be born, was far too disrespectful for the people. Thus, the brave Queen Mother, Yersantawa, arose, and with the help of the remaining chiefs, hid the golden stool away. Hudson then deployed his soldiers, to search for the stool around the kingdom. While the search was ongoing, the Queen Mother, Yersantawa, gathered the remaining Asante leaders, in a secret meeting. She brought them together, so they could find a way, to protect their sacred golden stool, and ensure the return of their exiled king. She wanted to spark a revolt, against the British, but it seemed the spirits of the Asantes, had been broken. Many of the leaders whom she had summoned, were fearful of the consequences, of revolting against the British. But Yersantawa, was a fearless woman. She was bold and brave. Observing the weakness in the men, Yersantawa said in anger, Is it true, that the bravery of Asante is no more? I cannot believe it. It cannot be. I must say this. If you, the men of Asante, will not go, then we will. I shall call upon my fellow women, and we will fight the white men. We will fight, until the last of us falls on the battlefield. How can a proud and brave people like the Asante, sit back, and look, while the white man takes away their king and chief, and humiliates them with a demand for the golden stool? The golden stool only means money to the white man. They have searched and dug everywhere for it. I shall not pay one peg glance to the Governor. If you, the chief of Asante, are going to behave like cowards and not fight, you should exchange your loincloth for my undergarments. With this, Yersantawa, assumed leadership, and by her fearlessness and words, she was able to motivate and assemble, an army of 5000. She commanded the army, to engage the British in a battle, which is known till date, as the war of the golden stool. The Asante warriors, ambushed Hudson's deputy and his forces, and killed a lot of them. Those who survived, escaped, because of a rainstorm that had started. When the British survivors reached the other soldiers, and told them of the uprising, the British soldiers stationed in the Asante kingdom, retreated to Kumasi, which was the major base, for the British colonial officers. In response to the attack, the British officers immediately fortified their base, with high walls, firing turrets, and over 500 armed men. However, the Asante warriors were not dumb. They knew storming the fort, would mean their deaths. So, they laid a long siege, and eventually launched an assault on the base, on the 29th of April, which was unsuccessful. Relentless, the Asante warriors, stealthily surrounded the British. They blocked all the roads leading to the town, intercepted the British food supply, and destroyed their telegraph wires. This was a very frustrating moment, for the British officers. They could not communicate with other regions, and they had no food. Worst of it all, a disease broke out in their base. Eventually, a British rescue party arrived, on the 23rd of June, and helped Hudson, his wife, and a few others, who were not affected by the disease, to escape. During their escape, the Asante warriors chased after them, and killed quite a number of them. It looked like the war had been won, and the Asantes celebrated their successful revolt. However, their victory and freedom, were short-lived. Taking time, to recover from the huge blow, the British waited one whole year, all the while gathering forces, and ammunition. Finally, they launched a heavy attack, on the Asante kingdom. After a fierce battle, they defeated the Asante people, and arrested their leaders, including Ya Asantewa. The arrested leaders, were exiled to Seychelles, for 25 years. Many of them, lived and died in Seychelles, without setting eyes and foot, on their motherland again. The great queen mother, Ya Asantewa, died in exile, in 1921. Three years later, King Prempeh, was released from exile, in 1924, and free to return to his people. By then, the British had formed strong bases, in Ghana. It is not known, how many of the Asante warriors, died in the war of the golden stool. But the British, lost over 1,000 men. For the Asante people, the purpose of the fight, was still achieved. They had secured the golden stool, from the foreigners. And the name of Ya Asantewa, was forever written, in the history of the Asante people, as one of the greatest, and fearless warrior queens, in Africa. She was the gatekeeper, of the golden stool, and she fulfilled her duty diligently. She protected, the golden stool. The stool, was their ancestral divine heritage. And she, and her people, defended it, with their lives, and blood. Till today, the golden stool, remains, in its royal home, in Kumasi, Ghana.