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Aban Palace

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Aban
Aban[1][2] in 1874
General information
StatusDestroyed
TypePalace
LocationAshanti Empire
Town or cityKumasi
Completed1822
Destroyed1874
Technical details
Materialstone
Floor count2[3]

The Aban was a stone structure that served as a palace for the Asantehene and played the other function of displaying his craft collection. It was constructed in 1822 as a project of Asantehene Osei Bonsu, with the stones and labor provided by the Dutch at Elmina. The palace was destroyed in 1874 during the British invasion and its remains were used to construct a British fort in the late 19th century.

History

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The Aban Palace was completed in 1822 by Osei Bonsu. According to Wilks, the project was influenced by the British museum. The major sections of the palace served to display the Asantehene's collection of arts and crafts whiles one part housed the wine store.[4] The Aban was situated north in Kumasi.[5] Osei Kwadwo was the first Asantehene to express interest in the construction of a personal residence in the form of a palace.[6] During the war against Gyaman from 1818-19, Osei Bonsu had the interest of constructing a personal residence.[6] In 1817, Thomas Edward Bowdich noted that all the captains were made to provide a significant amount from the public treasury for "adorning or enlarging his house."[7] Bonsu was intrigued with English architecture although his model for the palace followed an intricate design of Ashanti architectural features. In 1820, Joseph Dupuis witnessed the "castle" under construction. According to scholar Prussin, the construction method described by Dupuis followed the Ashanti wattle technology despite the Asantehene's interest to imitate a European model.[6] The Dutch at Elmina provided the stones and labour.[6][8] This labour included the Fante.[9] Osei Bonsu justified the use of this labour force by stating "Asantees are fools at work; they can only fight."[10][9] The building was completed in 1822.[4][9]

In 1841 during a visit to the Aban, Thomas Birch Freeman documented that;

We entered a court yard, ascended a flight of stone steps, and passed through an ante-room into a small hall, in which were tastefully arranged on tables thirty-one gold-handled swords. In the same room were several of the King's calabashes, overlaid with gold, out of which he drinks palm-wine. Passing into another room, we found the King seated in company with Osai Kujoh, and attended by Apoko, and other linguists. On tables in different part of the room various articles manufactured in glass were arranged, such candle-shades, beautifully cut glass tumblers, wine-glasses, etc., time-pieces, covered with glass-shedes, etc.; and almost every piece was decorated with golden ornaments of various descriptions[a]...

— Freeman 1841[4]

Freeman also writes that other structures besides the Aban were made of wood and swish.[6] By the mid 19th century, the building fell into disrepair and Asantehene Kofi Karikari made attempts to renovate.[12] In 1874 amid the British occupation of Kumasi, Winwood Reade of the London Times described the top floor as;

The rooms upstairs remind me of Wardour Street. Each was a perfect Old Curiosity Shop. Books in many languages, Bohemian glass, clocks, silver plate, old furniture, Persian rugs, Kidderminster carpets, pictures and engravings, numberless chests and coffers...With these were many specimens of Moorish and Ashanti handicraft

— Winwood Reade[13]

F. Boyle of the Daily Telegraph called the structure a museum, stating "the museum, for museum it should be called...where the art treasures of the monarchy were stored."[4][14][15] The Aban was destroyed in 1874 following British conquest.[16]

Wilks adds that destruction of the Aban and the sack of Kumasi possibly led to the elimination of Ashanti's Muslim annals on the ruling Oyoko dynasty.[17] The stone remains of the palace were used to construct a British fort in 1896 but it was destroyed in an armed rebelion against the British until another fort was built as a replacement by 1897. The fort survives as the Armed Forces Museum.[18]

Note

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  1. ^ Perrot provides Freeman's description in full.[11]

References

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  1. ^ Perrot (1999), p. 877
  2. ^ Ivor Wilks (1989), p. 206
  3. ^ McCaskie, Tom (August 2014). "Telling the Tale of Osei Bonsu: An Essay on the Making of Asante Oral History". Africa. 84 (3): 353–370. doi:10.1017/S0001972014000394. ISSN 0001-9720. JSTOR 24525557. S2CID 146791145.
  4. ^ a b c d Ivor Wilks (1989), pp. 200–1
  5. ^ Ivor Wilks (1989), pp. 376–377
  6. ^ a b c d e Prussin (1980), p. 80
  7. ^ Ivor Wilks (1989), pp. 375
  8. ^ Yarak, Larry W. (1986). "Elmina and Greater Asante in the Nineteenth Century". Africa: Journal of the International African Institute. 56 (1): 33–52 (p.41). doi:10.2307/1159732. JSTOR 1159732. S2CID 145319843.
  9. ^ a b c Perrot (1999), p. 876
  10. ^ Prussin (1980), p. 81
  11. ^ Perrot (1999), p. 879
  12. ^ McCaskie, T.C. (1972). "Innovational Eclecticism: The Asante Empire and Europe in the Nineteenth Century". Comparative Studies in Society and History. 14 (1): 30–45 (p.41). doi:10.1017/S0010417500006484. JSTOR 178058. S2CID 145080813.
  13. ^ Ivor Wilks (1989), p. 201
  14. ^ Perrot (1999), p. 880
  15. ^ Nafziger, James A.R.; Nicgorski, Ann M. (2009). Cultural Heritage Issues: The Legacy of Conquest, Colonization and Commerce. Brill Publishers. p. 220. ISBN 9789004189928.
  16. ^ Perrot (1999), p. 881–3
  17. ^ Ivor Wilks (1989), p. 345
  18. ^ Hess, Janet Berry (2003). "Imagining Architecture II: "Treasure Storehouses" and Constructions of Asante Regional Hegemony". Africa Today. 50 (1): 27–48. doi:10.2979/AFT.2003.50.1.26. JSTOR 4187550. S2CID 144689165.

Bibliography

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