Great Akan
Great Akan Akanman | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15th century–Late 17th century | |||||||||||||||
| Status | Former kingdom Confederation | ||||||||||||||
| Capital | Possibly Akrokerri (Adansi) | ||||||||||||||
| Common languages | Akan languages Twi dialects | ||||||||||||||
| Religion | Akan religion | ||||||||||||||
| Demonym(s) | Akan | ||||||||||||||
| Government | Confederation of autonomous Akan polities | ||||||||||||||
| Regional rulers (e.g., Adansihene, Omanhene, etc) | |||||||||||||||
| History | |||||||||||||||
• First documented | 15th century | ||||||||||||||
• Portuguese diplomatic contact (1517) | Early 16th century | ||||||||||||||
• Internal wars and decline | Mid-17th century | ||||||||||||||
| ca. 1600–1659 | |||||||||||||||
• Disestablished | Late 17th century | ||||||||||||||
| Currency | Gold dust Cowries Barter (textiles, iron) | ||||||||||||||
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| Today part of | Ghana | ||||||||||||||
Great Akan—also known as the Akan Kingdom, Kingdom of Akkanez, Arcania, Haccany, Accany, Accanisten, Arcany, or the Kingdom of the Akani—refers to a 15th–17th century network of inland polities in what is now southern Ghana, as described in early Portuguese and Dutch sources. United by a common language, religious beliefs, and gold-based trade, these states were among the most powerful and commercially influential in pre-colonial West Africa.
Though not a centralized empire, "Great Akan" (or "Accany") was a term used by European observers to refer to the Akan-speaking gold producers of the Ofin, Pra, and Birim river basins. The confederation encompassed key states such as Adansi, Akyem, Assin, Denkyira, and later the Asante, and played a central role in the trans-Saharan and early Atlantic economies.