Bono state
Bonoman | |||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| c. 11th century–1723 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Capital | Bono Manso | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Common languages | Bono Twi | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Religion | Bono Ancestral worship and spirituality | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Government | Monarchy | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonohene | |||||||||||||||||||||
| History | |||||||||||||||||||||
• Foundation | c. 11th century | ||||||||||||||||||||
• Conquered by the Asante Empire | 1723 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Currency | Gold dust, cowries and (Salt, copper) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||
| Today part of | Ghana
Ivory Coast | ||||||||||||||||||||
Bono State (or Bonoman) was a trading state created by the Bono people, located in what is now southern Ghana. Bonoman was a medieval Akan state that stretched across the modern Ghanaian regions of Bono, Bono East and Ahafo (respectively named after the Bono and Ahafo peoples) and the Eastern Ivory Coast.[1] It was likely the origin of many subgroups of the Akan people who migrated out of the state at various times, founding new Akan states elsewhere.[citation needed] The mining and trade in gold, which started to boom in Bonoman in the 15th century, led to an increased power and wealth in the region.[2]
History
[edit]Origin
[edit]While some theorists have linked the origin of the Akan people of Bonoman to a southward migration from the Ghana Empire or broader Sahel region, recent archaeological and linguistic evidence points to their long-term residence in modern-day Ghana and Cote d'Ivoire.[3] Bono origin myths have them emerging from a hole in the ground near modern-day Wenchi.[4]
Archaeological evidence reveals iron working industrial sites at early ages. Excavations at Begho (also known as Bɛw or Nsoko), a key site later central to Bono civilization, have revealed material culture dating back to the 8th century BCE. Early remains include red-slipped and burnished pottery, grinding stones, swish-walled dwellings constructed using wattle-and-daub techniques, and iron-smelting furnaces with slag. These findings reflect a proto-urban society engaged in farming, craft production, metallurgy, and regional exchange. The earliest settlements were typically arranged in dispersed clusters and located near sacred groves, caves, or inselbergs—echoing oral history where the early settlers took shelters. This early phase provided the technological and cultural foundation for the rise of Bonoman.[5]
Rise of the State
[edit]Bonoman was one of the earliest centralized Akan states to emerge in the forest–savanna transition zone of what is now the Bono Region of Ghana, with its capital at Bono Manso. Archaeological and oral historical evidence suggest that the state began forming by the 13th century, earlier than the 15th-century estimate cited in some older scholarship.[6][7]
The rise of Bonoman was largely driven by the organization of gold mining activities and the control of trade routes that linked the Akan forest zone to the Sahel and Middle Niger regions. The nearby commercial town of Begho (Nsɔkɔ) played a crucial role as a trade terminus, facilitating the exchange of gold for northern goods such as salt, cloth, and beads, through networks frequented by Wangara(Dyula) traders .[8][9]
Fall of Bonoman
[edit]The decline of Bonoman coincided with the migration of various subgroups of Akans throughout the region and their founding of other states. Several factors contributed to this fragmentation, including leadership disputes, tensions over taxation, and the lack of direct access to coastal trade along the Gold Coast, where emerging southern states gained influence through commerce.[10][11][12] The Asante Empire, under the leadership of Opoku Ware, launched a series of military campaigns that culminated in the subjugation of Bono Manso around 1722–1723.[2][13]
Bono Urban Centers
[edit]Settlements such as Bono Manso, Techiman, and Begho exhibited organized town planning, sacred architecture, and advanced iron-working industries. Archaeological research dates these towns to at least 400 CE, with evidence of iron smelting appearing as early as 100 CE in parts of Begho and 300 CE in Abam. The Amowi rock shelter, another sacred Bono site, was inhabited before 400 CE, further affirming the region’s long-standing habitation and spiritual significance.[14]
Based on excavations, carbon datings and local oral traditions, Effah-Gyamfi (1985) postulated three distinct urban phases: in the early phase (thirteenth to the fifteenth century) the urban center was relatively small, and the towns were populated by thousands of people, not all living in the urban center. Buildings were made of daubed wattle. Painted pottery of this period was found distributed within a radius of 3.3 km.
In the second phase, the 16th to the 17th century, the urban centers were larger, consisting mainly of evenly distributed houses and a nuclear market center. Many indications of participation in long-distance trade, such as imported glass beads and mica coated pottery, stem from this period.[15][10]
Bono Manso
[edit]Bono Manso (literally "on the state of Bono") sometimes known as Bono Manso or Mansu was a trading area in the medieval state of Bonoman, and a major trading centre in what is now predominantly Bono East region. Located just south of the Black Volta river at the transitional zone between savanna and forest, the town was frequented by caravans from Djenné and Timbuktu as part of the Trans-Saharan trade. Goods traded included kola nuts, salt, leather, and gold; gold was the most important trading good of the area, starting in the mid-14th century.[10][11][12][15]
Begho
[edit]Begho (also Bighu or Bitu; called Bew and Nsokɔ by the Akan)[16] was a medieval trading town located just south of the Black Volta at the transitional zone between the forest and savanna north-western Brong-Ahafo. The town, like Bono-Manso, was of considerable importance as an entrepot frequented by northern caravans from Mali Empire from around 1100 AD. Goods traded included ivory, salt, leather, gold, kola nuts, cloth, and copper alloys.[11][17]
Excavations have laid bare walled structures dated between 1350 and 1750 AD, as well as pottery of all kinds, smoking pipes, and evidence of iron smelting. With a probable population of over 10 000, Begho was one of the largest towns in the southern part of West Africa at the time of the arrival of the Portuguese in 1471.[17] Begho was likely the site of a Bono royal palace.[18]
The Malian king occupied Bighu in the mid-sixteenth century as a "perceived failure of the Bighu Juula to maintain supplies of gold," according to Bakewell. "As a result of the occupation of Bighu it seems clear that the Malian king gained access for a time to that part of the Akan gold trade which the Wangara were able to control."[19]18,30–31
Bonduku
[edit]Bonduku was another trading center within the empire of Bonoman. It gave birth to the state of Gyaman also spelled Jamang Kingdom which was particularly famous for the production of cotton. The state existed from 1450 to 1895 and was located in what is now Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire.[11][12]
Influence on Akan Culture
[edit]| Akan people |
|---|
 |
Various aspects of Akan culture originate from the Bono state, including the umbrella used for the kings, the swords of the nation, stools, goldsmithing, blacksmithing, Kente Cloth weaving, the famous Adinkra Symbols, goldweighing, among others.[3][11][12] The modern non-sovereign monarchy of Takyiman is descended from Bono.[20]
Misconceptions and Controversies
[edit]See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Anquandah, James (2002). "Ghana: early towns & the development of urban culture: an archaeological view". In Adande, Alexis B. A.; Arinze, Emmanuel (eds.). Museums & urban culture in West Africa. Oxford: James Currey. pp. 9–16. ISBN 0-85255-276-9.
- ^ a b "Bono". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 22 April 2025.
- ^ a b Dummett, Raymond E. (2005). "Akan and Asante: Farmers, Traders, and the Emergence of Akan States". In Shillington, Kevin (ed.). Encyclopedia of African History. New York: Fitzroy Dearborn. p. 31-33.
- ^ Anquandah 2013, p. 8.
- ^ Konadu, Kwasi (2016). The Ghana Reader: History, Culture, Politics. Duke University Press. pp. 32–34. ISBN 9780822359845.; Posnansky, Merrick (1979). "Archaeology and Early Settlement" in Arhin, Kwame (ed.) A Profile of Brong Kyempim. Afram Publications (Ghana) Ltd., pp. 23–30
- ^ Effah-Gyamfi, E. “Aspects of the Archaeology and Oral Traditions of the Bono State.” Transactions of the Historical Society of Ghana, vol. 15, no. 2, 1974, pp. 217–227. JSTOR, https://www.jstor.org/stable/41406570. Accessed 23 Apr. 2025.
- ^ Konadu, Kwasi. The Akan Diaspora in the Americas. Oxford University Press, 2010, pp. 34–36.
- ^ Posnansky, Merrick. “Begho: Life and Times.” Journal of West African History, vol. 1, no. 2, 2015, pp. 95–118. JSTOR, https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.14321/jwestafrihist.1.2.0095. Accessed 23 Apr. 2025.
- ^ Warren, Dennis M. “The Use and Misuse of Ethnohistorical Data in the Reconstruction of Techiman-Bono (Ghana) History.” Ethnohistory, vol. 23, no. 4, 1976, pp. 365–385. JSTOR, https://www.jstor.org/stable/481652. Accessed 23 Apr. 2025.
- ^ a b c Effah-Gyamfi, Kwaku (1987). "Archaeology and the study of early African towns: the West African case, especially Ghana". West African Journal of Archaeology. 17: 229–241.
- ^ a b c d e Crossland 1989.
- ^ a b c d Effah-Gyamfi 1985.
- ^ Arhin, Kwame (1979). A Profile of Brong Kyempim: Essays on the Archaeology, History, Language and Politics of the Brong Peoples of Ghana. Afram Publications (Ghana) Ltd., pp. 11–12.
- ^ Konadu, Kwasi (2016). The Ghana Reader: History, Culture, Politics. Duke University Press. pp. 32–34. ISBN 9780822359845.
- ^ a b Meyerowitz, Eva L.R. (1949), "Bono-Mansu, the earliest centre of civilisation in the Gold Coast", Proceedings of the III International West African Conference, 118–120.
- ^ Kwasi Konadu, The Akan Diaspora in the Americas (Oxford University Press, 2010; ISBN 0199889279), p. 51.
- ^ a b Goody, Jack (1964). "The Mande and the Akan Hinterland". In Vansina, J.; Mauny, R.; Thomas, L. V. (eds.). The Historian in Tropical Africa. London: Oxford University. pp. 192–218.
- ^ Anquandah 2013, p. 11.
- ^ Effah-Gyamfi, Kwaku (1979), Traditional history of the Bono State Legon: Institute of African Studies, University of Ghana.
- ^ Effah-Gyamfi 1974, p. 217.
Sources
[edit]- Anquandah, James (2013). "The People of Ghana: Their Origins and Cultures". Transactions of the Historical Society of Ghana (15): 1–25. ISSN 0855-3246.
- Crossland, L. B. (1989). Pottery from the Begho-B2 site, Ghana. African occasional papers. Vol. 4. Calgary: University of Calgary Press. ISBN 0-919813-84-4.
- Effah-Gyamfi, Kwaku (1985). "Bono Manso: an archaeological investigation into early Akan urbanism". African occasional papers. Vol. 2. Calgary: University of Calgary Press. ISBN 0-919813-27-5.
- Effah-Gyamfi, E. (1974). "Aspects of the Archaeology and Traditions of the Bono State". Transactions of the Historical Society of Ghana. 15 (2). Retrieved 22 April 2025.
Further reading
[edit]- Insoll, Timothy (2003). The Archaeology of Islam in Sub-Saharan Africa. New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-65702-4.
- Effah-Gyamfi, Kwaku (1979), Traditional history of the Bono State Legon: Institute of African Studies, University of Ghana.
- Meyerowitz, Eva L.R. (1949), "Bono-Mansu, the earliest centre of civilisation in the Gold Coast", Proceedings of the III International West African Conference, 118–120.
