Akani (Arcania)
Great Akan | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16th century–18th century | |||||||||||||||||
| Status | Historical region and trade network | ||||||||||||||||
| Capital | Adansemanso (Adanse) Akrokerri (Adanse) Abankesseo (Denkyira) Assinmanso (Assin) | ||||||||||||||||
| Common languages | Akan languages (Twi, Fante) | ||||||||||||||||
| Religion | Akan religion | ||||||||||||||||
| Demonym | Akan | ||||||||||||||||
| Government | Monarchy (Possibly) Confederation (Possibly) Decentralized City-States (Possibly) Regional Gold-Trading Zone | ||||||||||||||||
| Regional rulers (e.g. Omanhene | |||||||||||||||||
| History | |||||||||||||||||
• First documented in Portuguese sources | 16th century | ||||||||||||||||
• Portuguese diplomatic contact | 1517 (Portuguese diplomatic contact) | ||||||||||||||||
• Internal wars, fractured cohesions, fragmentation, and decline | Mid-17th century | ||||||||||||||||
| ca. 1600–1701 | |||||||||||||||||
• Associated with primarily Assin and later incorporated into the Asante Empire | Late 17th–early 18th century | ||||||||||||||||
• Disestablished | 18th century | ||||||||||||||||
| Currency | Gold dust · Cowrie · Textiles · Iron | ||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
| Today part of | Ghana | ||||||||||||||||
Akani, also known as Arcania, Haccany, Acanny, Accanisten, Acanij or Arcany, refers to a 15th–17th century complex of inland polities in what is now southern Ghana, described in early Portuguese and Dutch sources. The polities were united by shared language, religious beliefs, and gold-based commerce.
"Arcania" is interpreted by historians as a European term for the Akan-speaking gold producers of the Ofin, Pra, and Birim basins. The existence of Akani in European and African sources has led to different interpretations. Some historians describe Akani as a loose trading confederation. Others argue it may once have been a unified inland kingdom that later fragmented into distinct polities under both external and internal pressures.