Benin Togo Nigeria and Ghana area
The Volta–Niger family of languages, also known as West Benue–Congo or East Kwa, is one of the branches of the Niger–Congo language family, with perhaps 50 million speakers. Among these are the most important languages of southern Nigeria, Benin, Togo, and southeast Ghana: Yoruba, Igbo, Bini, Fon, and Ewe.
|West Africa, from Eastern Ghana to central Nigeria|
Some important branches of the Volta–Niger and Benue–Congo families are concentrated in Nigeria, Cameroon, and Benin.
These languages have variously been placed within the Kwa or Benue–Congo families, but Williamson & Blench (2000) separate them from both. The boundaries between the various branches of Volta–Niger are rather vague, suggesting diversification of a dialect continuum rather than a clear split of families, which suggest a close origin
The constituent groups of the Volta–Niger family, along with the most important languages in terms of number of speakers, are as follows (with number of languages for each branch in parentheses):
The Yoruboid languages and Akoko were once linked as the Defoid branch, but more recently they, Edoid, and Igboid have been suggested to be primary branches of an as-yet unnamed group, often abbreviated yeai. Similarly, Oko, Nupoid, and Idomoid are often grouped together under the acronym noi. Ukaan is an Atlantic–Congo language, but it is unclear if it belongs to the Volta–Niger family; Blench suspects it is closer to Benue–Congo.
To be continued
Historically some of the original Jews residing in Spain were sent to Sao Tome. Here is the ancestry DNA of one of these descendants
Above is a quote from the article click the below link for the full post which I recommend. I will be compiling my own research on the above matter and my previous post Reclaiming the African in My African American Ethnicity — Ariana Fiorello-Omotosho The previous post is of a African descendant brought to the New world in slavery from Nigeria and Cameroon. The analysis of her DNA by a professional company traces her genealogy to one of 2 places (I would personally say both places) Egypt or Palestine. If you have read my post on my Akan and Igbo ancestors you will be aware that I also have a DNA match cousin who’s ancestry was tracing back to Egypt and Saudi Arabia rather than palestine 1000-2000 years ago.
Click below for the full post (The article is mind blowing and needs to be read more than once to be truly absorbed in my opinion)
As I continue to question my identity, I try to place myself in the context of my ethnic backgrounds and my biological race. I know who I am. I understand some of the reasons as to why I am me. I have done extensive research into the hiSTORIES of my ancestors, both biological and adoptive. […]
average height is unusually short. Anthropologists[who?] have used the term pygmyism to describe the phenotype of endemic short stature (as opposed to disproportionate dwarfismoccurring in isolated cases in a population) for populations in which adult men are on average less than 150 cm (4 ft 11 in) tall.
The term is primarily associated with the African Pygmies, thehunter-gatherers of the Congo basin (comprising theBambenga, Bambuti and Batwa). The term “pygmoid” is a traditional morphological racial category for the Central African Pygmies, considered a subgroup of the Negroid category. The term “Asiatic Pygmies” has been used of the Negrito populations of Maritime Southeast Asia and other Australoid peoples of short stature.
The term pygmy, as used to refer to diminutive people, derives from Greek πυγμαῖος pygmaios via Latin Pygmaei (sing.Pygmaeus), derived from πυγμή – meaning a fist, or a measure of length corresponding to the distance between the elbow and knuckles. (See also Greek pechus.) In Greek mythology the word describes a tribe of dwarfs, first described by Homer, the ancient Greek poet, and reputed to live in India and south of modern-dayEthiopia.
The term pygmy is sometimes considered pejorative. However, there is no single term to replace it. Many prefer to be identified by their ethnicity, such as the Aka (Mbenga), Baka, Mbuti, andTwa. The term Bayaka, the plural form of the Aka/Yaka, is sometimes used in the Central African Republic to refer to all local pygmies. Likewise, the Kongo word Bambenga is used inCongo.
Various theories have been proposed to explain the short stature of pygmies. Some studies suggest that it could be related to adaptation to low ultraviolet light levels in rainforests. This might mean that relatively little vitamin D can be made in human skin, thereby limiting calciumuptake from the diet for bone growth and maintenance, and leading to the evolution of the small skeletal size.
Other explanations include lack of food in the rainforest environment, low calcium levels in the soil, the need to move through dense jungle, adaptation to heat and humidity, and as an association with rapid reproductive maturation under conditions of early mortality. (See alsoAeta people § Demographics.) Other evidence points towards unusually low levels of expression of the genes encoding the growth hormone receptor and growth hormone compared to the related tribal groups, associated with low serum levels of insulin-like growth factor-1 and short stature.
African pygmies live in several ethnic groups in Rwanda,Burundi, Uganda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the Republic of Congo (ROC), the Central African Republic,Cameroon, the Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Angola, Botswana,Namibia, Madagascar, and Zambia. There are at least a dozen pygmy groups, sometimes unrelated to each other. The best known are the Mbenga (Aka and Baka) of the westernCongo basin, who speak Bantu and Ubangian languages; theMbuti (Efe etc.) of the Ituri Rainforest, who speak Bantu andCentral Sudanic languages, and the Twa of the African Great Lakes, who speak Bantu Rundi and Kiga. Most pygmy communities are partially hunter-gatherers, living partially but not exclusively on the wild products of their environment. They trade with neighbouring farmers to acquire cultivated foods and other material items; no group lives deep in the forest without access to agricultural products. It is estimated that there are between 250,000 and 600,000 Pygmies living in the Congo rainforest. However, although Pygmies are thought of as forest people, the groups called Twa may live in open swamp or desert.
A commonly held belief is that African Pygmies are the direct descendants of Late Stone Age hunter-gatherer peoples of the central African rainforest, who were partially absorbed or displaced by later immigration of agricultural peoples, and adopted their Central Sudanic, Ubangian, andBantu languages. This view has no archaeological support, and ambiguous support from genetics and linguistics.[dubious ]
Some 30% of Aka language is not Bantu, and a similar percentage of Baka language is not Ubangian. Much of pygmy vocabulary is botanical, dealing with honey collecting, or is otherwise specialized for the forest, and is shared between the two western pygmy groups. It has been proposed that this is the remnant of an independent western pygmy (Mbenga or “Baaka”) language. However, this type of vocabulary is subject to widespread borrowing among the Pygmies and neighboring peoples, and the “Baaka” language was only reconstructed to the 15th century.
African pygmy populations are genetically diverse and extremely divergent from all other human populations, suggesting they have an ancient indigenous lineage. Their uniparental markersrepresent the second-most ancient divergence right after those typically found in Khoisanpeoples. Recent advances in genetics shed some light on the origins of the various pygmy groups. Researchers found “an early divergence of the ancestors of pygmy hunter–gatherers and farming populations 60,000 years ago, followed by a split of the Pygmies’ ancestors into the Western and Eastern pygmy groups 20,000 years ago.”
New evidence suggests East and West African pygmy children have different growth patterns. The difference between the two groups may indicate the Pygmies’ short stature did not start with their common ancestor, but instead evolved independently in adapting to similar environments, which adds support that some sets of genes related to height were advantageous in Eastern pygmy populations, but not in Western pygmy populations.
However, Roger Blench (1999) argues that the Pygmies are not descended from residual hunter-gatherer groups, but rather are offshoots of larger neighboring ethnolinguistic groups that had adopted forest subsistence strategies. Blench notes the lack of clear linguistic and archaeological evidence for the antiquity of pygmy cultures and peoples, and also notes that the genetic evidence can be problematic. Blench (1999) also notes that there is no evidence of the Pygmies have hunting technology distinctive from that of their neighbors, and argues that the short stature of pygmy populations can arise relatively quickly (in less than a few millenia) due to strong selection pressures.
The African Pygmies are particularly known for their usually vocal music, usually characterised by dense contrapuntal communal improvisation. Simha Arom says that the level of polyphonic complexity of pygmy music was reached in Europe in the 14th century, yet pygmy culture is unwritten and ancient. Music permeates daily life and there are songs for entertainment as well as specific events and activities.
The pygmy population was a target of the Interahamwe during the 1994 Rwandan Genocide. Of the 30,000 Pygmies in Rwanda, an estimated 10,000 were killed and another 10,000 were displaced. They have been described as “forgotten victims” of the genocide.
From the end of 2002 through January 2003 around 60,000 pygmy civilians and 10,000 combatants were killed in an extermination campaign known as “Effacer le Tableau” during theSecond Congo War. Human rights activists have made demands for the massacre to be recognized as genocide.
In the Republic of the Congo, where Pygmies make up 2% of the population, many Pygmies live asslaves to Bantu masters. The nation is deeply stratified between these two major ethnic groups. The pygmy slaves belong to their Bantu masters from birth in a relationship that the Bantus call a time-honored tradition. Even though the Pygmies are responsible for much of the hunting, fishing and manual labor in jungle villages, Pygmies and Bantus alike say that Pygmies are often paid at the master’s whim: in cigarettes, used clothing, or simply not paid at all. As a result of pressure from UNICEF and human-rights activists, in 2009, a law that would grant special protections to the pygmy people was awaiting a vote by the Congo parliament. According to reports made in 2013, this law was never passed.
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, during the Ituri Conflict, Ugandan backed rebel groups were accused by the UN of enslaving Mbutis to prospect for minerals and forage for forest food, with those returning empty handed being killed and eaten.
In Northern Katanga Province starting in 2013, the pygmy Batwa people, whom the Luba peopleoften exploit and allegedly enslave, rose up into militias, such as the “Perci” militia, and attacked Luba villages. A Luba militia known as “Elements” attacked back. More than a thousand people were killed in the first eight months of 2014 alone with the number of displaced people estimated to be 650,000 as of December 2017. The weapons used in the conflict are often arrows and axes, rather than guns.
Historically, the pygmy have always been viewed as inferior by both colonial authorities and the village-dwelling Bantu tribes. Pygmy children were sometimes captured during the period of the Congo Free State, which exported pygmy children to zoos throughout Europe, including the world’s fair in the United States in 1907. Pygmies are often evicted from their land and given the lowest paying jobs. At a state level, Pygmies are sometimes not considered citizens and are refused identity cards, deeds to land, health care and proper schooling. The Lancet published a review showing that pygmy populations often had worse access to health care than neighboring communities.
Negritos in Southeast Asia (including the Batak and Aeta of thePhilippines, the Andamanese of the Andaman Islands, and the Semangof the Malay Peninsula) are sometimes called pygmies (especially in older literature).
Negritos share some common physical features with African pygmy populations, including short stature and dark skin. The name “Negrito”, from the Spanish adjective meaning “small black person”, was given by early explorers.
The explorers who named the Negritos assumed the Andamanese they encountered were from Africa. This belief was, however, discarded by anthropologists who noted that apart from dark skin, peppercorn hair, and steatopygia, the Andamanese had little in common with any African population, including the African pygmies. Their superficial resemblance to some Africans andMelanesians is thought to be due to living in a similar environment, or simply retentions of the initial human form.
Their origin and the route of their migration to Asia is still a matter of great speculation. They are genetically distant from Africans, and have been shown to have separated early from Asians, suggesting that they are either surviving descendants of settlers from the early out-of-Africa migration of the Great Coastal Migration of the Proto-Australoids, or that they are descendants of one of the founder populations of modern humans.
Short-statured aboriginal tribes inhabited the rainforests of North Queensland, Australia, of which the best known group is probably the Tjapukai or Djabugay people of the Cairns area. These rainforest people, collectively referred to as Barrineans, were once considered to be a relict of the earliest wave of migration to the Australian continent, but this theory no longer finds much favour. These Rainforest People tended to live in the first variety of Jykabita, a wood and mud structure renowned for incubation of plants.
An anthropologist, Norman Gabel, mentions that rumours exist of pygmy people in the interior mountains of Viti Levu in Fiji, but explains he had no evidence of their existence. Another anthropologist, E.W. Gifford, reiterates Gabel’s statement and claims that tribes of pygmies in the closest proximity to Fiji would most likely be found in Vanuatu.
During the 1900s when Vanuatu was known as New Hebrides, sizable pygmy tribes were first reported throughout northeastern Santo. It is likely that they are not limited to this region of New Hebrides. Nonetheless, there is no anthropological evidence linking pygmies to other islands of Vanuatu.
Frank Kingdon-Ward in the early 20th century, Alan Rabinowitz in the 1990s, P. Christiaan Klieger in 2003, and others have reported a tribe of pygmy Tibeto-Burman speakers known as the T’runginhabiting the remote region of Mt. Hkakabo Razi in Southeast Asia on the border of China(Yunnan and Tibet), Burma, and India. A Burmese survey done in the 1960s reported a mean height of an adult male T’rung at 1.43 m (4’6″) and that of females at 1.40 m (4’5″).
These are the only known “pygmies” of clearly East Asian descent. The cause of their diminutive size is unknown, but diet and endogamous marriage practices have been cited. The population of T’rung pygmies has been steadily shrinking, and is now down to only a few individuals.
See also this post extract below
Do you know that the Akans knew Yahwe before the “so-called” introduction of Christianity in Ghana? In fact the Akans called Saturday by the very name of Jehovah? Akans called Saturday Memeneda. Me means “I”, Ne means “Am”, Da means “Day”. Thus Memeneda wits “I, I am day”. Isaiah 43:25 and countless quotations in the Bible refer to God as “I, I am” which is Yahwe in Hebrew or Jehovah in English. Infact Akans called God “Kwame”. Kwame is the name of a saturday male born among Akans. the name Kwame is Kwadaa Nyame (shortened Kwame) thus Child of Almighty God. Akans know Saturday to be the day of the Almighty God.
Thursday in Akan is Yawooda. The first two letters is Ya (h) which is the name of God (Yahwe or Jehovah). In akan “H” is sometimes remove if it comes after “A”. for example my name is Yeboah with H, it can also be spelt as Yeboa without the H. Thus Yah is sometimes written as Ya. thus Yawooda is sometimes written as Yahwooda. In fact many people use the second spelling in akan more than the first. the Second three letters WOO means born, or birth. the DA means day. Thus the name Yahwooda is translated into English as “Birth day of Yah” or “the day that Yah was born”. Does this ring the bell that Jesus Christ (who is Yah in Human form” might have been born on Thursday?
Akans named the days of the week after events. for example, “Tuesday” in Akan is “Ebenada”. Ebena in Ashanti/akan means “Lamentation, lament, crying, or cry”. I have already explain that da in english is day. Thus Ebenada means day of lamentation. Compare the state of Ashanti today and lamentation 1.
If you have seen my first post you know that I dealt with a lot of information both historical and oral traditions and biblical definitions of the Jamaican slaves. I also covered the oral stories of Hebrews in Africa.
For those who want to read the story of what I found when I took the steps back to retrieve my ancestors past. See the link below.
In this post I am going to look at who my African relatives were in Africa. I am going to look at the family names and places of residence. I am also going to explore West African history. This post will focus on Africa which has to include the middle east which really is North East Africa. We will look at the migration from Israel towards the end of this post. Ancestry DNA have also updated their information and I will be using my updated analysis to find out which tribes I am connected to.
Below is a list of surnames of DNA matched distant cousins
Olugbala which is a Nigerian Yoruba surname.
From the above DNA matches my genetic ties are with the Igbo, Yoruba, Ashanti and Ga.
Regions: Benin/Togo, Cameroon/Congo, Ivory Coast/Ghana, Ireland
Trace Regions: Africa Southeastern Bantu, Senegal, Nigeria, Europe West, Africa South-Central Hunter-Gatherers, Great Britain, Finland/Northwest Russia,
Here is my breakdown below which points at Akan Esan and Yoruba Hausa and Igbo tribal ancestry for me
Using 1 population approximation:
1 Gambian @ 4.575696
2 Esan @ 7.768073
3 Yoruba @ 7.768073
4 Mota @ 12.071078
5 Hadza @ 13.417694
6 Masai @ 25.794815
7 Somali @ 46.685955
8 Moroccan @ 80.260406
9 Saharawi @ 81.614891
10 Algerian @ 83.698547
11 Yemeni @ 89.642319
12 Libyan @ 90.041283
13 Egyptian @ 93.023880
14 GoyetQ116 @ 97.088066
15 BedouinA @ 98.755363
16 Jordanian @ 101.344734
17 Syrian @ 102.231903
18 Palestinian @ 102.558189
19 Steppe_IA @ 104.329994
20 Jew_Libyan @ 104.358345
Admix Results (sorted):
Single Population Sharing:
Mixed Mode Population Sharing:
|#||Primary Population (source)||Secondary Population (source)||Distance|
Cameroon, Congo, and Southern Bantu Peoples34%
England, Wales & Northwestern Europe5%
|West African 90%||Lower Niger Valley 74%|
|Senegal River Valley 12%|
|West Eurasian 7.8%||Balkan 5.2%|
|Northwest European 2.6%|
Includes: Yoruba and Esan in Nigeria and Yoruba in (Nigeria) Ibadan
Includes: Mandenka in Senegal and Gambian in Western Gambia
Includes: Mende Sierra_Leone_MSL and Mende in Sierra Leone
Includes: Scottish Argyll_Bute_GBR and British in England; Icelandic in Iceland; Norwegian in Norway and Orcadian in Orkney Islands
My Raw DNA
Admix Results (sorted):
I decided to explore the possible Saudi Arabia and Yemen connections a little further.
Kuwaiti native population comprises three distinct genetic subgroups of Persian, “city-dwelling” Saudi Arabian tribe, and nomadic “tent-dwelling” Bedouin ancestry. Bedouin subgroup is characterized by presence of 17% African ancestry; it owes it origin to nomadic tribes of the deserts of Arabian Peninsula and North Africa.
Bedouins are “tent-dwelling” nomads who roamed the deserts of Middle East; they epitomize the best adaptation of human life to desert conditions . In much of the Middle East and North Africa, the term Bedouin is used to descriptively differentiate between those (bedu) whose livelihood is based on raising livestock by mainly natural graze and those (hadar) who have an agricultural or urban base . Bedouins are originally desert-dwelling tribes of the Arabian Peninsula and are particularly descendants of (i) those settled in the southwestern Arabia, in the mountains of Yemen; and (ii) those settled in North-Central Arabia. Bedouins started to spread out to surrounding deserts of Middle East (particularly Arabian and Syrian deserts) and North Africa (particularly Sinai Peninsula of Egypt and the Sahara Desert of North Africa)
The mitochondrial haplogroup (indication of maternal ancestry) of the Bedouin participant is determined as L3d1a1a [L3d], that is predominantly seen in West-Central Africa—among the Fulani , Chadians , Ethiopians , Akan people , Mozambique , and Yemen . Kivisild et al.
the above extract clearly states that this particular participant is Bedouin and related to the Akan and Fulani. Further research has shown that there are middle eastern people’s who share Ghanaian and Nigerian ancestry generations back. When the first African nomads migrated they went to the East.
Now let’s explore this high ancient asian connection
The region of Palestine is among the earliest sites of human habitation in the world. Archaeological evidence suggests a hunter-gatherer community living a nomadic existence in the region pre-10,000 BCE. In the Early Bronze Age, permanent settlements were founded and agricultural communities developed. Trade was initiated with other regions in the Near East and, because of its location between the cities of Mesopotamia and those of Arabia and Egypt, Palestine became an important trading hub and attracted the attention of Sargon the Great (2334-2279 BCE)
A study found that the Palestinians, like Jordanians, Syrians, Iraqis, Turks, and Kurds have what appears to be Female-Mediated gene flow in the form of Maternal DNA Haplogroups from Sub-Saharan Africa. Of the 117 Palestinian individuals tested, 15 carried maternal haplogroups that originated in Sub-Saharan Africa. These results are consistent with female migration from eastern Africa into Near Eastern communities within the last few thousand years. There have been many opportunities for such migrations during this period. However, the most likely explanation for the presence of predominantly female lineages of African origin in these areas is that they may trace back to women brought from Africa as part of the Arab slave trade, assimilated into the areas under Arab rule.
Geophysically, Yoruba land spreads north from the Gulf of Guinea and west from the Niger River into Benin and Togo; In the northern section, Yorubaland begins in the suburbs just west of Lokoja and continues unbroken up to the Ogou tributary of the Mono River in Togo, a distance of around 610 km. In the south, it begins in an area just west of the Benin river occupied by the Ilaje Yorubas and continues uninterrupted up to Porto Novo, a total distance of about 270 km as the crow flies. West of Porto Novo Gbe speakers begin to predominate.
The Southern part of Nigeria is Biafra. Biafra borders Cameroon. My DNA shows high Benin/ Togo and Cameroon/Congo
Biafra was once in modern day Cameroon.
The Bight of Benin was the Slave Coast. You can see Dahomey and Benin in the map below with Cameroon as it’s neighbour.
Most of the slaves of Bight of Benin that hailed from Benin itself were imported to South Carolina (36%), Virginia (23%), Gulf Coast (28%) and Florida (9,8%). The top three picked up a few thousand slaves of this Straits (Florida only received 698 slaves from Bight of Benin). Many of those slaves were imported to Louisiana and Alabama (where was famous the case of Clotilde slave ship, that exported between 110 and 160 slaves from Dahomey to Mobile in 1859, between them to Cudjo Lewis (ca. 1840 – 1935), considered the last person born on African soil to have been enslaved in the United States when slavery was still lawful), both belonging to the Gulf Coast. It was in Louisiana where her presence was notable. Indeed, between 1719 and 1731, most of the slaves who came to that place came directly from Benin. They were especially Fon, but many slaves also were of ethnics such as Nago (Yoruba subgroup, although exported mainly by Spanish, when the Louisiana was Spanish) -, Ewe, and Gen. Many of the slaves imported to the modern United States since Benin were sold by the King of Dahomey, in Whydah. [note 1] However, not all the slaves sold in day-present Benin were of there: Many were of other places, but were captured by Dahomeyan warriors. The native slaves from current Benin came from places as Porto-Novo, from where were brought to the port of Ouidah, place in the that was realized the slave shopping. This place brought many slaves
This area is highlighted in my DNA. See my region results of that area below.
The Kingdom of Whydah /ˈhwɪdə, ˈhwɪdˌɔː/ (Yoruba: Xwéda; French: Ouidah) was a kingdom on the coast of West Africa in the boundaries of the modern nation of Benin. Between 1677 and 1681 it was conquered by the Akwamu, one of the Akan people. It was a major slave trading post. In 1700, it had a coastline of around 16 kilometres (10 mi); under King Haffon, this was expanded to 64 km (40 mi), and stretching 40 km (25 mi) inland.
The name Whydah (also spelt Hueda, Whidah, Ouidah, Whidaw, and Juda) is an anglicised form of Xwéda (pronounced o-wi-dah), from the Yoruba language of Benin. Today the port city of Ouidah bears the kingdom’s name; it is in the far west of the former Popo Kingdom and is where most of the European slave traders lived and worked.
Whidah is also spelt Juda (spoken as Jew-dah/ Yahudah) see the below for historical evidence.
(Scholars state whydah is a bird but I propose another meaning to the name)
See strongs 3063
wî·hū·ḏāh = Juda
wî·hū·ḏāh — 47 Occurre nces
See strongs 5912
ACHAN a’-kan (`akhan (in 1 Chronicles 2:7 Achar, `akhar, “troubler”): The descendant of Zerah the son of Judah.
Travelling North from Congo you have Guinea Gabon Cameroon Biafra Benin Nigeria Togo Ghana which brings you to the Gold and Slave Coast.
Members’ cultural, linguistic, and in certain cases, ancestral origins trace back to the Kingdom of Dʿmt (usually vocalized Diʿamat) and the Kingdom of Aksum. Scholars have classified the Amhara and the Tigreans as Abyssinians proper. The Ge’ez speaking people, minimally affected by Sabaean influence, formed the ethnic and cultural stock for both the pre-Axumite and Axumite states. Ge’ez, which is closely related to Tigrinyaand Tigre, is also believed to be the ancestor of the diverse southern Ethiopian Semitic languages including Amharic. Together, the Amhara and Tigray constitute over 33% of Ethiopia‘s population (c. 27 million Amhara, 6.1 million Tigray).
FANTE people above
Regions: Ivory Coast/Ghana, Cameroon/Congo,
Trace Regions: Benin/Togo,
Immediately above in bold my Ghanian cousins DNA whose surname is an Ashanti Akan surname. From the 2 DNA matches above I can see that in my Father’s family line is Ivory Coast/Ghana & Benin/Togo.
GHANAIAN DNA sample below
See the below brief history
The GaDangmes of Ghana are believed to be related by blood to the Igbos of Nigeria. However, in his book, GA HOMOWO, Charles Nii Ammah (1982) stated that according to oral tradition, the Ga believe they migrated from Israel. Ammah suggested that the Ga people are descendants of Cush (Benjamin) from the twelfth tribe of Israel. He contends that the Ga people were really ‘JEWS’ who migrated from “Egypt” and settled on the land they now occupy.
King Ayi Kushi: the Revered Spiritual and Political Leader.
Ayi Kushi was a revered political and spiritual ruler who is credited with the formation of the Gá State. His son, Ayitey, is said to have marched with the Gá, Dangmes, Obutus, and Awutus to establish the inland kingdom of Ayawaso. The kingdom of Ayawaso’s capital was Okaikoi. Osudoku, at the time, was the epicentre of Dangme culture. Ayi Kushi is described as an illustrious and astute leader, and law-giver who united the Gá-Dangme into a powerful tribe; and set the precedent for the diplomatic and conquering activities of later Gá kings. To strengthen the Gá state, Ayi Kushi encouraged intermarriage between Gás, Dangmes, Akyems, Awutus, Akwapims and Obutus.
The Ga are descended from immigrants who came down the Niger River and across the Volta during the 17th century. The Ga-speaking peoples were organized into six independent towns (Accra, Osu, Labadi, Teshi, Nungua, and Tema). Each town had a stool, which served as the central object of Ga ritual and war magic. Accra became the most prominent Ga town and is now the capital of Ghana.
Owura Mampong Okai 1585- 1610Queen Dode (Dodi) Akaibi 1610 – 1636 She was said to have reigned with tyranny.
Nii Okaikoi 1635 – 1660
The Lartey area and people of Ghana and their history extract from http://www.easternchiefs.org/akuapem/
The story of Larteh Akuapem cannot be told in isolation without a little about the Guans, Ga or Accra, Akyem and Akwamu history.
The indigenous inhabitants on the Akuapem Mountains are the Guans which consists of Larteh (comprising Larteh, Mamfe, Abotakyi, Mampong, Obosomase, and Tutu) and the OKERE or Kyerepong (Comprising Abiriw, Dawu, Awukugua, Adukrom, Apirede, Abonse-Asesieso).
Larteh lies on parallel ridge to the east on the Akonnobepow, while the rest of the towns lie in line along the crest of the main ridge on Bewasebepow.
Legend has it that the founding fathers of Larteh carried with them flint stone to ignite fire, and for this reason the La who traveled from Boni on the Niger Delta fraternized with the Larteh during their journey along the beach.
The people of Larteh, Kpeshie and La originated from the Les who originally occupied the coast before the arrival of the Gá; The La are closely related to the Larteh, the people of Gbese, the Agotimes and the original inhabitants of Osu. However, the oral traditions of the La suggest that their people were part of the original Gá, and that the town was in fact founded by descendants of a brother of Ayi Kushi; hence in constitutional matters the La Mantse deputises for the Gá Mantse in all issues affecting the Gá polity.
After briefly settling at Ayawaso the La seems to have re-located to Ladoku and from thence to Podoku. The Las, under Adjei Onano and Numo Ngmashie his great chief, appear to have been granted land by the king of Nungua who owned all the land between Nungua and Osu; the grant was against the expressed wishes of Borketey Larweh, the priest of Nungua. After a dispute over water rights and alleged murder of a La princess, the Labadis proposed to have a hand each cut off from Sowa, the high priest and Borketey Larweh. After Borketey Larweh’s hand had been cut off the La reneged on their part of the bargain; as a result, Borketey Larweh is said to have vanished into the sea.
Various traditions indicate that Teshie was founded by Nii Mgmashie, a nephew of the mankralo of Labadi. The town soon attracted other Gá-Dangme peoples, including Aseres, Nunguas, Krobos, Obutus, Pramprams. It therefore grew to become one of the principal Gá-Dangme towns.
Due to their location Tema and Kpone tended to feature less prominently in Gá-Dangme history and politics than their present importance suggests. A considerable early presence of Les in the vicinity of Tema was overlain by immigrant Gá and Dangme peoples. Although Kpone is a Dangme town it appears to be more influenced than other Dangme towns by Gá language and culture. With the re-location of people of Tema New Town on Kpone traditional lands it appears that the future of Tema and Kpone is intertwined.
The main Ga goup known as the Tumgwa We led by Ayi Kushie arrived by sea. When the Guans (Lartehs) on the coast saw them on their canoes on sea they looked like ants. Hence the Lartehs refer to them as Nkran (ants). Nkran was later corrupted by the Danes to Akra then to present day Accra. Nkran in the Ga language is Gaga, thus they also started calling themselves Ga. Due to their sheer numbers, the Lartehs thus relocated to the Hills. The Ga are also part of the main Guan group that started the initial migration from the Nubia Empire.
The Guan speaking people live mostly in Ghana though there are some pockets in Togo, Benin and Cote D’Ivoire. Modern historians more or less agree that since time immemorial the Guans have been the original inhabitants of Ghana, because unlike the Akan who arrived from Bouna in the north west, the Ewe from Notsie in Togo in about 1720, the Ga-Adangbe from certain parts in Nigeria and the Mossie-Dagomba group of state who emigrated from the north-east ,the Guans, on the other hand, migrated from nowhere thus Ghana is the ancestral homeland of the Guans. Another school of thought is that the Guans migrated from Israel through Nubia in East Africa to the west of Africa with their capital at Timbuktu.
Even the pockets of the Guans in Togo (The Anyanga), those In Benin (The Gbede, Wese, Okomfo) and the Baule In Cote D’Ivoire claim migrant origin from Ghana. There are numerous studies, which support Guans claim to their autochonous (i.e. aboriginal) status. There is a factual information provided by Professor Adu Boahene who says; neither the Akan nor the Ga-Adangbe found the coastal district of Ghana unoccupied.
Above the Gbawe Kwatei Head of family, Nii Adam Kwatei Quartey
Nanny of the Maroons
I did not realise that my maroon ancestor was from the same parish in Jamaica as Nanny of the maroons, St Thomas in the East until I re read the information. My maroon ancestor would have surely heard the legacy of Nanny of the Maroons as there were 70 years maximum between them. The stories of some of the Ashanti being in the mountains would have been alive at the time of my ancestor. It is quite possible the Maroons came and released my ancestor and others as this is what they did on many occasions. They released the slaves took them with them, took food and guns and sometimes killed the slave masters and burnt down their buildings before leaving. Nanny’s oral history is that her village was captured during war. Below we will explore accounts of the Ashanti wars.
Below before we look at the Ashanti I have posted a short clip on the African female warriors.
Below from https://amazingbibletimeline.com/blog/ashanti-empire-trade-slaves-guns/
Kumasi (historically spelled Comassie or Coomassie and usually spelled Kumase in Twi) is a city in Ashanti Region, and is among the largest metropolitan areas in Ghana. Kumasi is near Lake Bosomtwe, in a rain forest region, and is the commercial, industrial and cultural capital ofAsanteman. Kumasi is approximately 500 kilometres (300 mi) north of the Equator and 200 kilometres (100 mi) north of the Gulf of Guinea. Kumasi is alternatively known as “The Garden City” because of its many beautiful species of flowers and plants. It is also called Oseikrom (Osei Tutu’s town). Kumasi is described as Ghana’s second city.
The Kwa people of Africa include the Ga-Dangbe, Ewe, Akwapim, Fanti, Kwahu, and Akim and Ashanti.
This totally matches what I have found through my DNA analysis. This is is why in my posts you see me looking at Ga Ewe Akan Fanti and Ashanti and Ibo DNA and seeing that I match them. We are the KWA Niger Congo Bantu Afro Asiatic family. It is known but not publicised that the Bantu expanded from Cameroon/Congo to populate the South and North of Africa.
Between the 10th and 12th centuries AD the ethnic Akan people migrated into the forest belt of Southern Ghana and established several Akan states:
The Gbe languages (pronounced [ɡbè]) form a cluster of about twenty related languages stretching across the area between eastern Ghana and western Nigeria. The total number of speakers of Gbe languages is between four and eight million. The most widely spoken Gbe language is Ewe (3 million speakers in Ghana and Togo), followed by Fon (1.7 million, mainly in Benin). The Gbe languages were traditionally placed in the Kwa branch of the Niger–Congo languages, but more recently have been classified as Volta–Niger languages. They include five major dialect clusters: Ewe, Fon, Aja, Gen (Mina), and Phla–Pherá.
The Ghanaian diet and staple foods below
I see where Jamaicans get their style of cooking. The above collage could be Jamaican or West Indian.
|Coromantee (derived from the name of the Ghanaian coastal town “Kormantse”), also called Coromantins, Coromanti or Kormantine was the English name given to Akan slaves from the Gold Coast or modern-day Ghana. The term Coromantee is now considered archaic as it simply refers to Akan people, and was primarily used in the Caribbean. Coromantins actually came from several Akan ethnic groups – Ashanti, Fanti, Akyem, etc. – presumably taken as war captives. Owing to their militaristic background and common Akan language, Coromantins organized dozens of slave rebellions in Jamaica and elsewhere in the Caribbean. Their fierce, rebellious nature became so notorious among white plantation owners in the 18th century that an Act was proposed to ban the importation of people from the Gold Coast despite their reputation as strong workers. The Akans had the single largest African cultural influence on Jamaica, including Jamaican Maroons whose culture and language was seen as a derivation of Akan.Names of some notable Coromantee leaders such as Cudjoe, Quamin, Cuffy, and Quamina correspond to Akan day names Kojo, Kwame, Kofi, and Kwabena, respectively.|
As we have established the Ewe and Ga tribes are part of the Niger Congo Kwa Akan language group.
On the below map the Akan are again shown to be part of the Niger Congo people’s, Kwa and Volta Congo.
The above puts the Ga subgroup right in the heart of Accra. This map reflects my findings on my Akan ancestors who were almost certainely from western Ghana. Research suggests my DNA is reflective of the Ga Ewe and Ashanti living in and near Accra.
Below is the Ghanaian region identified in my DNA.
Records and DNA analysis indicate that some of my ancestors were from Accra.
See my below results. My ancestors seem to be from this South west region and also further to the East.
Earlier I mentioned having a DNA match with the surname Ageypong which is a Ashanti surname. Some of my ancestors were from the area above, especially Akropong and Larteh.
Now let’s briefly explore the ancient history of the Akans
Ivory Coast: 9 million
Below is a picture of the area in South Sudan that is identified in my DNA from my actual results.
In the South of Sudan in the same region live a tribe called the Azande tribe.
The Azande people and Congo people are neighbours and probably have the same ancestors .
Below is from bible hub
a’-shan (`ashan): An unknown site in the domain of Judah (Joshua 15:42), possessed by Simeon (Joshua 19:7), and mentioned among the priests’ cities in 1 Chronicles 6:59. (44) = Joshua 21:16(`ayin is a corruption of `ashan). Chorashan (or Borashan), which was probably the site of some reservoir in the Southwest part of Judah (1 Samuel 30:30), is the same as Ashan.
6228. Ashan — a place in Judah and later in Simeon
… 6227, 6228. Ashan. 6229 . a place in Judah and later in Simeon. Transliteration:
Ashan Phonetic Spelling: (aw-shawn’) Short Definition: Ashan. …
/hebrew/6228.htm – 6k
953b. Bor Ashan — “smoking pit,” a place in Judah
Bor Ashan. 953a, 953b. Bor Ashan. 954 . “smoking pit,” a place in Judah.
Transliteration: Bor Ashan Short Definition: Bor-ashan. …
/hebrew/953b.htm – 5k
Achar. Achan is probably called Achar, from the trouble he occasioned.
Achan(troubler), an Israelite of the tribe of Judah, who, when Jericho and all that it contained were accursed and devoted to destruction, secreted a portion of the spoil in his tent. For this sin he was stoned to death with his whole family by the people, in a valley situated between Ai and Jericho, and their remains, together with his property, were burnt. (Joshua 7:19-26) From this event the valley received the name of Achor (i.e. trouble). [ACHOR, VALLEY OF] (B.C. 1450.)
ACHANa’-kan (`akhan (in 1 Chronicles 2:7 Achar, `akhar, “troubler”): The descendant of Zerah the son of Judah who was put to death, in Joshua’s time, for stealing some of the “devoted” spoil of the city of Jericho (Joshua 7). The stem `akhan is not used in Hebrew except in this name. The stem `akhar has sufficient use to define it. It denotes trouble of the most serious kind-Jacob’s trouble when his sons had brought him into blood feud with his Canaanite neighbors, or Jephthah’s trouble when his vow required him to sacrifice his daughter (Genesis 34:30 Judges 11:35).