Asante Queen Mothers in Government and Politics in the Nineteenth Century

bibliographic database
Line

Periodical article

Title:	Asante Queen Mothers in Government and Politics in the Nineteenth Century
Author:	Aidoo, Agnes A.
Year:	1977
Periodical:	Journal of the Historical Society of Nigeria
Volume:	9
Issue:	1
Period:	December
Pages:	1-13
Language:	English
Geographic term:	Ghana
Subjects:	women rulers history Ashanti polity Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups) History and Exploration colonialism
Abstract:	Asante queen mothers were very often eclipsed and overwhelmed by the nummerically superior male actors in the political arena. This is perhaps the reason why historians have largely neglected them. So far the picture we have of these women co-rulers has been drawn mainly by anthropologists and sociologists such as R.A. Rattray, M. Fortes, M. Manoukian and K.A. Busia. It is a static picture dealing with the position and status of the queen mothers. The operational dynamics of their position and the scope and modalities of their power within actual social and political processes have yet to be studied. However, the author's preliminary research on the subject indicates that there is sufficient data from the nineteenth century, at least, to reconstruct the history of some of these remarkable women in government and politics. He gives a sketch of the careers of Afua Kobi. Yaa Akyaa and Yaa Asantewaa, which reveal certain aspects of the queen mother's role in government and politics that should be noted by historians. Ref., fig.