Battle of Atakpamé

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Battle of Atakpamé
date=1764
place=Atakpamé, Togo, West Africa
result=Decisive Oyo-Dahomey victory; Establishing of border between Oyo and Asanteman
combatant1=Ashanti Empire
combatant2=Oyo Empire
Kingdom of Dahomey
commander1=
commander2=

The Battle of Atakpamé (1764) was an armed confrontation between the Ashanti Empire and the Yoruba Oyo Empire in and around the Yoruba settlement of Atakpamé in Togo. The battle also included troops from the Kingdom of Dahomey, a vassal of Oyo.

Prelude

During the 18th century, the Ashanti Empire was beset by a host of rebellions due in large part to the empire's policy of allowing conquered rulers a fair amount of autonomy as long as they paid tribute and provided military contingents when ordered. [Fage, page 315] The asantethene during this period was Kusi Oboadum, who had ascended the throne in 1750. During his reign, the southern states under Asante's influence such as Denkyira, Wassa, Twifo and Akyem became openly hostile and threatened the empire's commercial routes to the coast. This was not only a threat to Asante's commercial interests but to its national security, since its supply of firearms came from the coast. [Pescheux, page 449]

Casus Belli

In 1763, the Asante vassal state of Akyem made contact with the Kingdom of Dahomey while planning a rebellion with other dissidents within the empire, including the Kwahu and Brong. [Fage, page 315] Meanwhile, the bantamahene, one of the major Asante military officers, [Thornton, page 68] had been relentlessly pressuring Asantehene Kusi Oboadum for war. Bantamahene Adu Gyamera had even gone so far as to threaten the ruler's impeachment. The asantehene did not order an invasion, however, until learning that the Akyem had sought out aid from the Oyo Empire. [Pescheux, page 449]

The Battle

Sometime in 1764, the Ashanti army marched out to invade the Dahomey. The exact size of neither force is known. What historians are sure of is that the Ashanti army was ambushed in or near Atakpamé in what is now Togo. A force of Dahomean infantry, including the kingdom's elite Ahosi corps of female soldiers, as well as levies from the Oyo Empire, inflicted a crushing defeat on the Ashanti army. [Fage, page 315] During the battle, the Juabenhene (head of the royal clan of Oyoko) was killed. [Pescheux, page 449] The Ashanti army never reached Dahomey and was forced to retreat.

Aftermath

News reached European merchants trading with the Yoruba that Oyo had inflicted a severe defeat on the Ashanti. [Fage, page 315] The consequences were far reaching in that the unpopular asantethene was removed and replaced by the more youthful Osei Kwadwo. [Pescheux, page 449] There were less documented confrontations between Ashanti and Dahomey in the early 19th century, but peace was the norm between them. [Fage, page 315] This particular battle did, however, define the boundary between Asanteman and Oyo which remained the powerful states in the region. [Thornton, page 79]

ee also

* History of Togo
* Ashanti Empire
* Kingdom of Dahomey
* Oyo Empire

Footnotes

ources

*cite book |author=Fage, J.D. and Roland Oliver |title=The Cambridge History of Africa Volume 4 c. 1600 - c. 1790 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |year=1975 |pages=811 |isbn=0-52120-981-1
*cite book |author=Thornton, John K. |title=Warfare in Atlantic Africa 1500-1800 |publisher=Routledge |location=London and New York |year=1999 |pages= |isbn=1-85728-393-7
*cite book |author=Pescheux, Gérard |title=Le royaume asante (Ghana): parenté, pouvoir, histoire, XVIIe-XXe siècles |publisher=KARTHALA Editions |location=Paris |year=2003 |pages=582 |isbn=2-84586-422-1