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The Akan are a meta-ethnicity and Potou–Tano Kwa ethno-linguistic group residing on the Gulf of Guinea in the southern regions of the former Gold Coast region in what are today the republics of Ghana and the Ivory Coast in West Africa. Akans are the largest meta-ethnicity and ethno-linguistic group in both countries and have a population of roughly 20 million people. The Akan language (also known as ''Twi–Fante'') is a group of dialects within the Central Tano branch of the Potou–Tano Kwa language family.〔Languages of the Akan area: papers in Western Kwa linguistics and on the linguistic geography of the area of ancient. Isaac K. Chinebuah, H. Max J. Trutenau, Linguistic Circle of Accra, Basler Afrika Bibliographien, 1976 - pp. 168〕 Also included under the term "Akan" are the Bia languages (in which case it is common to speak of "Akan languages", as a group of languages). Subgroups of the Akan proper include: Asante, Akuapem and Akyem (the Asante, Akuapem and Akyem dialects are together known as ''Twi''), Agona, Kwahu, Wassa, Fante (Fanti or Mfantse: Anomabo, Abura, Gomua) and Bono. Subgroups of the Bia-speaking groups include: the Anyin, Baoulé, Chakosi (Anufo), Sefwi (Sehwi), Nzema, Ahanta and Jwira-Pepesa. The Akan subgroups have cultural attributes in common, notably the tracing of descent, inheritance of property, and succession to high political office. A large number of Akans were taken as captives to the Americas, and many people of African descent in the Americas have partial Akan ancestry. During the 18th and 19th centuries, Akan slaves were all referred to as Coromantees. Due to their organization, common language, and fierce nature, Coromantees were responsible for the majority of slave revolts in the Caribbean and North America. ==Origin and ethnogenesis== The Akan people are believed to have migrated to their current location from the Sahara desert and Sahel region of West Africa into the forested region around the 6th century,〔http://akuapem.com/akwamu.html〕 and many Akans tell their history as it started in the forested region of West Africa as this is where the ethnogenesis of the Akan as we know them today happened.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Atlas of the Human Journey )〕〔The Akan diaspora in the Americas Oxford University Press, 2010 - Social Science〕〔''Ghana: The Bradt Travel Guide'', Bradt Travel Guides, 2007 - 416 pages〕 Oral traditions of the ruling Abrade (Aduana) Clan relate that they originated from ancient Sudan. As a result of the introduction of Islam in the Western Sudan, and the zeal of the Muslims to impose their religion, their ancestors left for Kong (i.e. present day Ivory Coast). From Kong they moved to Wam and then to Dormaa (these are both on present day Brong-Ahafo region). The movement from Kong was necessitated by the desire of the people to find suitable Savannah conditions since they were not used to Forest life. Around the 6th century, they moved from Dormaa South Eastwards to Twifo-Hemang, North West Cape Coast. This move was commercially motivated.〔(Akwamu ). akuapem.com.〕 The kingdom of Bonoman (or Brong-Ahafo) was established as early as the 11th century,〔The Techiman-Bono of Ghana:an ethnography of an Akan society Kendall/Hunt Pub. Co., 1975〕 and between the 12th and 13th centuries a gold boom in the Akan area brought wealth to numerous Akans.〔Title: Africa a Voyage of Discovery with Basil Davidson, Language: English Type: Documentary Year: 1984 Length: 114 min.〕 During different phases of the Kingdom of Bonoman groups of Akans migrated out of the area to create numerous states based predominantly on gold mining and trading of cash crops.〔Africa from the 12th to the 16th century Joseph Ki-Zerbo, Djibril Tamsir Niane, James Currey, 1997, 294 pp.〕〔Indigenous medicine and knowledge in African society. Psychology Press, 2007 - Health & Fitness.〕 This brought wealth to numerous Akan states like Akwamu, (1550-1650) and ultimately led to the rise of the most well known Akan empire, the Empire of Ashanti,〔''Africa: a Voyage of Discovery with Basil Davidson'', Documentary, 1984, 114 minutes.〕(1700-1900), the most dominant of the Akan states. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Akan people」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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