Bono state

This article is about the Akan state of the Bono people. For their other kingdom, see Gyaman.

Bonoman
c. 11th century–1723
Capital	Bono Manso
Common languages	Bono Twi
Religion	Bono Ancestral worship and spirituality
Government	Monarchy
Bonohene
History
• Foundation	c. 11th century
• Conquered by the Asante Empire	1723
Currency	Gold dust, cowries and (Salt, copper)
Succeeded by Techiman Adansi Mankessim Denkyira Akwamu Akyem Gyaman Ashanti Empire
Today part of	Ghana Ivory Coast

Bono Sate (also known as Bonoman) was one of the earliest centralized Akan states, founded by the Bono people in what is now southern Ghana. Centered at Bono Manso, the state flourished in the forest–savanna transition zone and encompassed areas within present-day Bono Region, Bono East Region, and Ahafo Region, as well as parts of eastern Ivory Coast. Archaeological evidence indicates that Bonoman began forming between the 11th and 13th centuries, making it one of the earliest known Akan polities. The state's wealth grew substantially through the control of gold production and trade, with material culture such as goldweights, brassworking, and textiles attesting to its urban complexity. Bonoman is considered a cultural and political ancestor to several later Akan states that emerged as groups migrated southward and eastward during and after its decline in the 17th and 18th centuries.

History

Origin

While some theorists have linked the origin of the Akan people of Bonoman to a southward migration from the Ghana Empire or broader Sahel region, recent archaeological and linguistic evidence points to their long-term residence in modern-day Ghana and Cote d'Ivoire. Bono origin myths have them emerging from a hole in the ground near modern-day Wenchi.

Archaeological evidence reveals iron working industrial sites at early ages. Excavations at Begho (also known as Bɛw or Nsoko), a key site later central to Bono civilization, have revealed material culture dating back to the 8th century BCE. Early remains include red-slipped and burnished pottery, grinding stones, swish-walled dwellings constructed using wattle-and-daub techniques, and iron-smelting furnaces with slag. These findings reflect a proto-urban society engaged in farming, craft production, metallurgy, and regional exchange. The earliest settlements were typically arranged in dispersed clusters and located near sacred groves, caves, or inselbergs—echoing oral history where the early settlers took shelters. This early phase provided the technological and cultural foundation for the rise of Bonoman.

Rise of the State

Bonoman was one of the earliest centralized Akan states to develop in the forest–savanna transition zone of what is now the Bono Region of Ghana, with its capital at Bono Manso. Archaeological evidence and oral traditions suggest that the state began taking shape by the 11th to 13th centuries, marking it as an early center of Akan political and cultural organization.

The growth of Bonoman was supported by the coordination of local gold mining activities and the development of trade networks that connected the Akan forest zone to neighboring regions in the Sahel and Middle Niger. The nearby town of Begho (also known as Nsɔkɔ) emerged as a vibrant commercial hub, where local goods such as gold, kola, and ivory were exchanged for textiles, salt, and other commodities transported by Wangara traders.

While long-distance trade introduced new materials and commercial links, the political and social foundations of Bonoman were firmly rooted in local traditions. These included matrilineal inheritance systems, ancestral shrines, and community-based governance—features that reflect a distinctly Akan framework of state-building.

Fall of Bonoman

The decline of Bonoman occurred gradually and was influenced by a combination of internal pressures, shifts in trade networks, and external military threats. By the late 17th century, Bono Manso's dominance had weakened, and various subgroups of Akans began migrating and forming new states across the forest zone and coastal regions.

Among the key internal factors were dynastic conflicts, succession disputes, and growing discontent over tribute collection and taxation, which eroded central authority. Oral histories record that some local chiefs refused to support Bono kings who were perceived as autocratic, including the controversial reign of Ameyaw Kwakye I, who was accused of disregarding sacred shrines and misusing royal power.

Externally, Bonoman's influence declined as southern Akan states such as Akyem, Denkyira, and later the Asante Empire gained economic and military strength through control of coastal trade routes and access to European goods, including firearms. With no direct access to the coast, Bonoman found itself increasingly bypassed in regional commerce, especially after the rise of coastal hubs like Elmina and Cape Coast.

The decisive turning point came in 1722–1723, when Opoku Ware I of the Asante Empire launched a successful military expedition against Bono Manso, bringing the state firmly under Asante control and integrating its population, royal regalia, and skilled artisans into the expanding Asante polity.

While some groups were assimilated into Asante, others migrated to form towns such as Techiman, which became a new center of Bono identity and cultural resilience.

Bono Urban Centers

Settlements such as Bono Manso, Techiman, and Begho exhibited organized town planning, sacred architecture, and advanced iron-working industries. Archaeological research dates these towns to at least 400 CE, with evidence of iron smelting appearing as early as 100 CE in parts of Begho and 300 CE in Abam. The Amowi rock shelter, another sacred Bono site, was inhabited before 400 CE, further affirming the region’s long-standing habitation and spiritual significance.

Based on excavations, carbon datings and local oral traditions, Effah-Gyamfi (1985) postulated three distinct urban phases: in the early phase (thirteenth to the fifteenth century) the urban center was relatively small, and the towns were populated by thousands of people, not all living in the urban center. Buildings were made of daubed wattle. Painted pottery of this period was found distributed within a radius of 3.3 km.

In the second phase, the 16th to the 17th century, the urban centers were larger, consisting mainly of evenly distributed houses and a nuclear market center. Many indications of participation in long-distance trade, such as imported glass beads and mica coated pottery, stem from this period.

Bono Manso

Bono Manso (literally “great town of Bono”) was the capital of the medieval Bono state, and a major trading centre in what is now the Bono East region of Ghana. Located just south of the Black Volta river in the forest–savanna transition zone, the town was a key node in the Trans-Saharan trade network, linking the Akan goldfields with northern markets such as Djenné and Timbuktu. Goods traded through Bono Manso included gold, kola nuts, salt, leather, and cloth. Archaeological and historical sources suggest that Bono Manso was already settled by the 13th century and had developed into a commercial and ritual center by the 14th and 15th centuries.

The town served as the seat of Bono kingship, with political and spiritual authority centered on ancestral stools and sacred shrines. Although it retained regional importance into the early 18th century, Bono Manso was ultimately sacked by Opoku Ware I of the Asante Empire in 1722–23, marking the end of its political independence.

Begho

Begho (also Bighu or Bitu; called Bew and Nsokɔ by the Akan) was a medieval trading town located just south of the Black Volta at the transitional zone between the forest and savanna north-western Brong-Ahafo. The town, like Bono-Manso, was of considerable importance as an entrepot  frequented by northern caravans from Mali Empire from around 1100 AD. Goods traded included ivory, salt, leather, gold, kola nuts, cloth, and copper alloys.

Excavations have laid bare walled structures dated between 1350 and 1750 AD, as well as pottery of all kinds, smoking pipes, and evidence of iron smelting. With a probable population of over 10 000, Begho was one of the largest towns in the southern part of West Africa at the time of the arrival of the Portuguese in 1471. Begho was likely the site of a Bono royal palace.

According to Islamic historical sources cited by Bakewell and Effah-Gyamfi, the ruler of Mali may have launched a punitive expedition against Bighu in the mid-sixteenth century, reportedly in response to a disruption in the gold trade managed by the Juula. While these narratives suggest a brief assertion of authority, archaeological and oral evidence indicate that local governance structures in Bighu continued without lasting external control.

The town was also a linguistic and cultural bridge. Numerous Akan words for trade, transportation, and status—such as kramo (Muslim), oponko (horse), gyata (lion), and adaka (box)—trace back to Mande origins, reflecting sustained interactions rather than domination.

Today, Begho is remembered not only for its role in West African trade but also as the ancestral town of many Wangara/Juula groups who dispersed to towns like Bonduku, Namasa, and Banda, preserving a distinct historical identity linked to their origins in this once-thriving hub of commerce.

Bonduku

Bonduku was another trading center within the empire of Bonoman. It gave birth to the state of Gyaman also spelled Jamang Kingdom which was particularly famous for the production of cotton. The state existed from 1450 to 1895 and was located in what is now Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire.

Misconceptions, Controversies and the Sahel Migration Myth

The Colonial Fabrication of a Ghana Empire Exodus

Main article: Ghana Empire

One common but historically unsupported narrative claims that the Bono people migrated from the Ghana Empire (centered in modern-day southeastern Mauritania and Mali) to establish Bonoman. This theory, often repeated in colonial-era textbooks and early nationalist histories, lacks archaeological, linguistic, and oral historical support.

This belief was shaped by early European scholars and colonial administrators who sought to link West African civilizations to more familiar Sahelian polities, often underestimating the capacity for local cultural development. Recent research shows that no oral traditions from Bono-Takyiman or Begho communities reference any connection to the Ghana Empire. Instead, accounts consistently point to local origins rooted in sacred caves such as Amowi, emphasizing emergence from the land rather than migration from the Sahel.

Further archaeological work reinforces these traditions. Excavations around Bono Manso reveal a long sequence of occupation, with evidence of settlement, agriculture, and iron smelting dating back several centuries before any documented Sahelian contact. In particular, early radiocarbon dates from the site of Amowi confirm its antiquity, consistent with oral traditions identifying it as a sacred emergence site of the Bono.

Myth of Mande-Islamic Origins

Another recurring misconception is that the Bono state and its institutions were introduced or significantly shaped by Mande-speaking Muslim traders (Wangara or Dyula). While Muslim traders did play an important role in the gold trade, they settled in designated quarters in towns like Begho, and did not govern the polity nor introduce its core political or spiritual institutions.

While acknowledging the presence of intercultural trade, scholars emphasize that the political authority, kinship systems (abusua), ancestral shrines, and regalia of Bonoman are of indigenous origin, not borrowed from the north.

A 2022 study further critiques the “Sahelian diffusionist” framework as a colonial invention. It argues that trade networks have been wrongly equated with political or cultural dominance, noting that Muslim traders in Bono cities such as Begho maintained segregated quarters and peripheral roles in local governance.

Modern archaeological and ethnohistorical research has shown that Bonoman developed indigenously in the forest–savanna transition zone of what is now the Bono Region of Ghana, long before the Ghana Empire's decline. Sites like Amowi, Nkukua Buoho, and Bono Manso demonstrate continuous occupation, iron smelting, and complex social organization centuries before the 13th century.

Notable scholars refute the notion of northern origin, noting that archaeological layers at Bono sites and linguistic data suggest long-term, local development. The consensus is that the Akan states were not the product of Mande or Islamic diffusion, but rather a result of adaptive forest-based societies that evolved over millennia.

Legacy of Early Scholarship: Reassessing Meyerowitz

One of the first figures to document Bono traditions was Eva L. R. Meyerowitz, whose mid-20th century work attempted to reconstruct Akan origins through oral histories and symbolic interpretation. While her efforts helped foreground the historical importance of Bono Manso and Techiman, her conclusions have since drawn critical re-evaluation. Scholars have questioned her reconstructions of long-lost kingdoms and her assignment of exact dates to events based on oral narratives lacking corroboration in archaeological evidence.

Anthropologist Dennis M. Warren, who conducted fieldwork in the same region, found that several of Meyerowitz’s core claims — including accounts of foreign origins and references to places like Kumbu and Timbuktu — were not only uncorroborated but explicitly denied by the very stool elders and local authorities she had cited. According to Warren, when presented with quotations attributed to them in Meyerowitz’s work, many of these elders responded that they had no memory of making such statements, and in some cases, believed their words had been misrepresented by translators or filtered through interpretive bias.

Archaeologist E. Effah-Gyamfi echoed this concern by emphasizing the need to balance oral tradition with archaeological stratigraphy and environmental data. He and others pointed out that Meyerowitz’s reliance on symbolic cosmology and limited field methods resulted in a framework that was often speculative and difficult to verify.

Archaeological and Oral Evidence of Indigenous Development

Archaeological studies confirm that iron smelting was practiced at Bono Manso by the 3rd century CE, and that surrounding settlements such as Amowi and Atwetwebooso were occupied well before the rise of the Sahelian empires. Oral traditions collected by Dennis M. Warren also trace the origin of the Bono to local sacred caves such as Amowi, not to distant external migrations.

Effah-Gyamfi’s findings further support these traditions, showing that early Bono settlements featured complex political structures, advanced ironworking, and ceremonial practices associated with local rulers. His excavations confirm continuous habitation in the region long before any recorded influence from northern traders or empires.

Further analysis shows that core elements of the Bono gold economy—such as gold-weighing systems and regalia—were already developed locally before the peak of Muslim trade activity in the region, suggesting that cultural influence likely flowed in the opposite direction.

Influence on Akan Culture

Various aspects of Akan culture originate from the Bono state, including the umbrella used for the kings, the swords of the nation, stools, goldsmithing, blacksmithing, Kente Cloth weaving, the famous Adinkra Symbols, goldweighing, among others. The modern non-sovereign monarchy of Takyiman is descended from Bono.

See also

• List of rulers of the Akan state of Bono-Tekyiman

References

Sources

• Anquandah, James (2013). "The People of Ghana: Their Origins and Cultures". Transactions of the Historical Society of Ghana (15): 1–25. ISSN 0855-3246.
• Crossland, L. B. (1989). Pottery from the Begho-B2 site, Ghana. African occasional papers. Vol. 4. Calgary: University of Calgary Press. ISBN 0-919813-84-4.
• Effah-Gyamfi, Kwaku (1985). "Bono Manso: an archaeological investigation into early Akan urbanism". African occasional papers. Vol. 2. Calgary: University of Calgary Press. ISBN 0-919813-27-5.
• Effah-Gyamfi, E. (1974). "Aspects of the Archaeology and Traditions of the Bono State". Transactions of the Historical Society of Ghana. 15 (2). Retrieved 22 April 2025.
• Konadu, Kwasi (2010). The Akan Diaspora in the Americas. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195390643. Retrieved 23 April 2025.
• Kumah, Daniel (2024). "Early Trade and Urbanization in Pre-Modern Ghana: Evidence from Begho ca 1000 to 1700 AD". In Akurang-Parry, Kwabena O.; Biveridge, Fritz (eds.). History, Culture and Heritage of Ghana: Essays in Honour of Professor Robert Addo-Fening. Yaoundé: Langaa RPCIG. pp. 165–200. Retrieved 23 April 2025.

Further reading

• Insoll, Timothy (2003). The Archaeology of Islam in Sub-Saharan Africa. New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-65702-4.
• Effah-Gyamfi, Kwaku (1979), Traditional history of the Bono State Legon: Institute of African Studies, University of Ghana.
• Meyerowitz, Eva L.R. (1949), "Bono-Mansu, the earliest centre of civilisation in the Gold Coast", Proceedings of the III International West African Conference, 118–120.