Gyaman

Gyaman (also spelled Jamang and Gyaaman) was a medieval Akan state, located in what is now the Bono region of Ghana and Ivory Coast. According to oral tradition, Gyaman was founded by the Bono, Aduana clan, a branch of the Akan, in the late 17th century.^[1][2] The Gyamans then proceeded to conquer the Kulangos, Nafanas, Ligbis, and other ethnic groups of the area.^[2]

Before European colonial administration in the late 19th century, the Gyaman king, known as the Gyamanhene, sat in Amanvi, although four provincial chiefs held the kingdom's real power. The economy centered on the capital Sampa and the Dyula market town of Bonduku in modern-day Ivory Coast. The adinkra symbols originated and were designed through the handiwork and tireless effort of Gyamanhene Nana Kwadwo Agyemang Adinkra of Gyaman, although the actual creator of the adinkra symbols was most likely an earlier Gyaman artist with the name Adinkra much before the time of Kwadwo Adinkra.^[3][4]

In the 19th century, Gyaman was subjugated by the Ashanti Empire. It regained its independence following the defeat of the Ashanti by the British. In 1888, Gyaman king Agyeman signed a treaty of protection with France, but the French failed to establish a post in the kingdom, leaving it vulnerable to Samori's 1895 invasion. The French later expelled Samori in 1897, incorporating western areas of Gyaman into French West Africa.^[5][2]