Royal kente: A 190-year-old cloth worn by 7 powerful Asante kings (photo)

Royal kente: A 190-year-old cloth worn by 7 powerful Asante kings (photo)

- The Asante Kingdom of Ghana are a creative tribe with a deep and unique culture

- One of their inventions is the textile and fabric industry that birthed the design of the "nwentoma", known today as kente

- The nwentoma was reportedly commissioned by Kwaku Dua Panin in the 1830s and has lived seven generations

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The Asante Kingdom of Ghana are a tribe of gold-rich people with a deep, unique culture and compelling history.

Prior to the so-called ‘European civilisation’, Ashantis had already developed the large and influential Asante Empire along the Lake Volta and Gulf of Guinea.

Ashanti oral narratives reveal that one of their inventions included their textile and fabric industry which birthed the design of the nwentoma.

Also popularly known presently as kente, the cloth is a type of silk and cotton fabric made of interwoven cloth strips.

The regal cloth is produced in Akan lands such as the Ashanti Kingdom, including the towns of Bonwire and Ntonso in the Kwabre areas of the Ashanti Region.

The Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, still adorns one of the oldest kente cloths to date.

In a recent post on social media, Akwasi A Afrifa Akoto, highlighted that the regalia was commissioned by Kwaku Dua Panin in the 1830s.

He indicated that the royal cloth has lived six generations and is currently being used by Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II.

Royal kente: A 190-year-old cloth worn by 7 powerful Asante kings (photo)
Photo credit: Facebook.com
Source: Facebook

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He revealed the ‘ntoma’ is so old that 7 kings have worn it.

''[It] was commissioned and worn by Kwaku Dua Panin (1830s), the wealthiest Otumfuo ever who begot 300 children to Kofi Karkari to Mensah Bonsu Ababio to Prempeh Panin ne Prempeh Ababio to Opoku Ware Ababio to Osei Tutu Ababio. It is worn on very special occasions. Asanteman, get ready for the Eyie Kese3.''

The cloth is only worn on important occasions and its significance is not lost on those with an eye for antiquity and culture.

View photos shared below.

In another story, Princess Ewurabena Pokouwas was the Queen and founder of the Baoule tribe in West Africa, now Ivory Coast.

According to ghanaianmuseum.com, Queen Pokou ruled over a branch of the powerful Ashanti Empire as it expanded westward.

A subgroup of the Akan people, the Baoulé people are today one of the largest ethnic groups in modern-day Ivory Coast.

Her father was a warrior who was not documented because he had no royal lineage. Princess Pokou gained her royalty through the matrilineal culture of the Ashantis.

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Source: YEN.com.gh

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