Many African kingdoms no longer exist.
But the Ashanti kingdom, in what is now Ghana, is different. In 2014, the ruler of the Ashanti people, Otumfuo Nana Osei Tutu II, threw a big party. He celebrated his 15th year as king. Their first great leader, Osei Tutu, began building the Ashanti empire about 400 years ago. Ashanti legend says the god Nyame sent a golden stool down from the sky. Nyame made Osei Tutu the stool’s guardian and told the Ashanti people to unite behind him to build a great empire. Almost four centuries later, the golden stool is still important. The king proudly displays it and tells the history of the kingdom.