Ashanti, a shahn'te, a kingdom of West Africa, inland from the Gold Coast. Gold is abundant, being found both in the form of dust and in nuggets. The natives are warlike and ferocious negroes, but cultivate crops of yams, corn, rice and tobacco. The chief town is Kumassi, which has about 30,000 inhabitants. The government was formerly a despotic monarchy, but the country is now governed practically by the English, who first came in contact with the Ashantis in 1807. Hostilities continued, off and on, till 1826. Immediately after the transfer of the Dutch settlements on the Gold Coast to Britain in 1872 the Ashantis interfered and brought on a sanguinary war, leading to a British expedition in 1874, in which Kumassi was captured and British supremacy established along the Gold Coast. In 1896 another expedition was made, King Prempeh was deposed and imprisoned and the country was annexed. Another rebellion was put down in 1900.