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I was wondering if you would be interested in doing a comparison of African and Indigenous American civilizations? I saw the video which you compared Africa and Eurasia in terms of Civilizational development. The Americas were also isolated and more north south oriented rather than east west
Stone masonry isn't a requirement for determining what is advanced in the ancient world, as we can see in the presentation, several sophisticated homes and buildings made of bamboo, wood, clay etc., such as what was found in the Ashanti Empire is an obvious sign of advanced civilization. We don't hear much of this in the USA, outside of the Universities anyway.
@@laisphinto6372 No, very little. Those who want to know must learn on their own. They love boasting about gaining their independence from the British. While they punish those of us who want to gain our independence from them.
stone masonry is significantly more complex than other methods, and allows for truly monumental architecture of massive size. The european cathedrals would never have attained their height and mathematical complexity without stone
In this YT era of pseudo history and revisionism that get's much of the attention, glad there are still history loving YTers out there who put out authentic history content. ✌🏼
Guess who’s back! Back again! Jabari is back tell a friend! 😂 Loved the video going in depth into the Ashanti architecture the planned city, the rooms, courtyards within the structures etc. I’ve missed being mind blown so much thank you bro 😂.
Love the architecture of multiple single room buildings creating a courtyard. And the wall designs where the bottom half is an earthen red with raised patterns are beautiful. Appreciate all the research done for these videos!
I'm a terrible person because when you described the artifacts in the palace I thought "so its like the part of your grandma's house with all the shiny trinkets showing where various members of the family have been"
When I was in high school, I was taught just european (and generally western) history, from the Mycenaeans to the Cold War. Unfortunately, Africa was considered only when it came to talking about european colonialism (and the same thing happend with Asia: the Ottomans were considered only when it came to talking about the fall of Constantinople or about Lepanto). So I never had the occasion to know about the beauty of your continent, its history, architectures, religions and habits. I'm truly glad I found this channel: it deserves millions of subscribers and views. Love from an italian guy who fell in love with african history ❤
Another great video! One thing I was always curious about, when it comes to west african kingdoms/Empires. Is why did the west african forested kingdoms, like the Ashanti, Edo and yoruba people seem to be more advanced Architecturally, politically, technology and sometimes militarily than their sahelian counterparts like the mali and songhai empires. It's just so weird, in places like kumasi, benin city, and Ile ife, they had stuff like: paved roads, street lighting, flushing toilets, shingled roofs, bronze locks, impluvium water and drainage systems, more advanced metallurgy, simple glassmaking, and a somewhat democracy political system (Ashanti specifically). I'm aware that some of these advancements could have been foreign imported, but empires like mali and songhai had way more contact with the outside world than their tropical neighbors. The Akan and edo people even adopted, then eventually learned to make firearms with little to no help from Europeans. No shame to the Mali/Songhai empires, I was just curious is all. Thanks, and glad to have you back!
Thank you so much! And yes I've noticed the same thing. The forest kingdoms tend to have more advanced metallurgy and architecture than the Sahel. I think this is significant because it kinda debunks the idea that Africans had to borrow everything from Eurasia. In fact, metallurgy was farther south in the Congo Basin was among the most advanced in the world. It had welding, steel, tempering, among other things, well over 1000 years ago.
Off the top of my head: maybe something to do with the geography / geology affecting exactly what materials are (1) most abundant, and (2) most durable against the climate? The Congo basin, for instance, being a river basin, would have mineral deposits associated with river basins, while the Sahelian kingdoms are stuck with planes and deserts materials dominating availability. See also: metallurgy in the Americas being most advanced with proximity to rainforests, and far less extensive in the Great Planes (and kinda trying to get going in the Great Lakes before petering out millennia ago), or Chinese and Indian tech Vs Mongolian (and, it should be noted, the Golden Horde quickly adopted the tech of people's they conquerred). IDK, neither a historian nor gminerologist; I could be way off.
Because ultimately, agricultural societies will always reach civilization faster than societies based on nomadism. The sahel is mostly dry and has very few areas available for agriculture, while rainforest areas, once cleared, are extremely fertile.
Well tbh some of these things like paved streets, shingled roof and impluvium water don't seem to make sense in the flat, dry and sparsely vegetated region of the Sahel. There is probably a logic behind the construction of houses with flat or vaulted roofs (I also imagine that a larger and more disputed geographic area, such as Mali/Songhai, requires political stability and concentration of wealth, necessary to invest in these technologies, for a very long time). Hopefully, with more investment in archeology, many things hidden by time, destroyed by wars, or apparently non-existent may finally come to our attention :)
A few corrections. I got some of this information from Historum.1. The oldest example of paved streets in West Africa dates from about 2400 years ago in Dia, Mali.2. Various cities in the Sahel had plumbing. Have you read the paper "Discovery of the oldest palace in West Africa" by Cisse et al. It literally describes the discovery of a lavatory in the palace. Other cities like Djenne had plumbing as well. 2.Groups like the Jola did use impluvia. But of course the climate of most of that region would make the use of such water management systems redundant. However, many Sahelian cities had drainpipes to carry off run off from rain. And for big infrastructural waterworks projects,. The Songhai made a nearly 400 km canal from Timbuktu to Walata that was functional but left unfinished due to war. Do any of the forest states have a similar project on that scale? 3. How was forest metallurgy more sophisticated? Only example I can think of is forest states been better at the lost wax method. Hence the more technically superior bronze and copper sculptures. But stuff like 12th century goldsmithing from Takrur is as good as Ashanti stuff from the 18th and 19th century. But they generally used similar metallurgical tools. 4.Glassmaking is less a forest thing and more a very specific achievement which was not all widespread across the forest belt.Props to the Yoruba for that. 5. As for the adoption of and manufacturing of guns. Although usage of firearms was less ubiquitous in the Sahel due to more constrained access to supplies and cultural values, firearm production and even cannon production was arguably more common in the Sahel. To bounce of those examples you picked. The Akan primarily repaired firearms and failed to make actual functional guns. Benin seemingly did manage to make their own firearms and cannon. However various groups like the Fulani and the Kanuri made both firearms and eventually(though rarely) gun carriages. The Hausa were selling guns to groups as far south as Dahomey. The perhaps most successful example of rapid indigenous firearm production in West Africa was in Samori Toure's Wassoulou Empire. 6. Also by what metric is forest architecture more advanced? Like how can one type of architecture be more advanced? Considering the different climates. Should one fault the Edo and Yoruba for not using stone like Western Sahelians, who'd been using stone for 4000 years. Or using brick like Bornu? Or that Sahelian monumental architecture was oft larger and utilised things like arches more consistently than forest architecture? Is this being more "advanced" or just different environmental circumstances and aesthetic choices requiring different solutions? I prefer the latter answer. 7. Final one on political institutions. Proto-democratic societies existed all of over Africa. In fact old Djenne is postulated to have been a non-hierarchal society like the Indus Valley Civilization. If that's your metric of more advanced politically. For more centralised options ,one could argue Songhai emperor Askia Muhammad 's mostly successful rule was the greatest governance challenge in pre-colonial West Africa. Perhaps all of Africa. If we take into account the sheer size of the empire's population and ethnic diversity. There's no equivalent parallel to that in the forest belt . 8. To finish I think you have a good point in showcasing that forest peoples in seemingly impossible conditions made super sophisticated civilizations and should be given more credit. But I do plead with you to not make "X was more advanced than Y" comparisons. Firstly because we shouldn't rank societies like that , due to again, different pressure whether they be natural , social or otherwise requiring different solutions. e.g Why did Rome build more aqueducts vs canals vis a vis China? Let's appreciate that these societies existed and we can learn about them outside of colonial racialist lens.
Great job Jabari. Yo that interior drawing of the king's bedroom that caught me by surprise. I hadn't seen that one before. And yeah hopefully one day they can revitalize the traditional architectural style, its one of my favorite forms of African architecture.
Nice video but regarding the construction of Aban Palace. Though Osei Bonsu was intrigued with English architecture "his model for the palace followed an intricate design of Ashanti architectural features. In 1820, Joseph Dupuis witnessed the "castle" under construction. According to scholar Prussin, the construction method described by Dupuis followed the Ashanti wattle technology despite the Asantehene's interest to imitate a European model." Aban Palace was not inspired by European architecture. I just want to clarify that.
Thanks and yes I've read the exact passage that you described but I think that their reference to "followed the Ashanti wattle technology" was rerferring to the former palace. It specifically mentions how it was "European style" in many accounts I've read and that the Dutch provided the stones and labor. Also if you compare it to the Elmina Castle, it looks very similar.
@@FromNothing oh if you can the provide those sources? That would be cool. Would like to read more about that. Because reading that source states that the Aban palace was built following the techniques of Ashanti design and since it quotes Joseph Dupuis who witnessed the castle under construction. And names Osei Bonsu by name who we know was the one who commissioned and started the construction of the Aban palace. It also states that though Bonsu was intrigued with English architecture his model for the palace followed an intricate design of Ashanti architecture features. This is an eye witness source. And tbh I’m not seeing the similarities between Elmina Castle and Aban Palace apart from both of them being stone structures. That’s about it. The Dutch provided stones and Fanti laborers. That’s pretty much it.
~10:50 Small caveat, they differed from Western households of the time in different ways to how they differ from modern Western households; in the 18th century British Empire (and later US), for example, multi-room households weren't so common for anyone but the very wealthy, and in hot regions like the Southern US, multi-building complexes with separate buildings for different major functions were common among the middling sort (people rich enough to own large properties but not massive manors), a bit similar to the Asante aside from the fact that these buildings had more distance between them rather than forming courtyards.
AYYYY WHATUP MAYNE, I BE ALWAYS TELLIN PPL YALL WE WUZ ARCHITECTS OVA HERE BUT DEM WYPIPO BE TRYNA ERASE DEM BUILDINGZ YA FEEL? DEM AFRICAN ASHANTI SHACKS WUZ THE BOMB YO. DEM CRIBS BE 🔥🔥 SALUTE KING!
Thanks for putting out videos on various african architecture like these. It may seem silly but it helps me better imagine the african based setting for DnD/Pathfinder games. It's like the real life Mwangi Expanse I kid but that also was an interesting read.
I took a week to watch it, and I'm now ashamed at myself. You went into so many details! That description of the Ashantene palace and the unexpected treasures in it was amazing.
Blessed with another well researched video. Especially Blessed to have a Forest Kingdom video! Glad to have you back! Plz keep up the good work. We believe in you and your mission!!!
There’s so many famous Ghanaian architects out there and they help revolutionize Ghanaian architecture and ingenuity. All architecture borrows from the past
It always upsets me when I see beautiful works of historical architecture get destroyed, especially intentionally, I'd love to see a rebirth of traditional African techniques! Also, Jabari, did you change your avatar a bit? The eyelids are more noticeable. You know when you've seen the same thing so many times that even the smallest change is noticeable, that's what I see with your avatar right now! 😂
I'm currently building a fantasy world based on the african diaspora. Could you link your references or blend in the quotes where you get some of your statements from? It would further legitimise your work and help people as a great starting point when it comes to research. Thanks!
I definitely am gonna get my house built in this style if possible. Probably will have stone roof tiles, and Roman/Egyptian concrete foundation. Such amazing and beautiful architecture. It puts most modern structures to shame.
Can't say I fully agree. A modern house would definitely look better than a medieval peasant hut, and a modern mansion of a celebrity or world leader can look equal if not better than noble estates.
@@FromNothing emphasis on can Just Like roads can BE built to last , Romans casually built roads that lasted thousands of years meanwhile modern roads cannot Last 5 minutes somehow
@@laisphinto6372 As far as I know though, only a small percentage of Roman roads were paved and they were made very meticulously with unsustainable materials. Additionally, they didn't have thousands of vehicles weighing several tons rolling across them daily. Modern roads are made to be constructed quickly, efficiently, and cheaply.
Could you make a video about the complex matrilineal system and how it affected the Ashanti kingship. I heard the kings married slaves from other ethnic groups to delineate the matrilineal system, how frequent was this? Thanks.
Side note: Its often stated that the British were outnumbered 500 to 10000 at the Battle of Nsamankow in which the British Governor is killed. Whereas some sources don't mention roughly 500 Denkyira on the British left flank even being present, others like the firsthand account of survivor Major Henry John Ricketts says they--led by the consensus best military leader on both sides and the African Rambo Denkyirahene Kwadwo Tsibu--were the only soldiers putting up an excellent fight, performing a textbook fighting retreat, and the British Governor was actually fleeing to them when he was ambushed. I may be interpreting it wrong yet it wouldn't be the first case of whitewashing Black excellence. If anyone can offer clarification it would help my sanity. Thanks.
The Vikings made extensive use of earthen building materials, and it's not just a medieval thing either. We also see it among white settlers in America; Laura Ingalls Wilder talked about living in an earthen dwelling in some of her childhood. But for some reason a lot of white people refer to that kind of building as a "sod house" whereas *much* more sophisticated earthen architecture like this is just people making "mud huts."
Well done ✔️ 👍 👌 More than accurate. The British couldn't stand their low self esteem including the other groups that helped them destroy the city. Thank you for remembering 3sa Nti ( because of war ) people.
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I understand your concerns, however you must remember that very few architectural feats were actually built by the person in power or owner. Even today, the work is almost always commissioned to someone else. For example when you hear of a king "building a palace" it was actually designed and constructed by other people. He'll usually do no more than point out a few things that he wants.
The palace wasn't built by the Dutch. They only provided the stones. The Labour force were the Fante and Ashanti. Even the architectural style used in building the palace was that of the Ashanti.
More destructive are the pseudo african History WHO only Talk about egypt all day and Claim european History AS black. From nothing IS one of the very few WHO Focus IS one SUB saharan african History yes its a little Bit Harder Like trying to BE a Celtic historian without blindly believing Roman scources but IT IS worth it
No… while Europe did do a lot of damage It was more a issue of circumstances The abrahamic religion along with guns is what is destructive Christianity is what is destructive Look up project 2025 And see
AYYYY WHATUP MAYNE, I BE ALWAYS TELLIN PPL YALL WE WUZ ARCHITECTS OVA HERE BUT DEM WYPIPO BE TRYNA ERASE DEM BUILDINGZ YA FEEL? DEM AFRICAN ASHANTI SHACKS WUZ THE BOMB YO. DEM CRIBS BE 🔥🔥 SALUTE KING!
You are pathetic like anytime someone mentions African history not being the stereotypical hunter gatherer you make it about bashing white people. You say black people have victim mentality it ironic since you're not different
