The late 19th-century Asante king Prempeh, also known as the “Asantehene,” rejected British pressure to incorporate his realm into the growing Gold Coast protectorate.
In 1896, a British army from the coast marched around 200 kilometers (124 miles) to Kumasi, captured Prempeh along with over 50 of his family members, chiefs, and servants, and then pillaged his palace.
After being transported to the coastal fort at Elmina, the prisoners were sent to Sierra Leone and, in 1900, to the far-off islands of the Seychelles in the Indian Ocean.
Prempeh was an elderly man who arrived in Kumasi with a European suit and hat after the British did not permit him to return home until 1924.
