Time and again, we have heard the story of Nana Yaa Asantewaa, the Queen Mother of Ejisu, who fought led and fought bravely in the War of the Golden Stool against the British Empire.

We have heard stories of how daring and strong Yaa Asantewaa was, but how old was she when she led her people to fight against the British?

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Well, according to Historical Africa’s account by Historical Africa on Facebook, Nana Yaa Asantewaa was about 60 years old when she led the Asante resistance against the British in 1900.

Asantewaa’s leadership came at a time when the Asante Kingdom was facing one of its most difficult periods. The British had exiled Asantehene Prempeh I to the Seychelles in 1896, leaving the kingdom without its ruler.

The situation is said to have worsened in 1900 when the British Governor of the Gold Coast, Sir Frederick Hodgson, demanded the Golden Stool, a sacred symbol of Asante unity and identity.

The demand angered the Asante people, who considered the stool the soul of their nation. While some chiefs were reluctant to fight the British, Yaa Asantewaa challenged them to defend their kingdom.

She questioned how the Asante could allow the British to take their king and chiefs and then demand the Golden Stool without resistance.

She also warned the chiefs against refusing to fight, saying they should exchange their traditional male clothing for her undergarments if they were unwilling to defend their people.

To dramatize her determination to go to war, Yaa Asantewaa seized a gun and fired a shot in front of the men.

Her challenge helped rally the Asante forces, and she took a leading role in the war against the British. Under her leadership, the fighters laid siege to the British fort in Kumasi for nearly three months.

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Although the Asante eventually lost the war, the British did not seize the Golden Stool. Yaa Asantewaa was captured and exiled to the Seychelles, where she died in 1921.

Yaa Asantewaa died in 1921 at an estimated age of 80 or 81.

MAG/VPO

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