KUMASI (CooMAssIE), the capital and business centre of Ashanti, British West Africa, in 6° 34' N., 2° W. Pop. 1921 census, 20,268; 1932 census, 38,82o. The inhabitants include 200 to 30o Europeans and a number of Syrians. Of the Africans nearly half are non-Ashanti; many come from the Ivory Coast. Kumasi has been rebuilt since 1901 and is divided into the business quarter, Kingsway being the main thoroughfare, and the European and African residential quarters ; many Kumasis live in substantial bungalows. The public buildings include the fort, built in 1896, and now used as the European club house ; and several churches, hospitals and schools, including a Wesleyan training college for teachers. A modern drainage system has been provided, and the town is lit by electricity. Most of the swamps in and around Kumasi had been reclaimed by 1929; one of the largest swamps was converted into the central market site. The town is governed by a public health board (established 1925), on which Europeans and Africans are equal members. Kumasi is connected by railway with Takoradi and Accra, and is the centre of a network of motor roads. A motor park of seven acres is provided.
Kumasi derives its name from the okum trees which lined the streets under the okum tree). The old town was prac tically destroyed by the British in 1874 (see ASHANTI) . It is de scribed as having had a handsome appearance and as showing the comparatively high state of culture attained by the Ashanti. The
king's palace, built of red sandstone had been modelled, it is believed, on Dutch buildings at Elmina. It was blown up by Wolseley's forces on Feb. 6, 1874. The houses were built of red clay, the streets were numerous, broad and regular; the main avenue was 7o yd. wide. A large market-place existed on the south-east, and behind it, in a grove of trees, was the Spirit House. This was the place of execution. A new royal palace was built, after the withdrawal of the British in 1874, but it was of clay, not brick, and within the limits of the former town were wide stretches of grass grown country. In 1896 the town again suffered at the hands of the British, when several of the largest and most ancient houses in the royal and priestly suburb of Bantama were destroyed by fire. In the revolt of 1900 Kumasi was once more injured. The railway from Sekondi (near Takoradi) reached Kumasi in Sept. 1903, and from that time is dated the revival in trade lead ing to the rapid expansion of the town. The return of Prempeh in 1924, followed by his election in 1926 as Head Chief of the Kumasi division, had a marked effect on its development.
See J. Maxwell, "Ashanti and Kumasi-The Garden City of West Africa," in Jnl. African Soc., April 1928 ; and the authorities cited under ASHANTI.