In the late seventeenth century Wala emerged as a small state in what is now northwestern Ghana. Ivor Wilks traces the history of Wala from its beginnings to the present, paying particular attention to the complex relations between the Muslim and non-Muslim elements in the population. He also examines the impact of Zabrima, Samorian, British, and French intrusions into Wala affairs. By the use of orally transmitted traditions and recensions of these in both Arabic and Hausa, he is able to show how the Wala themselves view thier past. Ivor Wilks analyzes the periodic eruptions of communal...

In the late seventeenth century Wala emerged as a small state in what is now northwestern Ghana. Ivor Wilks traces the history of Wala from its beginnings to the present, paying particular attention to the complex relations between the Muslim and non-Muslim elements in the population. He also examines the impact of Zabrima, Samorian, British, and French intrusions into Wala affairs. By the use of orally transmitted traditions and recensions of these in both Arabic and Hausa, he is able to show how the Wala themselves view thier past. Ivor Wilks analyzes the periodic eruptions of communal...

Originally published in 1975, and reprinted with additional introductory material in 1989, this book provides an in-depth account of Asante history during the nineteenth century.

The Asante had unique conceptions of time and motion, and the relationships between the unborn, the living and the dead. This study suggests that awareness of their past has much to do with the survival of their culture in this century.