Techiman in the context of "Gonja people"

Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated with the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to the east. Ghana covers an area of 239,567 km (92,497 sq mi), spanning diverse ecologies, from coastal savannas to tropical rainforests. With over 35 million inhabitants, Ghana is the thirteenth-most populous country in Africa, and the second-most populous country in West Africa specifically. The capital and largest city is Accra; other significant cities include Tema, Kumasi, Sunyani, Ho, Cape Coast, Techiman, Tamale, Bolga, Wa, and Sekondi-Takoradi.

The earliest kingdoms to emerge in Ghana were Bonoman in the south and the Kingdom of Dagbon in the north, with Bonoman existing in the area during the 11th century. The Asante Empire and other Akan kingdoms in the south emerged over the centuries. Beginning in the 15th century, the Portuguese Empire, followed by other European powers, contested the area for trading rights, until the British ultimately established control of the coast by the 19th century. Following more than a century of colonial resistance, the current borders of the country took shape, encompassing four separate British colonial territories: Gold Coast, Ashanti, the Northern Territories, and British Togoland. These were unified as an independent dominion within the Commonwealth of Nations. On 6 March 1957 Ghana became the first colony in Sub-Saharan Africa to achieve sovereignty. Under President Kwame Nkrumah, it became influential in decolonisation efforts and the Pan-African movement.

The Bono, also known as the Brong or Abron, are an Akan people of central Ghana and northeastern Ivory Coast. They speak the Bono Twi and form one of the largest matrilineal Akan groups. According to Takyiman traditions, the Bono were the first Akan to develop a state, and other Akan states are believed to have emerged later. Oral traditions and archaeological evidence highlight Bono Manso and Begho as major centers of early Akan settlement.” Past historians described Bono as the cradle of the Akan people, with all Akan groups tracing their origins to Bono.Archaeological evidence and modern historians emphasize that Bono-Manso and Begho were among several of the earliest centers of development for the Akan people, serving as major sites of cultural and political formation closely tied to both oral traditions and material evidence.

The Bono became prosperous at Bono state through gold discovery, trade and commerce from neighbouring partners and across Africa. As part of commercial transactions, gold dust were used as currency and gold weights as a measure of value. In 1471 when the first European-Portuguese visited Gold Coast (now Ghana), Bono Manso and Begho were an urban cities in West Africa. Begho at its peak had an estimated population of 15000. Bono Manso on the other hand played a significant role in the Atlantic slave trade and as a result, Africans in Diaspora visit to learn more about their history. The Bono people are mostly located in central part of Ghana and northeastern Ivory Coast.

Manso or Maaso, often referred to as Bono-Manso in historical contexts, was an urban centre of significant religious, political, and economic influence. It was situated on the northern forest savanna zone of Akan realm. Founded c. 1000 CE, it was the capital of the Bono state from the 11th century to 1723. Bono Manso flourished into a prominent and cosmopolitan centre of trade to the Bono state, attracting Muslim Juula from the Mali empire and several merchants across North and West Africa. According to oral traditions, merchants brought textiles, salt, and brass where they traded them for gold, kola, and slaves.

Just like its twin-counterpart Begho, Bono Manso had a huge market called Dwabirem in the southwest direction, linking the sub-Saharan and ultimately European long distance trade. After the Asante destroyed Bono Manso in 1723, Techiman succeeded it. Presently, Bono Manso is a village north of Techiman in Ghana.