There is evidence that the area around Kumasi has been kept cleared since the Neolithic age. The city rose to prominence in 1695 when it became capital of the Ashanti Confederacy due to the activities of its ruler Osei Tutu. The ruler of Kumasi, known as the Asantehene, also served as ruler of the Confederacy. With their 1701 victory over Denkyira the Asante confederacy became the primary state among the Twi speaking Akan peoples. After this victory, the Ashanti became allies of the Dutch, who were based in Elmina. After the cession of the Dutch Gold Coast to the Fante-allied British in 1872, parts of Kumasi, including the Royal Palace, were destroyed by British troops in the Third Anglo-Ashanti War of 1874.
Lady Mary Alice Hodgson, the first English lady to visit Ashanti, wrote "The Siege of Kumassi" an account of the siege of the fort by the tribes forming the Ashanti Confederation and of the subsequent march to the coast. She was the daughter of Hon. W. A. G. Young, C.M.G., former Governor of the Gold Coast, and the wife of Sir Frederick Mitchell Hodgson, K.C.M.G., the Governor of the Gold Coast (1900).
It remains a royal city, in 1926 the Ashanti was restored ceremonial control over Kumasi, the full role of king was restored in 1935. The city holds an important place in the history of the Ashanti people, as legend claims that it was here Okomfo Anokye received the Golden stool, an embodiment of the soul of the Ashanti nation
