Osei Kofi Tutu I ( – ) was one of the founders of the Ashanti Empire, assisted by Okomfo Anokye. The Asante are an Akan ethnic group of West Africa. Osei Tutu led an alliance of Asante states against the regional hegemon, the Denkyira, completely defeating them. He ruled the Kumaseman State between c.1680/c.1695-1701 (he was definitely Kumasehene by 1695) and he ruled the Ashanti Empire from late 1701-c.1717. Asantemansu, Kwaaman, Amantoo and Kumase states It is unclear about who out of Oti Akenten, Obiri Yeboa and Osei Tutu founded Kumase, or at least had its name changed. This is because Kwaaman is in the same place as Kumase (Kwaaman is Kumase). Most accounts tell that it was Osei Tutu who, with the help of Akomfo Anokye, founded Kumasi after growing trees in 3 places and seeing which tree grew the best. However, it is also said that it was Obiri Yeboa who founded Kumase in an attempt to move his capital away from his Denkyrian overlords, which makes sense as he was the first hene to form the "Asante" (It wasn't called the Asante yet) coalition against the Dormaa. But then there's Oti Akenten, who waged a series of successful military operations against neighbouring Akan states, bringing a larger surrounding territory into alliance with the Kwaaman state, which can also be known as the Kumaseman state from this point forwards. This suggests that the chief settlement of Kwaaman has already been renamed Kumasi or Kumase and that the tale of its founding by Osei Tutu has been lifted from earlier tradition. This is supported with the fact that Oti Akenten was the first hene to proclaim himself the hene of all people who would eventually become the Asante. It is widely agreed that Obiri Yeboa was the first hene to bring together the states together in a confederation either called the Amantoo confederation, or the Kwaaman clan states, with the capital of this new alliance being Kwaaman, with Osei Tutu renaming it due to the kum tree that Tutu sat under while negotiating the terms for the land The first time we hear the term Asante in history is out of the mouth of the king of Denkyira, Ntim Gyakari before his execution. He utters "esa nti" which means "because of war". He said this because it was because of war with the Denkyiras that the Akan city states