The Asantahene rules over the largest ethnic group in Ghana. Otumfuo Opoku Ware II was the 18th Asantehene.

A private ceremony is being held overnight on Thursday to bury the king after ceremonies in the central city of Kumasi.

Funeral processions

The city teamed with hundreds of thousands of mourners throughout the final day of the burial ceremonies.

This was not just the funeral of a revered traditional king, but an affirmation of the importance of an enduring African culture.

The funeral ceremonies were accompanied by dancing and singing.

Traditional warriors fired muskets and cannons, while members of the Ashanti royal family performed processions around the city of Kumasi, protected from the hot sun by huge billowing parasols.

Ancient influence

Power of the historic kingdom is based on gold

The land of the Ashanti in Ghana is the home of an ancient empire, which still wields considerable influence and is widely revered beyond the borders of the modern day republic.

The Ashanti empire was built on gold wealth which in ancient times was exchanged for salt in trans-Saharan trade.

Today, in modern Ghana, the successful enterprise which mines the gold, is the only African owned company outside South Africa which is quoted on the London and New York stock exchanges.

The Ashanti dynasty, and the social structures of Ghana's other tribes, have been a fixed cultural reference point for this country as it has moved through a turbulent post-colonial history.