The King of Ashanti's palace at Kumasi, the Ashanti capital, viewed from the east in 1874 towards the end of the second Ashanti War (1873-74). In 1873, after decades of an uneasy relationship between the British and the Acing people of central Ghana, the British attacked and virtually destroyed the Asanti capital of Kumasi, and officially declared Ghana a crown colony on 24 July 1874. Date: 25 April 1874