The Fall of the Asante Empire (47 page)

All Asante officers and many of the soldiers wore shirts, such as the one pictured above, as they walked to battle before stripping down to fight.
Most were made of cotton, although some were animal skins and a few officers wore silk warshirts.
The shirts were decorated with animal teeth and small pouches.
The triangular and rectangular pouches were believed to hold Islamic charms acquired from the Moslems who had been conquered by the Asante, but many of the amulets proved fraudulent.
One was found to contain a verse from the Bible, and another contained a fragment of a proclamation posted by a British governor.
(Fowler Museum, UCLA)