Osei Kofi Tutu -- Ghana
The Empire of Ashanti was officially formed in 1701 and 
Osei Tutu was crowned Asantehene (King of all Ashanti). He would hold that position until his death in 1717 in a battle against the Akyem. Osei Kofi Tutu I was one of the co-founders of the Empire, the other being Okomfo Anokye, his chief priest. The Ashanti were a powerful warriors and highly disciplined people of West Africa. Osei Tutu led an alliance of Ashanti states against the Denkyira, completely defeating them. Then, through force of arms and diplomacy, he induced the rulers of the other Ashanti city states to declare allegiance to Kumasi, his capital.
Okomfo Anokye, Tutu's principal lieutenant, assisted Tutu in establishing a capital at Kumasi and giving the Empire a constitution, a standing army, and a long era of political stability. Tutu also established the Golden Stool (which is said to contain the soul of the Ashanti People) as the symbol of the Empire. The region being known as a source of gold and kola with two important trade routes, one from Jenne and Timbuktu in the western Sudan and the other from Hausaland, the Denkyira dominated all these states. In the middle of the seventeenth century the last of the Abusua groups, the Oyoko Abusua, arrived. In a carefully orchestrated political and cultural process Osei Tutu and Okomfo Anokye succeeded in merging these states into the Asante Union. The union was spiritually brought into being through the Golden Stool, invoked by Okomfo Anokye.
The ruler, religious and political leader and the occupant of the Golden stool would be known as the Asantehene and to be subsequently selected from the lineage of Osei Tutu and Obiri Yeboa. Kumasi was chosen as the capital of the Asante Union, and Osei Tutu was now both the Kumasihene and the Asantehene. Osei Tutu, assisted by Okomfo Anokye, developed a new constitution for the Union. The Asantahene, who was also the Kumasihene, was at its head, with the kings of the states of the union forming the Confederacy or Union Council. While the power of the asantehene was not absolute, Osei Tutu had a great deal of power, as he was not only the chief executive officer, but technically also the chief priest. Although in practice the Asantehene will defer to the actual priests.
Osei Tutu’s capacity as the chief priest meant he never needed to maintain a large standing army to control his people, because he himself represented not only the state but the society as well. He held a sort of psychological control in which attacking the king would equate to attacking society. One of the key objectives for forming the Asante Union was to overthrow the Denkyira, Osei Tutu placed strong emphasis on the military organisation of the Union. Supposedly borrowing the military organisation from the Akwamu, Osei Tutu honed the Union army into an efficient fighting unit.
The Ashanti Army included infantry, scouts, royal bodyguards and other units with the Asantehene as the supreme military commander. Osei Tutu used the square formation whereby the soldiers were placed at the corners of the Empire so as to protect the Kumasi, this formation was adopted by all the small states that were annexed by the Asante state. With the Asante Union firmly established and its military organisation in place, Osei Tutu embarked on wars of expansion and revenge. After avenging his uncle's death at the hands of the Dormaa and bringing some recalcitrant states in line, Osei Tutu focused on the Denkyira. He defeated the Denkyira and their abettors in 1701,
The Akyem, brought the Asante to the attention of the Europeans on the coast for the first time, as The victory broke the Denkyira hold on the trade path to the coast and cleared the way for the Asante to increase trade with the Europeans. In 1717, Osei Tutu was killed in a war against the Akyem. From the onset he had underestimated the Akyem as they were few in number and going into battle without his usual "magical amulets," he even left some of his body armour back at Kumasi. Crossing a river in a canoe, he was struck by bullets from snipers and sharpshooters, who were hiding in the dense tree line. Asantehene Osei Tutu I died minutes after being shot, his last words were "Ankah me nim ya" (If only I knew), an apparent reference to his having underestimated the Akyem.
The Asante comprise the largest contingent of the Akan speaking people, Osei Kofi Tutu I and his adviser, Okomfo Anokye, forged the Asante Union from a number of different Abusua groups who stopped their old rivalries and hatred for the common goal to overthrow of their oppressor, the Denkyira. Skillfully utilising a combination of spiritual dogma and political skill, supported by military prowess, Osei Tutu tripled the size of the small kingdom of Kumasi, which he inherited from his uncle Obiri Yeoba and laid the foundation for the Empire of Ashanti in the process.