The valley of the Volta below the meeting of the Black and White Volta, with the Pru and Sene country west of it and the Oti mouth to the east.
Guan languages (Krachi, Nchumuru, Nawuri, Gonja further north) are spoken all along this stretch of the river, which tradition and linguists take as the old Guan heartland. The famous oracle of Dente at Krachi is attested only from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. On 1 January 1200 Guan fishing and farming villages probably held the valley; the river crossings at Yeji and Krachi were the natural roads between the Bono country, the Dagomba country and the hills.
Who holds it
- Title
- Priests and village elders; in later times the priest of the Dente oracle at Krachi was the greatest authority of the Volta Guan
- Since
- Not known
- Confidence
- low
How things stand that morning
Independent villages.
Customs
Fishing and farming on the river; priests of the river and of oracles.
Assemblies
Village elders; nothing known of wider councils.
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: Linguistic distribution and late traditions.
On the map: Drawn from the later Guan language areas.
Sources and studies
- Guan people (Wikipedia)
- Researcher's general knowledge of the ethnography and linguistic geography of Ghana and Togo (present-day distributions), used only to place peoples whose 1200 seats are not recorded
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.