Osei Tutu I's status in Asante history, as the first Asantehene (or King of Asante) is without rival. As a young man away from home, in Denkyira and Akwamu, he studied military strategy and governance. Osei Tutu I ascended to the throne, he applied the knowledge gained to create a kingdom that grew to dominate part of West Africa's forest belt. King Osei Tutu I unified independent clans into the Kingdom of Asante, liberated the union from the shackles of an oppressive overlord, established a centralized leadership structure, expanded the territory's boundaries, balanced the power of hereditary noblemen against service chiefs, while building wealth and military might. There is no doubt that by King Osei Tutu I's death in 1717, he had laid a solid foundation for the new kingdom's development.