Osei Bonsu was the Asantehene (King of the Ashanti). He reigned from 1804 to 1824. During his reign the Ashanti fought the Fante confederation and ended up dominating Gold Coast

Gold Coast (British colony)

The Gold Coast was a British colony on the Gulf of Guinea in west Africa that became the independent nation of Ghana in 1957.-Overview:The first Europeans to arrive at the coast were the Portuguese in 1471. They encountered a variety of African kingdoms, some of which controlled substantial...

 trade. In Akan

Akan language

Akan, also known as Twi and Fante, is an Akan language that is the principal native language of Ghana, spoken over much of the southern half of that country, by about 52% of the population, and to a lesser extent across the border in eastern Côte d'Ivoire...

, Bonsu means whale (the largest and most powerful "fish" in the sea), and is symbolic of his achievement of extending the Ashanti Empire to the coast.
He died in Kumasi

Kumasi

Kumasi is a city in southern central Ghana's Ashanti region. It is located near Lake Bosomtwe, in the Rain Forest Region about northwest of Accra. Kumasi is approximately north of the Equator and north of the Gulf of Guinea...

, and was succeeded by Osei Yaw Akoto

Osei Yaw Akoto

Osei Yaw Akoto was the Asantehene from 1824 to 1834....