 By 1817, the Ashanti were expanding with an army of about 20,000, so the (British) African Company of Merchants signed a treaty of friendship that recognized Ashanti claims to sovereignty over much of the coast.The African Company of Merchants was dissolved in 1821 and the British government assumed control of the trading forts on the Gold Coast from the merchants.By the 1820s, the British had decided to support the Fanti Fante against Ashanti raids from inland.