Zumbi dos Palmares was one of the leaders of the largest quilombo that has ever existed in Brazil: the Quilombo dos Palmares. Zumbi is seen by many today as one of the symbols of resistance and struggle of Africans against their enslavement in the context of colonial Brazil. He was killed on November 20, 1695, after his hiding place was exposed.
Also access: Understand how enslaved Africans were brought into Brazil
Quilombo dos Palmares
zombie gone one of the three leaders known from the Quilombo dos Palmares, the largest quilombo that emerged in the history of Brazil. The first record of this quilombo goes back to 1597, but there is some speculation that it has arisen before. Palmares was the name given to the group of huts that formed it.
Among the mocambos that formed Palmares were acotirene, Andalachituche and aqualune. The main one was Royal Monkey Fence, also known as Mocambo do Macaco. This was the political center of Palmares and had up to 6,000 inhabitants. Altogether, it is said that the complex that formed Palmares had 20 thousand inhabitants.
Cerca Real do Macaco was protected by a palisade and surrounded by traps as a guarantee of safety. All other mocambos were connected to Cerca Real do Macaco through roads that extended into the region of Serra da Belly, where the Quilombo dos Palmares was located. This region, at the time, was linked to the captaincy of Pernambuco.
Do not stop now... There's more after the advertising ;)
Palmares had to deal with the expeditions organized by Portuguese and Dutch who wanted to destroy the quilombo. In the period of Dutch invasion, Palmares prospered, but after the Dutch were expelled, Portuguese expeditions became more and more frequent and resulted in their annihilation.
The destruction of Palmares happened with the expedition of Domingos Jorge Velho, Girl Scout hired by the weight of gold to attack him. His troops were formed by thousands of men (it is speculated up to 9,000 men) and equipped with cannons. After intense fighting, Cerca Real do Macaco was destroyed in 1694, forcing the survivors to flee.
Life
Very little is known about Zumbi's life. However, historical research seeks to disentangle some information about the biography of this great Brazilian personality. The deep gaps in Zumbi's life revolve around his personal life. Regarding his childhood, the only existing account is that of the journalist Décio Freitas.
In this report, the journalist claims that Zumbi was born free in Palmares, and it is believed that he was captured, when he was around seven years old, and delivered as a slave to a priest named Antônio Melo. Once enslaved, he received the name Francisco and learned to speak Portuguese and Latin. To the 15 years old, would have run away and returned to Palmares, where he became an important military commander of the Palmares.
This classic version of Zumbi's childhood is not considered by historians and is considered to be unlikely, why there is no evidence to prove it, in addition to Décio Freitas' own account. Another thing that is not known is whether Zumbi had a wife and children, despite the existence of a letter written by the Portuguese king D. Pedro II to Zumbi suggesting that he had them.
In this letter, D. Pedro II apologizes to Zumbi for the actions he took against Portuguese settlers. The king offers his pardon, as long as Zumbi accepts to be his subject, and he does so through this invitation:
I El-Rei let you know Captain Zumbi dos Palmares that I would like to forgive you for all the excesses you have practiced […]. I invite you to attend any ranch that suits you, with your wife and children and all your captains, free from any captivity or subjection, like my faithful subjects, under my real protection, of what my governor is aware of, who goes to the government of that captaincy to fulfill and keep it […].|1|
Anyway, we know that Zumbi was actually born in Quilombo dos Palmares in 1655, and many say that he would have been a nephew of Denim Zumba, another important leader from Palmares. Despite this, there are some historians who point out that Zumbi's nomenclature as Ganga's nephew Zumba may have been just a symbology to refer to the fact that the first was protected from the second.
We also know that Zombie was a general from Quilombo dos Palmares, and Portuguese reports highlight his role in the resistance of the Palmares. It is these reports that helped build Zumbi's image as a great leader. It is also known that the name Zumbi may derive from zombie, African term that means ghost.
It is in Zumbi's performance as a general that one of the great controversies in his life lies: the disagreement with Ganga Zumba. In 1678, the leader of Palmares was Ganga Zumba, and in the midst of decades of fighting he received an offer of peace from the colonial authorities. In this proposal, the governor of the captaincy granted freedom to those born in Palmares, but everyone who fled should return to their owners. If the Palmares leader accepted the offer, those born in Palmares could live their freedom in Curuá, as subjects of the Portuguese Crown.
Ganga Zumba would have accepted this offer and agreed to move, but Zumbi, indignant, would have defended that freedom was an achievement for all. Thus, it is believed that Zumbi, or one of his allies, has murdered Ganga Zumba, and it is speculated that this happened through poisoning.
After the death of Ganga Zumba, a conflict with Ghana Zona (Zumba's brother), and Zumbi declared himself leader of Palmares. He led the Palmares resistance in the following years until the final capitulation of the quilombo, when Domingos Jorge Velho's troops attacked and destroyed Cerca Real do Macaco.
Also access: Discover the history of Caifazes and popular abolitionism
Death
After the devastation of Cerca Real do Macaco, Zumbi ran away. For a long time, it was believed that he would have committed suicide during this attack, but studies over the past few decades have shown that he fled. In this sense, Zumbi lived for about a year and a half deep in the bush and surviving small attacks performed by him and his surviving companions.
In 1695 he had his hiding place denounced by one of his companions, named Antônio Soares, who was captured and tortured. zombie then went ambush and dead. He had his hand cut off and his head was cut off, salted and taken to Recife, where it was exhibited in a public square.
Zumbi's death happened on the day November 20, 1695, and, in the 20th century, Zumbi became a great symbol of resistance in certain political groups. This appropriation of his story made his death day to be converted into Black conscience day.
|1| Project “Rebel Impressions”. To access, click on here.
By Daniel Neves
Graduated in History