During the Regency Period of Brazilian History, a series of conflicts took place in the country. Conflicts were aimed at separating certain regions and provinces in order to create new countries, or they were against the form of organization of society. One of those revolts was the Malês revolt, which took place in Salvador, capital of Bahia, in 1835.
But who were the malian?
Malê was the name given, in Bahia, to the Africansenslaved who had the Islam as a religion. Several African ethnicities and tribes were Islamic, and when people from these places were enslaved and brought to Brazil, they continued to profess the same religion. The main ethnic groups that followed Islam in Bahia were Nagô and Hausa.
However, there was still a difference between these Africans in relation to the others. They were literate, knew how to read and write, mainly so that they could read the holy book of Islam, the Koran.
The vast majority of Brazilians at the time were illiterate, which guaranteed literate functions that had greater possibility of moving around the city. they were the
gain slaves, who worked for their masters in urban services that brought in money. Most of the money received was given to the slave's owner. Therefore, it was a different function from the slaves who worked in the fields, for example.Living as a slave revolted these Africans. Furthermore, numerous rebellions had taken place in Bahia, and in Salvador, in the decades prior to the Malês Revolt. The revolt against the mistreatment received from the masters, the racism suffered by the slaves, the prohibition to practice Islam and the influence of previous rebellions led the Malians to revolt.
The revolt was scheduled to take place on January 25, 1835. On that day, a Catholic feast would take place in the vicinity of Salvador. The rebels intended to take advantage of their masters' going to the party and thus start the revolt. The objective was to kill whites and also mulattos, seen as people who informed the police of the revolts. They had even managed to steal several weapons to face the police forces.
But they were unsuccessful in the revolt. Days before they had been denounced by two freed African women. Even so, they managed to take over some government buildings and military installations. However, they failed to contain the police forces.
Many were killed and others arrested. Others tried to flee to the countryside but were captured. The prisoners were tried and sentenced to death, physical punishment or even forced to leave Brazil.
The Malês Revolt caused fear in society at the time. Because it was organized with the participation of only enslaved and freed Africans, the white elite feared that more slaves would rebel against them. Reasons were not lacking as the abuse, punishments and the workload were great. Therefore, despite having only lasted a few days, the Malês Revolt was one of the revolts that had the greatest impact on Brazilian society during the Empire.
Take the opportunity to check out our video lesson related to the subject:
