Zumbi ( – November 20, 1695), also known as Zumbi dos Palmares (), was a Brazilian quilombola leader and one of the pioneers of resistance to enslavement of Africans by the Portuguese in colonial Brazil. He was also the last of the kings of the Quilombo dos Palmares, a settlement of Afro-Brazilian people who liberated themselves from enslavement in the Captaincy of Pernambuco (present-day state of Alagoas, Brazil). He is revered in Afro-Brazilian culture as a symbol of African freedom.

Born free in Palmares and believed to be of Kongo descent, Zumbi was captured by the Portuguese at the age of six and given to a missionary. Despite attempts to assimilate him, at the age of 15 he escaped and returned to his birthplace, where he established himself as a respected military leader. Around 1678, he challenged and dethroned the king of Palmares, Ganga Zumba, who had decided to submit to Portuguese authority following an overture by the governor of Pernambuco.

Zumbi took a more aggressive stance against the Portuguese in order to assert Palmares' independence, and constant warfare ensued. In 1694, following several failed expeditions, Portuguese colonists conquered Palmares with the help of artillery and local allies. Zumbi escaped and led the resistance for two more years but was eventually captured and executed.

Quilombos

Quilombos are communities in Brazil founded by individuals of African descent who escaped slavery (these escaped slaves are commonly referred to as maroons). Members of quilombos often returned to plantations or towns to encourage their former fellow Africans to flee and join the quilombos. If necessary, they brought others by force and sabotaged plantations. Anyone who came to quilombos on their own were considered free, but those who were captured and brought by force were considered slaves and continued to be so in the new settlements. They could be considered free if they were to bring another captive to the settlement. Women were also targets of capture, including black, white, Indian and mulatas (women of mixed African and European ancestry), who were forcibly relocated to Palmares. Portuguese authorities called this area Palmares, due to its many palm trees, and were locked in deadly clashes with it for much of the 17th century. At its height, Palmares had a population of more than 30,000. Palmares developed into a confederation of 11 towns, spanning rugged mountainous terrain in frontier zones across the present day states of Alagoas and Pernambuco. Palmares was an autonomous state based on African political and religious customs that supported itself though means of agriculture, fishing, hunting, gathering, trading, and raiding nearby Brazilian plantations and settlements. He was captured by the Portuguese and given to a missionary, Father António Melo, when he was approximately six years old. Father António Melo baptized Zumbi and gave him the name of Francisco. Zumbi was taught the sacraments, learned Portuguese and Latin and built a Kongo kingdom in Palmares.

Despite attempts to subjugate him, Zumbi escaped in 1670 and, at the age of 15, returned to his birthplace. Zumbi became known for his physical prowess and cunning in battle and he was a respected military strategist by the time he was in his early twenties.

King of the Quilombo dos Palmares

thumb|Map of the Captaincy of Pernambuco, with the depiction of the Quilombo dos Palmares (1647)

By 1678, the governor of the captaincy of Pernambuco, Pedro Almeida, weary of the longstanding conflict with Palmares, approached its king Ganga Zumba with an olive branch. Zumba accepted a peace treaty offered by Pernambuco, which granted freedom for all runaway slaves if Palmares would submit to Portuguese authority.

However, Zumbi – who became the commander-in-chief of the Kingdom's forces in 1675 – was distrustful of the Portuguese. Further, he refused to accept freedom for the people of Palmares while other Africans remained enslaved. He rejected Almeida's overture and challenged Ganga Zumba's kingship in 1679. Zumbi sought to implement a far more aggressive stance against the Portuguese.

Vowing to continue the resistance to Portuguese oppression, Zumbi became the new leader of Palmares. Zumbi's determination and heroic efforts to fight for Palmares' independence increased his prestige. Predictably, when Zumbi gained authority, tensions with the Portuguese quickly escalated. Between 1680 and 1686, the Portuguese mounted six expeditions against Palmares at significant cost to the royal treasury, but they all failed to defeat Palmares.

In 1694, fifteen years after Zumbi assumed kingship of Palmares, the Portuguese colonists under the military commanders Domingos Jorge Velho and Bernardo Vieira de Melo launched an assault on the Palmares. They made use of artillery as well as a fierce force of Brazilian Indian fighters, which took 42 days to defeat the kingdom.

Although it was eventually crushed, the success of Palmares through most of the 17th century greatly challenged colonial authority and would stand as a beacon of slave resistance in the times to come.

Importance today

thumb|upright|Bronze head of Zumbi in [[Brasília, Brazil]]

November 20 is celebrated, chiefly in Brazil, as a day of Afro-Brazilian consciousness. The day has special meaning for those Brazilians of African descent who honour Zumbi as a hero, freedom fighter, and symbol of freedom. Zumbi has become a hero of the 20th-century Afro-Brazilian political movement, as well as a national hero in Brazil. Today, Zumbi is considered a hero of great magnitude amongst Afro-Brazilians who celebrate his courage, leadership qualities, and heroic resistance to Portuguese colonial rule.

See also

  • Atlantic slave trade
  • Cafuzo
  • Capoeira
  • Garifuna people
  • Palmares (quilombo)
  • Quilombo
  • Slavery
  • Triangular trade
  • Zambo
  • List of slaves

Footnotes

References

  • Braudel, Fernand, The Perspective of the World, vol. III of Civilization and Capitalism, 1984 (in French 1979).
  • Rodriguez, Junius P., ed. Encyclopedia of Slave Resistance and Rebellion. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood, 2006.
  • Diggs, Irene, "Zumbi and the Republic of Os Palmares", vol. 14 of Phylon (1940–65)
  • Chapman, Charles E., "Palmares: The Negro Numantia", vol. 3 of The Journal of Negro History (January 1918).
  • Kent, R. K., "Palmares: An African State in Brazil", vol. 6 of The Journal of African History (1965).
  • The Slave King
  • 300 Years of Zumbi
  • Taiguara performing the song composed in Zumbi's honour