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Malê Revolt

The Malê Revolt: A Muslim Uprising in Imperial Brazil

The Malê revolt, a significant event in the history of Imperial Brazil, was a slave rebellion fueled by Islamic faith that erupted in January 1835. Occurring during the tumultuous regency period, this uprising saw enslaved African Muslims and freedmen, guided by their religious convictions, challenge the established order in Salvador, the capital of Bahia province. The term "Malê" itself, used in Bahia at the time, designated a Muslim, derived from the Yoruba word imalẹ, specifically referring to Yoruba Muslims. This rebellion, unfolding during Ramadan, the holy month of fasting in Islam, underscores the deep spiritual and cultural resilience of the African Muslim community in Brazil.

The revolt was strategically timed to coincide with the feast day of Our Lady of Guidance, a significant religious observance within the Roman Catholic Diocese of Bonfim. This timing was not accidental; it was a calculated move to exploit the absence of many authorities and citizens who would be attending festivities or religious services in Bonfim. This diversion of resources and attention created a window of opportunity for the rebels, leaving Salvador with fewer defenders and potentially more susceptible to an organized uprising. The authorities, lulled into a sense of security by the ongoing celebrations, were ill-prepared for the organized defiance that was about to unfold.

Islam in Bahia: A Growing Presence

The presence of Islam in Bahia was not a monolithic phenomenon. Initially, the Hausa people were strongly associated with the practice of Islam, having embraced the faith before their forced migration to Brazil. However, over time, the Nagô people, through the increasing influence of Islam within their Yoruba kingdoms, came to constitute the majority of the Muslim population in Bahia. By 1835, it is estimated that most of the individuals identified as Malê were, in fact, Nagôs. This demographic shift is evident in the leadership and planning of the revolt, with key figures such as Ahuna, Pacífico, and Manoel Calafate all being of Nagô origin.

Within the burgeoning Muslim community in Bahia, status and influence were often tied to religious observance and established presence. Those who had been Muslim for longer periods, and who actively engaged in proselytizing, held considerable sway. They sought to expand the reach of Islam not through coercion, but through diligent teaching and the conversion of others. This active propagation of faith was a crucial element in forging the solidarity that would later manifest in the revolt.

The African Islamic culture in Brazil developed its own distinct visual and symbolic markers. Amulets, believed to possess protective powers and worn by both Muslims and non-Muslims alike, were a common sight. These amulets typically consisted of pieces of paper inscribed with passages from the Quran and prayers, carefully folded and enclosed in a leather pouch, often sewn shut. These were crafted and distributed by álufas, or Islamic preachers. While these amulets were widespread, their presence didn't necessarily indicate a deep commitment to Islamic tenets, as they also held significance within traditional, indigenous African religious practices. Another outward symbol was the abadá, a long white frock. In Bahia, this garment was generally worn in private to avoid drawing the attention of law enforcement. It was only during the 1835 rebellion that the abadá was publicly displayed, notably by the rebels, and subsequently described by police as "war garments." A third identifying mark of the Malês, preceding the uprising, were rings, often made of white metal, silver, or iron, worn on their fingers. These served as subtle signals of affiliation within the community. However, following the defeat of the revolt, these rings lost their clandestine significance, as their meaning became widely known to the authorities.

The Growth of Islam in Bahia's Urban Landscape

The urban setting of Salvador proved to be fertile ground for the dissemination of Islam. The city's environment facilitated greater mobility for enslaved people and offered a larger population of freedmen, fostering vital networks between these groups. Both enslaved and free Malês who possessed literacy in Arabic played a crucial role in spreading this knowledge, often on street corners. The residences of freedmen became important centers for Islamic practice, as did rented rooms, referred to as "private mosques," which were particularly prevalent in downtown Salvador. Within these spaces, Malês gathered for prayer, to commit verses from the Qur'an to memory, and to engage in the study of reading and writing Arabic, often using wooden writing slates. Despite the considerable expense, the Malês also dedicated resources to writing matters of their faith on paper, demonstrating their commitment.

In Bahia, the Malês adapted certain aspects of Islamic practice to navigate the constant threat of persecution by officials. However, they remained steadfast in preserving the core tenets of their faith. For instance, communal suppers were a regular feature, symbolizing their dedication to the Islamic principle of consuming only food prepared by Muslim hands. Mutton was frequently consumed, often signifying ritual sacrifices. During Ramadan, their diet included staples such as yams, bugloss, rice, milk, and honey. The conclusion of Ramadan was marked by the sacrifice of a ram. Furthermore, the Malês observed major religious festivals, including Lailat al-Miraj, the Night of Ascent. The ability to celebrate such occasions openly, even if in private gatherings, was a testament to their growing presence and the formation of a distinct segment within Bahia's black community.

The Revolt: A Spark Ignited

The planned date for the revolt was Sunday, January 25th. However, a series of unfolding events compelled the rebels to initiate their uprising earlier than anticipated. On Saturday, January 24th, rumors of an impending rebellion began to circulate among the enslaved population. While accounts exist of freed slaves informing their former masters about the planned revolt, only one such report reached the proper authorities. Sabina da Cruz, a former slave, after an altercation with her husband, Vitório Sule, sought him out. She found him with other revolt organizers, and upon overhearing their pronouncements about becoming masters of the land the next day, she reportedly retorted, "on the following day they’d be masters of the whiplash, but not of the land." Disturbed by what she had witnessed, Sabina sought refuge with a friend, Guilhermina, a freedwoman known to have connections with white individuals. Guilhermina, in turn, relayed the information to her white neighbor, André Pinto da Silveira. Several of Pinto de Silveira's associates, including Antônio de Souza Guimarães and Francisco Antônio Malheiros, were present and took it upon themselves to inform the local authorities. These critical events transpired between 9:30 and 10:30 pm on Saturday, January 24th.

President Francisco de Souza Martins, alerted to the gravity of the situation, took immediate action. By 11:00 pm, he had reinforced the palace guard, dispatched troops to the barracks, doubled the night patrol, and ordered boats to patrol the bay. Around 1:00 am on Sunday morning, justices of the peace conducted a search of the residence of Domingos Marinho de Sá. Domingos initially claimed that the Africans in his home were merely his tenants. However, sensing his apprehension, the justices insisted on inspecting the premises. Descending into his basement, they discovered the ringleaders engaged in final discussions. The Africans managed to expel the officers into the street and then commenced their revolt.

The initial clashes on the streets were marked by violence, resulting in injuries and the deaths of two Africans, including Vitório Sule, Sabina da Cruz's husband. After securing the immediate vicinity, the rebels dispersed throughout the city, with many acting as recruiters to rally other enslaved people. A significant contingent, however, marched uphill towards Palace Square (now Praça Municipal), where the fighting intensified.

A primary objective of the rebels was to attack the jail and liberate a prominent Muslim leader, Pacífico Licutan. The prison guards, however, proved a formidable obstacle, possibly more than the rebels had anticipated, especially given their limited weaponry. Their hope of arming themselves with the jailers' weapons was dashed as the reinforced palace guard opened fire from across the square, trapping the slaves between converging lines of fire in front of the jail. Under heavy bombardment, the enslaved individuals retreated from the prison and regrouped at Largo de Teatro. With the arrival of reinforcements, they launched an assault on a nearby soldier's post, seeking to seize their arms. Their march towards the officer's barracks was met with fierce resistance, and although they fought bravely, the soldiers managed to secure the barracks' gate. The rebels' attempt to breach the barracks was unsuccessful.

The rebels then made their way towards the Vitória neighborhood, an area with a notable English community, where a number of Muslim slaves resided. They regrouped at Mercês Convent, where the sacristan, a Nagô slave named Agostinho and a member of the conspiracy, provided a prearranged meeting point. A police patrol encountered the rebels here but retreated under counter-attack towards Fort São Pedro, a stronghold the rebels did not attempt to assault. By this point, the rebel numbers had swelled to several hundred, yet they had failed to achieve any of their key objectives. Their next course of action was to head towards Cabrioto, a location outside the city, to link up with enslaved people from the surrounding plantations. To reach Cabrioto, however, they were compelled to pass by the cavalry barracks. It was at Água de Meninos that the most decisive engagement of the revolt took place. Around 3:00 am, the rebels arrived at Água de Meninos. The infantry within the barracks immediately retreated to safety, while the mounted cavalry remained outside. The rebels, now numbering only about 50 to 60 individuals, did not initiate an attack on the barracks. Instead, they attempted to find an alternate route around it.

Their efforts were met with gunfire from the barracks, followed by a devastating cavalry charge, which proved overwhelming for the enslaved fighters. As the rebels were being routed, additional enslaved people arrived. After assessing the grim situation, they determined that their only recourse was to attack and seize the barracks. However, this desperate maneuver proved futile, and the rebels quickly opted for flight. A final cavalry charge effectively crushed their remaining resistance.

Leadership of the Revolt

The Malê revolt was spearheaded by several influential figures within the Muslim community:

  • Elesbão do Corma, also known as Dandará in the African community, was a Hausa freedman who owned a tobacco shop that served as a clandestine meeting place for Malês. His business travels through the Recôncavo region allowed him to extend the influence of the Muslim faith to enslaved people on the plantations.

  • Ahuna was a Nagô slave residing in Salvador. His frequent journeys to Santo Amaro, where his owner possessed a sugar plantation, are believed by some historians to have been instrumental in influencing the timing of the rebellion.

  • Pacífico Licutan, a Nagô slave employed as a tobacco roller, was imprisoned at the time of the uprising. His liberation was one of the primary objectives of the rebels.

  • Luís Sanim, a Nupe slave, also worked as a tobacco roller. He managed a fund to which members contributed a day's wages, presumably on a monthly basis. These funds were allocated to three purposes: purchasing cloth for Muslim garments, covering the portion of slave wages owed to their masters (as Malê slaves did not work on Fridays), and assisting in the purchase of manumission papers.

  • Manoel Calafate traveled to Santo Amaro on the eve of the uprising to mobilize rebels. He actively participated in the fighting and is believed to have been killed in Palace Square.

The Aftermath: Repression and Reverberations

The immediate aftermath of the Malê revolt was characterized by swift and severe repression. Fearing a widespread uprising across Bahia, reminiscent of the successful slave revolt in Saint-Domingue (Haiti), the authorities imposed harsh sentences. Four rebels were condemned to death, sixteen were imprisoned, eight were sentenced to forced labor, and forty-five were subjected to flogging. In addition, two hundred of the surviving leaders were deported by municipal authorities back to Africa, utilizing the services of the slaver Francisco Félix de Sousa for the transatlantic journey. These deportees, comprising both freed and enslaved Africans, were sent in stages to the Bight of Benin, with a significant number sent to the established Lusophone colony in Dahomey. It is believed that some members of the Aguda people community in Lagos, Nigeria, and the Tabom people in Ghana are descendants of these repatriated individuals. The term "Aguda" itself often refers to the predominantly Christian Brazilian returnees to Lagos, who subsequently introduced Catholicism to the region, leading to the Yoruba term "Ijo Aguda" (the Portuguese Church). Despite the deportations, descendants of these Afro-Brazilian repatriates are reported to be present throughout West Africa, including notable figures like Sylvanus Olympio, the first president of Togo.

News of the Malê revolt spread rapidly, reaching the press in the United States and England. The Brazilian authorities, deeply unsettled by the potential for further insurrections, intensified their surveillance of the Malê community. New national and local laws were enacted to exert greater control over enslaved people in Brazil. These included the death penalty, without possibility of appeal, for the murder of plantation owners, overseers, or their family members. In the ensuing years, concerted efforts were made to enforce conversions to Catholicism and to systematically erase any public memory or affinity for Islam. Despite these efforts, the African Muslim community was not eradicated overnight. As late as 1910, it is estimated that approximately 100,000 African Muslims still resided in Brazil.

The Malê revolt is widely considered a pivotal moment in the history of slavery in Brazil. The rebellion spurred considerable public discussion regarding the cessation of the Atlantic slave trade. While slavery persisted for over five decades after the revolt, the slave trade itself was abolished in 1851. The continuous influx of enslaved people into Brazil immediately following the rebellion fueled widespread fear and apprehension among the population, who worried that new arrivals would simply swell the ranks of future rebel armies. Although it took more than fifteen years to materialize, the abolition of the slave trade in Brazil was, in part, a direct consequence of the fear and instability engendered by the 1835 rebellion.

Notes

  • ^ a b c Bittencourt, Circe, ed. (2007). Dicionário de datas da história do Brasil. São Paulo, SP: Editora Contexto. pp. 37–40. ISBN 9788572442961.
  • ^ a b c Bernardo, André (9 May 2018). "O legado de negros muçulmanos que se rebelaram na Bahia antes do fim da escravidão" [The legacy of black Muslims who rebelled in Bahia before the end of slavery]. BBC News (in Brazilian Portuguese). Rio de Janeiro. Archived from the original on 12 May 2018. Retrieved 27 August 2024.
  • ^ a b c Lourenço, Beatriz (25 January 2020). "Saiba o que foi e como aconteceu a Revolta dos Malês" [Find out what the Malês Revolt was and how it happened]. Galileu (in Brazilian Portuguese). Supervised by Larissa Lopes. Editora Globo. Archived from the original on 25 January 2020. Retrieved 27 August 2024.
  • ^ João José Reis, Slave Rebellion in Brazil: The Muslim Uprising of 1835 in Bahia, Johns Hopkins University Press, London 1993. pp. 118
  • ^ João José Reis, Slave Rebellion in Brazil: The Muslim Uprising of 1835 in Bahia, Johns Hopkins University Press, London 1993. pp. 96–104
  • ^ João José Reis, Slave Rebellion in Brazil: The Muslim Uprising of 1835 in Bahia, Johns Hopkins University Press, London 1993. pp. 104–111
  • ^ João José Reis, Slave Rebellion in Brazil: The Muslim Uprising of 1835 in Bahia, Johns Hopkins University Press, London 1993. p. 74
  • ^ "Devassa do levante de escravos occorido em Salvador em 1835," Anais do Arquivo do Estado da Bahia 38 (1968) pp. 61–63
  • ^ “Peças processuais do levante dos males,” ibid. 40 (1971) pp. 42–43
  • ^ Also mentioned in João José Reis, Slave Rebellion in Brazil: The Muslim Uprising of 1835 in Bahia, Johns Hopkins University Press, London 1993. p. 74
  • ^ Francisco Gonçalves Martins, Relatório do chefe de polícia Francisco Gonçalves Martins, in Etienne Ignace Brazil, "Os Malês," Revista do Instituto Histórico e Geográfico Brasileiro 72 (1909) pp. 117–118
  • ^ João José Reis, Slave Rebellion in Brazil: The Muslim Uprising of 1835 in Bahia, Johns Hopkins University Press, London 1993. pp. 77–88 (battle narrative)
  • ^ Francisco Gonçalves Martins, Relatório do chefe de polícia Francisco Gonçalves Martins, in Etienne Ignace Brazil, "Os Malês," Revista do Instituto Histórico e Geográfico Brasileiro 72 (1909) pp. 117–118
  • ^ João José Reis, Slave Rebellion in Brazil: The Muslim Uprising of 1835 in Bahia, Johns Hopkins University Press, London 1993. pp. 77–88 (battle narrative)
  • ^ Francisco Gonçalves Martins, Relatório do chefe de polícia Francisco Gonçalves Martins, in Etienne Ignace Brazil, "Os Malês," Revista do Instituto Histórico e Geográfico Brasileiro 72 (1909) pp. 117–118
  • ^ João José Reis, Slave Rebellion in Brazil: The Muslim Uprising of 1835 in Bahia, Johns Hopkins University Press, London 1993. pp. 77–88 (battle narrative)
  • ^ João José Reis, Slave Rebellion in Brazil: The Muslim Uprising of 1835 in Bahia, Johns Hopkins University Press, London 1993. pp. 73–92
  • ^ R. K. Kent, African Revolt in Bahia: 24–25 January 1835, Journal of Social History, 1970. pp. 334–356.
  • ^ a b Tẹríba, Adédoyin (2017). Afro-Brazilian Architecture In Southwest Colonial Nigeria (1890s–1940s) (Thesis). Princeton University. p. 2.
  • ^ Steven Barboza, American Jihad, 1993.
  • ^ Dale T. Graden, An Act "Even of Public Security": Slave Resistance, Social Tensions, and the End of the International Slave Trade to Brazil, 1835–1856, The Hispanic American Historical Review, Vol. 76, No. 2., May 1996. pp. 249–251.

References

  • Reis, João José (1993). Slave Rebellion in Brazil: The Muslim Uprising of 1835 in Bahia (1st ed.). Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 0801844622.

External Links

  • The Bahia Muslim Slave Revolt
  • Slave Routes - Americas and Caribbean
  • The Islamic Slave Revolts of Bahia, Brazil, by Abu Alfa MUHAMMAD SHAREEF bin Farid, Institute of Islamic-African Studies - in PDF
  • About African Muslims enslaved in the Americas
  • A revolta dos Malês 1835 "The Malê revolt 1835"
  • A Revolta dos Malês "The Malê revolt" Archived 10 August 2022 at the Wayback Machine
  • Revoltas de escravos na Bahia "Slave revolts in Bahia" Archived 2014-02-01 at the Wayback Machine