Zumbi and Dandara from Palmares

During the period of Portuguese rule in Brazil, quilombos offered refuge to escaped or freed black slaves in Brazil. The term comes from the Bantu language and means ‘settlement’.

The largest and most well-known quilombo was located in the Serra da Barriga, which belongs to Palmares. At times, more than 30,000 people lived there and fought against the troops of Bandeirante Domingos Jorge Velho for years. They were only defeated in 1694 and the survivors were enslaved.

To strengthen their resistance against slaveholders, the Quilombo residents further developed the martial art Capoeira. They used it successfully against slave hunters.

Zumbi was born free in Palmares in 1655. He was the nephew of Ganga Zumba and the grandson of the Angolan princess Agualtune. At about six years old, he was captured by the Portuguese and given to the missionary Antonio Melo. There, he received a Catholic education, was baptized as Francisco and learned Portuguese and Latin. At 15, he fled back to his homeland of Palmares and became a respected military strategist.

In 1678, Pedro Almeida, the governor of Pernambuco, offered Ganga Zumba freedom for all the inhabitants of the Quilombo dos Palmares. The condition was to join the Portuguese administration. Ganga Zumba wanted to accept the offer, but Zumbi did not trust the Portuguese. He wanted freedom for all Africans.

Zumbi decided to continue the resistance and rejected the offer. He became the leader of the Quilombo Palmares.

Fifteen years after Zumbi took over, his warriors launched attacks up to the outskirts of Recife. Eventually, the Portuguese launched a major offensive. The Palmares could not withstand this. On February 6, 1694, the Portuguese destroyed the Quilombo after 67 years of war.

Zumbi was wounded but led the resistance for another two years. A traitor eventually revealed his hiding place. On November 20, 1695, he was beheaded. The Portuguese displayed his head in Recife. However, the African slaves fought on for another hundred years.

Dandara, Zumi's wife, is the most representative female leader in the Republic of Palmares. She had three children and, like her husband, she defied the terms of the contract between the governor of the captaincy of Pernambuco and Ganga Zumba. She also campaigned for the freedom of all people. She was at the forefront of all battles and struggles. Little is known about her origins, where she was born or where she came from. It is only said that she had ancestors in the Central African Republic.

After the destruction of Palmarès in 1694, she refused to go back to slavery and took her own life by throwing herself off a cliff. Although she did not receive the same recognition as her husband, her legacy is still honoured.

The death anniversary of the last leader of the "Quilombo dos Palmares", November 20, 1695, is now a national holiday. Black Consciousness Day is celebrated throughout Brazil. Zumbi dos Palmares became a myth, a national hero of the Afro-Brazilian human rights movement of the 20th century.

Even though the Palmares did not survive, quilombos continue to exist as black communities. Today there are over 3,000 Quilombola communities. The descendants of the freed slaves who fought alongside Zumbi and Dandara of Palmares continue to pay them respect. Without Zumbi and Dandara's courage and love for the African people, these communities would probably not exist.

Capoeira combines dance, music, rituals and fighting. The slaves developed this form for self-defense.