The Malê Revolt, perhaps the most significant slave rebellion in Brazil, takes place in the city of Salvador da Bahia in 1835.
Scheduled to take place on Sunday, January 25th, due to various incidents, it was forced to start before the planned time.
On Saturday the 24th, slaves began to hear rumors of an upcoming rebellion.
While there are multiple accounts of freed slaves telling their previous masters about the revolts, only one was reported to the proper authorities.
A man named Domingos Fortunato overheard rumors and told his wife, Guilhermina Rosa de Souza, of the rebellion.
Guilhermina then proceeded to tell her white neighbor, Andre Pinto da Silveria.
Several of Pinto de Silveria’s friends were present, including Antonio de Souza Guimares and Francisco Antonio Malheiros, who took it upon themselves to relay the information to the local authorities.
All of these events occurred between the hours of 9:30 and 10:30 PM on Saturday the 24th.
The justice of the peace, José Mendes de Costa Coelho, reinforces the palace guard, alerts the barracks, doubles the night patrol, and orders boats to watch the bay, all by 11:00 PM.
At around 1:00 AM on Sunday, justices of the peace search the home of Domingos Marinho de Sa, who, fearing for his life, had reported that there were Africans meeting in his house.
The justices ask to see for themselves and go down into his basement where they find the ringleaders, discussing last minute details.
However, the Africans are able to turn the officers out into the streets, where several people are injured and at least one killed in the fighting.
After securing the area, the rebels split up to go in different directions throughout the city.
Most of the groups do very little fighting because they are recruiters, calling slaves to war.
However, the largest group travels up the hill toward Palace Square (Praça Municipal today), and continues to fight.
The rebels decide to first attack the city palace of the jail, attempting to free a Muslim leader, Pacifico Licutan, but the prison guards prove too much for the rebels, who perhaps are looking to supplement their weak supply of arms with the jailers’.
Under heavy fire, the slaves withdraw from the prison and retreat to the Largo de Teatro.
Reinforcements arrive on the slaves’ side, and together they attack a nearby post of soldiers in order to take their weapons.
They march toward the officers’ barracks and put up a good fight, but the soldiers are able to pull the gate guarding the barracks shut.
The slaves have failed.
After failing to take several more key positions, the slaves decide to head through the city, toward Cabrito, the designated meeting spot.
In between Cabrito and Salvador da Bahia is the Brazilian cavalry at Água de Meninos, which the rebels reach at about 3:00 AM.
The foot soldiers immediately retreat inside the confines of the barracks while the men on horseback stay outside.
The rebels, who now only number about fifty to sixty, do not attempt to attack the barracks.
Instead, they seek a way around it.
However, they are met with fire from the barracks, followed by a cavalry charge, which proves too powerful for the rebels.
After the rebels are completely devastated, more slaves arrive.
After assessing the situation, the slaves decide that their only hope is to attack and take the barracks.
This desperate attempt proves futile, and the rebels quickly decide to flee.
The cavalry mounts one last charge that finishes them off.
Fearful that the whole state of Bahia will follow the example of Saint-Domingue (Haiti) and rise up and revolt, the authorities quickly sentence four of the rebels to death, sixteen to prison, eight to forced labor, and forty-five to flogging.
The other surviving leaders of the revolt will be deported back to Africa by the authorities; it is believed that such ethnicities as the Tabom People of Ghana are descended from this deportation, although descendants of these Afro-Brazilian repatriates are reputed to be widespread throughout West Africa (such as Sylvanus Olympio, the first president of Togo).
Fearing the example might be followed, the Brazilian authorities begin to watch the malês very carefully and in subsequent years, intensive efforts will be made to force conversions to Catholicism and erase the popular memory and affection towards Islam.
However, the African Muslim community will not be erased overnight, and as late as 1910 it will be estimated there are still some one hundred thousand African Muslims living in Brazil.
Many consider this rebellion to be the turning point of slavery in Brazil.
