Quilombo
Documentation about refugee slave communities typically uses the term mocambo for settlements, which is an Ambundu word meaning "war camp".
The colony was undergoing both political transition, as it fought for independence from Portugal, and new tensions associated with an increased slave trade, which brought in many more native-born Africans who resisted slavery.
In 17th century Angola, a new military formation called kilombo (a fortified town surrounded by a wooden palisade) appeared among Imbangala warriors, which would soon be used in Brazil by freed Angolan slaves.
In addition, enslaved people were held to nearly-impossible daily production quotas while having to contend with lack of rest and food.
[6] Conditions were so bad that even the Crown intervened on at least two occasions, forcing plantation owners to provide the people they enslaved with sufficient food.
[7] In general, slaves who were caught running away were also required to wear an iron collar around their necks at all times, in addition to the punishment they received.
[9] It is widely believed that the term quilombo establishes a link between settlements and the culture of West Central Africa from where the majority of slaves were forcibly brought to Brazil.
It was located between Salvador and Itapoa until it was eventually destroyed by a force led by Joaquim da Costa Cardozo.
In 1752, an expedition led by Pere Marcos was attacked by quilimbo fighters, resulting in significant loss of life.
[19] Part of the reason for the massive size of the quilombo at Palmares was because of its location in Brazil, at the median point between the Atlantic Ocean and Guinea, an important area of the African slave trade.
Quilombo dos Palmares was an autonomous community of escaped enslaved people from the Portuguese settlements in Brazil, "a region perhaps the size of Portugal in the hinterland of Bahia".
[21] In 1640, a Dutch scouting mission found that the self-freed community of Palmares was spread over two settlements, with about 6,000 living in one location, and another 5,000 in another.
[26] Forced to defend against repeated attacks by Portuguese colonists, the warriors of Palmares were experts in capoeira, a dance and martial art form.
[citation needed] Portuguese soldiers sometimes stated it took more than one dragoon to capture a quilombo warrior since they would defend themselves with a strangely moving fighting technique (capoeira).
[citation needed] In Brazil, both men are now honored as heroes and symbols of black pride, freedom, and democracy.
As his birthday is unknown, Zumbi's execution date, November 20, is observed as Dia da Consciência Negra or "Black Awareness Day" in the states of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, and his image has appeared on postage stamps, banknotes, and coins.
The Mola quilombo comprised approximately 300 formerly enslaved people and had a high degree of political, social, and military organization.
Directed by Carlos Diegues, Quilombo is a historical epic that chronicles the lives of Ganga Zumba and Zumbi.
Article 68 of the 1988 Constitution of Brazil granted the remaining quilombos the collective ownership of the lands they had occupied since colonial times.
[39] In South American Spanish of the Southern Cone, the word quilombo has come to mean brothel; in Argentina, Bolivia, Honduras, Paraguay, and Uruguay, a mess, noise or disorder; in Venezuela, a remote or out-of-the-way place.
