Palmares
The most famous quilombo was Palmares, an independent, self-sustaining republic near Recife, established in about 1600. Palmares was massive and consisted of several settlements with a combined population of over 30,000 renegades, mostly blacks. It was the only quilombo to survive almost an entire century, with the second longest-standing quilombo at Mato Grosso lasting only 25 years. Part of the reason for the massive size of the quilombo at Palmares was because of its location in Brazil, which was at the median point between the Atlantic Ocean and Guinea, an important area of the African slave trade.Quilombo dos Palmares was a self-sustaining republic of escaped slaves from the Portuguese settlements in Brazil, "a region perhaps the size of Portugal in the hinterland of Bahia" (Braudel 1984 p 390).
At its height, Palmares had a population of over 30,000. Forced to defend against repeated attacks by Portuguese colonists, the warriors of Palmares were experts in capoeira, a dance and martial art form.
Ganga Zumba and Zumbi are the two most well known warrior-leaders of Palmares which, after a history of conflict with, first, Dutch and then Portuguese colonial authorities, finally fell to a Portuguese artillery assault in 1694.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. The governor from that province declared "it is harder to defeat a quilombo than the dutch invaders".
In Brazil, both men are now honored as heroes and symbols of black pride, freedom and democracy. Zumbi's execution date (as his birthday is unknown), 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.
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