Benkos Biohó: the leader of the maroons, 400 years after his death

Born in the region of Biohó, in the Bijagós islands of Portuguese Guinea, present-day Guinea Bissau, in western Africa, Benkos was the member of a Bijago ethnic group that was enslaved and renamed Domingo. From Africa he was captured by Portuguese traffickers and sent to the New World. Its name evokes a village east of the Senegal River, a vassalage of the Maasai people. Captured with his wife, Wiwa, and their children Sando and Orika, he ended up arriving in Cartagena de Indias where, along with his family, he was sold to Juan de Palacio. Later, in 1596, they would pass into the hands of Alonso de Campos, a captain who operated in the service of the governor.

Benkos Biohó was one of the thousands of blacks who were enslaved in Africa and sent to America, turned into human commodities in what has been humanity's saddest practice: slavery. At that time there was a prohibition in the new kingdom that prevented the slavery of indigenous people, which is why Portuguese and Mediterranean traders ended up going to search for slave hands. In 1580, this practice increased and, following the annexation of Portugal to the Spanish crown, Cartagena de Indias became the main slave port in the world. Approximately 2000 African slaves arrived annually, during the 17th century, on the shores that today correspond to the Colombian Caribbean.

In one of his chronicles, Friar Pedro Simón narrates that in 1599 the first uprisings of the black maroons began. It was the rebellion led by Domingo (Benkos) Biohó, who had managed to flee with his family and reunite with other slaves. He is described by the chronicler as fiery, brave and daring. With his hand, about 30 slaves ventured towards the arquebus and the Matuna swamp, south of the town of Tolú. Juan Gómez was in charge of going to capture him, or to hunt him, and he took with him a gang of 20 armed men. The attempt to subdue the fugitives failed, as the maroons prevailed, killing the leader of the expedition. Victorious, the men guided by Biohó, continued their way to the mountains of Mary and in the best land they found to settle they accommodated what was later called the Palenque de San Basilio.

Upon news of the failure of Gómez's expedition, Governor Jerónimo de Zuazo y Casasola decided to send another group of men. This time, the chosen ones are Spaniards and submissive slaves. Captain Diego Hernández Calvo, assisted by Francisco de Campos, was in charge of leading this second group, which, like the first, would be defeated by the Maroons. On this occasion, they would not execute the leader but would take him as a prisoner.

The men led by Biohó launched liberation campaigns in Cartagena, Tolú, Mompos and Tenerife, although they often did nothing but raid plantations and herds in order to feed themselves. Over time, the news of this group of blacks who were opposed to slavery by the crown became better known and so did the blacks who went to Palenque, in search of a different horizon.

The disputes between Maroons and Spaniards ended around 1613, when the men of Palenque gained recognition of their autonomy and license to enter the city of Cartagena de Indias freely. The deal was that if they didn't attack, then they were free from all persecution. For a while, Benkos even managed to visit the city wearing a cloak and sword, nicknamed “the king of La Matuna”. But it wasn't all rosy. In 1619, after an altercation with the port guard, Benkos Biohó was arrested and two years later sentenced to the gallows.

On March 16, 1621, Benkos was hanged on charges of contempt and continuing the slave uprising. He died a victim of hierarchical and violent power, as Felipe Arias Escobar states, in an article published for Señal Memoria, and continues: “(...) his struggle, being the same as that of an entire people, continued to take place during the following centuries: in the 17th century there were new palenques in the Montes de María, Lower Cauca and Lower Magdalena ; by the 18th century, the Maroon peoples were upstream of both rivers, in Chocó and the peaks of the mountain ranges, while free blacks, mestizos and poor whites together expanded the agricultural frontier throughout the country. Even in the 19th century, under the frustration of an Independence that did not end slavery, the rebellions continued in Valledupar, Barranquilla or San Andrés, until when the sale of human beings was finally abolished in 1851″.

The Colombian writer, representative of the Afro in our contemporary literature, Adelaida Fernández Ochoa, author of books such as “Out there grows a world” and “Toque de son colorá”, on the subject of the anniversary, says: “The Colombian state should build a statue worthy for Benkos Biohó, in bronze, that recognizes the memory of this hero of the Maroon struggle and martyr of freedom and humanity”. And he emphasizes the importance that the character has had not only for Afro-Colombian historical memory but also for his literature, our literature: “Manuel Zapata Olivella uses him as a character in Changó, the great prostitutes and Roberto Burgos Cantor brings him back to La ceiba de la memoria”.

In 2008, UNESCO recognized the Palenquero people and their traditions as Intangible Heritage of Humanity. There is no doubt that even though the years pass, this story will still be valid. It's 400 years and it will continue to be more. Benkos Biohó lives today, more than ever.

KEEP READING: