Ganga Zumba

Ganga Zumba became the first leader of the Quilombo dos Palmares, a large settlement of escaped enslaved people in the captaincy of Pernambuco, Brazil. The settlement grew into a self-governing maroon kingdom with a population of thousands, resisting Portuguese and Dutch colonial forces for decades.

Ganga Zumba negotiated and signed a peace treaty with Portuguese colonial authorities, accepting the relocation of Palmares residents to the Cuca

Ganga Zumba was killed, likely poisoned, by rivals within the Palmares community who opposed his peace treaty with the Portuguese. His death paved the way for Zumbi dos Palmares to assume leadership and resume armed resistance against colonial forces.