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The Story of Rufino: Slavery, Freedom, and Islam in the Black Atlantic
A finalist for the Brazilian Book Award and winner of the Casa de las Am�rica Prize for Brazilian Literature, The Story of Rufino: Slavery, Freedom, and Islam in the Black Atlantic reconstructs the lively biography of Rufino Jos� Maria, set against the historical context of Brazil and Africa in the nineteenth century.
This book narrates the life of a Yoruba Muslim named Rufino Jos� Maria, born in the kingdom of Oyo, in present-day Nigeria. Enslaved as an adolescent by a rival ethnic group, he was acquired by Brazilian slave traffickers and taken across the Atlantic. He spent eight years as a slave in the city of Salvador, in the northeast of Brazil, where he arrived in 1823. Rufino was later sold to the southernmost province of Rio Grande do Sul, where he became the slave of the local chief of police. Five years later, in 1835, he bought his freedom with money he saved as a hired-out slave in the streets of Salvador, in Bahia, and Porto Alegre, in Rio Grande do Sul.
A few years later Rufino moved to Rio de Janeiro, where he embarked as a cook on a slave ship bound for Luanda. The trans-Atlantic slave trade had been abolished in Brazil since 1831, but it continued unabated due to official tolerance, but it came under fierce repression by British cruisers especially after 1839. Rufino made a few voyages between Luanda and the northeastern province of Pernambuco before his ship was captured by the British and taken to Sierra Leone in 1841. Here the ship would face trial by the Anglo-Brazilian Mixed Commission Against the Slave Trade. While waiting for the court's decision, Rufino lived among Yoruba Muslims, his people, and attended Quranic and Arabic classes in the outskirts of Freetown. In a rare outcome for cases such as this one, his ship was considered a "bad prize" and returned to Pernambuco with Rufino on board, again as a cook.
After a few months in Recife, Pernambuco's capital, Rufino returned to Sierra Leone as a witness in a court case started by his employers against the English government. He attended classes with Muslim masters for close to two years. When he went back to Recife via Rio de Janeiro and Bahia in 1844, he established himself as a diviner-serving whites and blacks, free and slaves, Brazilians and Africans, Muslim and non-Muslims-as well as a spiritual leader, an Alufa, in the local Afro-Muslim community. In 1853 Rufino was arrested in Recife due to rumors of an imminent African slave revolt. The police used as evidence for his arrest the large number of manuscript books and other writings in his possession, all in Arabic, the same kind of material the Bahian police had found with Muslim rebels in Bahia thirty years earlier. During his interrogation, Rufino told his life story, which is used to reconstruct the world in which he lived under slavery in Brazil, on African shores, on board slave ships, and in Recife, where he settled.
A truly Atlantic history dug out of the archives, Rufino's life is used to shed light on slavery and the slave trade, manumission, the complexities of slavery and freedom in Brazil, African freed persons, and the resilience of ethnic and religious identities. Methodologically, it combines social and cultural history with microhistory, with key academic themes of identity, creolization, African diaspora, and Atlantic history.
This book narrates the life of a Yoruba Muslim named Rufino Jos� Maria, born in the kingdom of Oyo, in present-day Nigeria. Enslaved as an adolescent by a rival ethnic group, he was acquired by Brazilian slave traffickers and taken across the Atlantic. He spent eight years as a slave in the city of Salvador, in the northeast of Brazil, where he arrived in 1823. Rufino was later sold to the southernmost province of Rio Grande do Sul, where he became the slave of the local chief of police. Five years later, in 1835, he bought his freedom with money he saved as a hired-out slave in the streets of Salvador, in Bahia, and Porto Alegre, in Rio Grande do Sul.
A few years later Rufino moved to Rio de Janeiro, where he embarked as a cook on a slave ship bound for Luanda. The trans-Atlantic slave trade had been abolished in Brazil since 1831, but it continued unabated due to official tolerance, but it came under fierce repression by British cruisers especially after 1839. Rufino made a few voyages between Luanda and the northeastern province of Pernambuco before his ship was captured by the British and taken to Sierra Leone in 1841. Here the ship would face trial by the Anglo-Brazilian Mixed Commission Against the Slave Trade. While waiting for the court's decision, Rufino lived among Yoruba Muslims, his people, and attended Quranic and Arabic classes in the outskirts of Freetown. In a rare outcome for cases such as this one, his ship was considered a "bad prize" and returned to Pernambuco with Rufino on board, again as a cook.
After a few months in Recife, Pernambuco's capital, Rufino returned to Sierra Leone as a witness in a court case started by his employers against the English government. He attended classes with Muslim masters for close to two years. When he went back to Recife via Rio de Janeiro and Bahia in 1844, he established himself as a diviner-serving whites and blacks, free and slaves, Brazilians and Africans, Muslim and non-Muslims-as well as a spiritual leader, an Alufa, in the local Afro-Muslim community. In 1853 Rufino was arrested in Recife due to rumors of an imminent African slave revolt. The police used as evidence for his arrest the large number of manuscript books and other writings in his possession, all in Arabic, the same kind of material the Bahian police had found with Muslim rebels in Bahia thirty years earlier. During his interrogation, Rufino told his life story, which is used to reconstruct the world in which he lived under slavery in Brazil, on African shores, on board slave ships, and in Recife, where he settled.
A truly Atlantic history dug out of the archives, Rufino's life is used to shed light on slavery and the slave trade, manumission, the complexities of slavery and freedom in Brazil, African freed persons, and the resilience of ethnic and religious identities. Methodologically, it combines social and cultural history with microhistory, with key academic themes of identity, creolization, African diaspora, and Atlantic history.
324 pages, Hardcover
First published January 3, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
September 6, 2020
In the research that I have conducted about the slave trade in Brazil, no other book comes close in providing such a detailed account of the middle passage. This book works because it captures each layer of the transatlantic slave trade through its central focus— Rufino. With strong numerical and anecdotal evidence, The Story of Rufino elucidates an inherently complicated process.
As a slave and cook aboard a slave ship, Rufino experienced the transatlantic slave trade from both points of view. As a slave captured from West Africa, Rufino was brought to Bahia to work at an apothecary. After a brief stint in Rio Grande do Sul, Rufino was finally freed.
The 1830s urban Brazil of Rufino was extremely diverse. Bahia functioned as a Luso-African metropolis and a proverbial "Tower of Babel." Despite their ethnic and linguistic differences, African slaves shared a common experience of oppression and a common reaction of resistance. As such, the Brazilian power elite lived under a constant fear of insurrection.
Motivated by the financial incentives, Rufino served as a cook and a translator aboard a slave ship. As a cook, Rufino had the crucial job of ensuring that slaves were well fed. If done poorly, dozens of slaves could die thereby curtailing potential economic profit. Some journeys recorded mortality rates as high as 26.8%.
The book also covers the black market slave trade of 1830 to 1850 and the work of the British Royal Navy to prevent illegal slave ships from reaching Brazil. João José Reis captures the evils of mid- nineteenth Brazilian slavocracy with stunning accuracy and depth. I highly recommend this book.
As a slave and cook aboard a slave ship, Rufino experienced the transatlantic slave trade from both points of view. As a slave captured from West Africa, Rufino was brought to Bahia to work at an apothecary. After a brief stint in Rio Grande do Sul, Rufino was finally freed.
The 1830s urban Brazil of Rufino was extremely diverse. Bahia functioned as a Luso-African metropolis and a proverbial "Tower of Babel." Despite their ethnic and linguistic differences, African slaves shared a common experience of oppression and a common reaction of resistance. As such, the Brazilian power elite lived under a constant fear of insurrection.
Motivated by the financial incentives, Rufino served as a cook and a translator aboard a slave ship. As a cook, Rufino had the crucial job of ensuring that slaves were well fed. If done poorly, dozens of slaves could die thereby curtailing potential economic profit. Some journeys recorded mortality rates as high as 26.8%.
The book also covers the black market slave trade of 1830 to 1850 and the work of the British Royal Navy to prevent illegal slave ships from reaching Brazil. João José Reis captures the evils of mid- nineteenth Brazilian slavocracy with stunning accuracy and depth. I highly recommend this book.
August 20, 2025
bão livro, irei reler algumas vezes vários desses capítulos.
April 3, 2021
Required reading for a graduate seminar, Comparative Slavery
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews