Luiza Mahin was born some time in the 1800s in either the Gulf of Benin, West Africa or Bahia (her exact place of birth and birth date are uncertain) and claimed to be of African royalty. Based on her surname, she is assumed to be of the Mahi tribe from the Nagô (a subgroup of the Yoruba) nation who were practitioners of Islam. Luiza Mahin is most iconically known to have been very involved in many of the slave revolts and uprisings that occurred in Bahia during the early half of the nineteenth century. She was a key player and strategist in the Malê Revolt as she helped to distribute messages in Arabic to others involved. It is said that had the Malê Revolt been successful, she would have been declared the “Queen of Bahia”. It’s not clear whatever happened to Luiza Mahin. Some reports say she escaped to Rio de Janeiro, was found and arrested before being deported to Angola. Other tales say that she escaped to Maranhão where she settled and helped to influence Afro-Brazilian culture there. She had at least one son, Luiz Gama, who was a well-renowned Bahian poet and abolitionist who had this to say about her:
“I am the native son of a black African woman, free, of the Nagô nation, whose name is Luiza Mahin, pagan, who always refused baptism and christian doctrine. My mother was short, thin, beautiful, the color of jet black unglazed, teeth white like snow. Haughty, generous, a sufferer, and vengeful.”
