Tomba of the Baga people anti slavery uprising
May 30, 1720
Picture of display from International Slavery Museum via historyreclaimed.co.uk
On about this date in 1720, Tomba of the Baga people the Guinea coastline of Africa led a mutiny on a slave ship for which he died. He was assisted by a female enslaved person who's name is now lost to us. Previously in the early 1700's the Islamic state in the area had justified slave raiding against non-Islamic peoples of which the Baga people belonged. They resisted under Tomba's leadership, raiding slave caravans for food and supplies in their territory. He tried unsuccessfully to prevent Europeans trading in African people, killing African middlemen and burning their houses. Although defeated they remain an important part of the history of African resistance to the Atlantic slave trade.