Saliu Salvador Ramos das Neves, a Nineteenth-Century Yoruba Muslim in the Black Atlantic

Abstract

The literature on freed Africans who returned from Brazil to West Africa in the nineteenth century has emphasized the centrality of Catholicism in Aguda identity, treating Islam as a marginal consideration despite its role in catalyzing the returnee movement. This article argues that Muslims formed an important component of the returnee population throughout the century. Taking as a case history the life of Saliu Salvador Ramos das Neves, a returnee who founded one of Lagos’s oldest mosques, the paper reconstructs his trajectory on both sides of the Atlantic. The analysis begins with the political context of his enslavement, moving on to his life in Bahia, Brazil, where he witnessed an important Muslim uprising, purchased his freedom, and formed a family with whom he emigrated to Lagos in 1857. In Lagos, he acquired land, expanded his family and household, and became an important leader among Muslim returnees. The article’s final section presents evidence that even after returning to Lagos, Saliu Salvador maintained commercial and affective ties to Brazil, as did many other Aguda Muslims. Some of those who engaged in trade were religious leaders, a fact that demonstrates Islam’s importance in the dynamics of the Black Atlantic.