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Bibiana Vuz de França
She was a prominent Nhara slave-trader in Cacheu, Guinea-Bissau who, over the years, accumulated a lot of wealth and slaves.
She became so powerful and influential that she was accused of rebellion, trading with foreigners, and tax evasion and was imprisoned with her younger brother and another co-conspirator and taken to Cape Verde Islands all in a bid to rip her of her influence and power.
She was able to obtain a royal pardon and free her younger brother after leading a coup against the Crown’s representatives.
The Authorities sought to criminalize her but failed because she was too powerful and too influential. All charges against her were dropped and she was once more considered loyal to the crown.
Silences and Soundbites: The Gendered Dynamics of Trade and Brokerage in the Pre-colonial Guinea Bissau Region cited that in 1687, Bibiana Vaz was arrested and taken to São Tiago, today as Santiago, and held as a prisoner. Unable to confiscate her property, Portuguese authorities granted her a pardon in exchange for an indemnity and a promise that she would construct a fort in Bolor on the Cacheu River. She never constructed the fort.
