The quilombo of Palmares: A new overview of a maroon state in seventeenth-century Brazil

This article offers a new perspective on the history of the maroon state of Palmares in Northeastern Brazil. It adds information and interpretation to R. K. Kent's ground-breaking article 'Palmares: An African State in Brazil' published in 1965. The present essay gives an historical narrative summary with commentary on the historiography, describing Afro-Brazilian aspects of the history of Palmares. The purpose is to review and expand upon the historical, linguistic, and cultural context of Palmares and on the sources for the emerging epic material of Zumbi of Palmares.