  | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
|---|---|
| Accra andKumasi. | |
| Languages | |
| Religion | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
TheAgudas orTabom are theAfro-Brazilian community in the south ofBenin,Togo andGhana who are mostly ofYoruba descent.[1][self-published source][2] The Tabom People are an Afro-Brazilian community of former enslaved peoples who returned to Africa (Ghana). When they arrived in Jamestown,Accra they could speak onlyPortuguese, and would conspicuously use the phrase "Tá bom" ("Okay"),[3] so theGa-Adangbe people,[4] who primarily inhabited the Jamestown neighborhood in Accra, started to call them the Tabom.
The Afro-Brazilian descendants and community in the south ofGhana dates back to one study from the 19th century that between an estimated 3,000 and 8,000 former slaves decided to return to Africa.[5]
Up to now, it is not very clear if the Tabom really bought their freedom and decided to immediately come back or if they were at that time free workers in Brazil who came after theMalê revolt of 1835 inBahia. A lot of Afro-Brazilians when persecuted found their way back to Ghana, Togo, Benin and Nigeria especially those who organised the Malê Revolt.[5] In Ghana, it is common to find family names like de Souza, Silva, or Cardoso. Some of them have been very well known in Ghana.
In Ghana, the representative group of people that decided to come back from Brazil is the Tabom people. They came back on a ship called SSSalisbury, offered by the British government. About seventy Afro-Brazilians of seven different families arrived in South Ghana and Accra, in the region of the old port inJames Town in 1836.[5] The reception by the Mantse Nii Ankrah of the Otublohum area was so warm that they decided to settle down in Accra.[5] The leader of the Tabom group at the time of their arrival was a certain Nii Azumah Nelson.[5] The eldest son of Azumah Nelson, Nii Alasha, was his successor and a very close friend to the Ga King Nii Tackie Tawiah.[5] Together they helped in the development of the whole community incommerce.[5]
At the present, the Tabom Mantse is Nii Azumah V, a descendant of the Nelsons. The Taboms are also known as the founders of the First Scissors House in 1854, the firsttailoring shop in the country, which had amongst other activities, the task to provide theGhanaian Army with uniforms.[5] One notable figure is Dan Morton, a Tabom and one of the most famous tailors in Accra today.[5]
In Ghana, the de Souza family can be found aroundOsu,Kokomlemle and other parts of theGreater Accra region and South Ghana.Sekondi-Takoradi andCape Coast are also other bases.[5] Almost all of them remained along the coastal regions of South Ghana.[5] However, it is very common to see a De Souza, a Wellington, a Benson, a Josiah, a Pereria, a Palmares, a Nelson, an Azumah, Amorin, Da Costa, Santos, De Medeiros, Nunoo, Olympio, Maslieno, Maselino (a changed version of 'Maslieno' by the late Rev. Canon Seth Nii Adulai Maselino ((1919 - 1994)) whose parents originated from Maslieno House in Adabraka, Accra) and other Afro-Brazilians in Ghana speaking perfectGa-Adangbe.[5] This is because most of the Afro-Brazilian people marriedGa-Adangbes.[5]
Because they were welcomed by theGa-Adangbe people and received by their kings as personal guests, the Taboms received lands in privileged locations, in places that are nowadays very well-knownestates, like Asylum Down, the area near to the central train station and around theAccra Brewery Company.[5] In those areas, the mango trees planted by them bear silent witnesses to their presence. In the estate ofNorth Ridge there is a street called “Tabom Street”, which is a reminder of the huge plantations that they formerly had there.[5] Some of the Taboms live nowadays inJames Town, where the first house built and used by them as they arrived in South Ghana is located.[5] It is called the "Brazil House" and can be found in a short street with the name “Brazil Lane”.[5] Because of their agricultural skills, they started plantations ofmango,cassava, beans, and other vegetables. They brought also skills such asirrigation techniques,architecture,carpentry,blacksmithing,gold smithing, tailoring, amongst others, which certainly improved the quality of life of the whole community.[5]
Nowadays the Taboms are completely integrated into Ghanaian society and are a part of theGa-Adangbe people.[5][6]
| Africa |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Americas | ||
| Asia | ||
| Europe | ||
| Oceania | ||
| Geography |
| ||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Secondary Afro-American diaspora |
| ||||||||||||||||||
| Related topics | |||||||||||||||||||
