Coordinates	55°45′06″N37°37′04″N
Name	Harappa
Pushpin map	Pakistan
Coordinates region	PK
Subdivision type	Country
Subdivision type1	Province
Subdivision name
Subdivision name1	Punjab
Subdivision type2	District
Subdivision name2	Sahiwal District
Subdivision type3	Tehsil
Timezone	Pakistan Standard Time
Utc offset	+5

Harappa (Urdu/Punjabi: , ) is an archaeological site in Punjab, northeast Pakistan, about west of Sahiwal. The site takes its name from a modern village located near the former course of the Ravi River. The current village of Harappa is from the ancient site. Although modern Harappa has a train station left from the British times, it is today just a small (pop. 15,000) crossroads town.

The site of the ancient city contains the ruins of a Bronze Age fortified city, which was part of the Cemetery H culture and the Indus Valley Civilization, centered in Sindh and the Punjab. The city is believed to have had as many as 23,500 residents—considered large for its time.

The ancient city of Harappa was greatly destroyed under the British Raj, when bricks from the ruins were used as track ballast in the making of the Lahore-Multan Railroad.

In 2005, a controversial amusement park scheme at the site was abandoned when builders unearthed many archaeological artifacts during the early stages of construction work. A plea from the prominent Pakistani archaeologist Ahmed Hasan Dani to the Ministry of Culture resulted in a restoration of the site.

History

The Indus Valley Civilization (also known as Harappan culture) has its earliest roots in cultures such as that of Mehrgarh, approximately 6000 BCE. The two greatest cities, Mohenjo-daro and Harappa, emerged circa 2600 BCE along the Indus River valley in Punjab and Sindh. The civilization, with a writing system, urban centers, and diversified social and economic system, was rediscovered in the 1920s after excavations at Mohenjo-daro (which means "mound of the dead") in Sindh near Sukkur, and Harappa, in west Punjab south of Lahore. A number of other sites stretching from the Himalayan foothills in east Punjab, India in the north, to Gujarat in the south and east, and to Balochistan in the west have also been discovered and studied. Although the archaeological site at Harappa was partially damaged in 1857 when engineers constructing the Lahore-Multan railroad (as part of the Sind and Punjab Railway), used brick from the Harappa ruins for track ballast, an abundance of artifacts has nevertheless been found. The bricks discovered were made of red sand, clay,stones & were baked at very high temperature.

Culture and economy

Indus Valley civilization was mainly an urban culture sustained by surplus agricultural production and commerce, the latter including trade with Sumer in southern Mesopotamia. Both Mohenjo-daro and Harappa are generally characterized as having "differentiated living quarters, flat-roofed brick houses, and fortified administrative or religious centers." Although such similarities have given rise to arguments for the existence of a standardized system of urban layout and planning, the similarities are largely due to the presence of a semi-orthogonal type of civic layout, and a comparison of the layouts of Mohenjo-daro and Harappa shows that they are in fact, arranged in a quite dissimilar fashion. The chert weights and measures of the Indus Valley Civilization, on the other hand, were highly standardized, and conform to a set scale of gradations. Distinctive seals were used, among other applications, perhaps for identification of property and shipment of goods. Although copper and bronze were in use, iron was not yet employed. "Cotton was woven and dyed for clothing; wheat, rice, and a variety of vegetables and fruits were cultivated; and a number of animals, including the humped bull, were domesticated." Wheel-made pottery—some of it adorned with animal and geometric motifs—has been found in profusion at all the major Indus sites. A centralized administration for each city, though not the whole civilization, has been inferred from the revealed cultural uniformity; however, it remains uncertain whether authority lay with a commercial oligarchy. There appears to be a complete lack of priestly "pomp or lavish display" that was common in other civilizations.

Archaeology

By far the most exquisite and obscure artefacts unearthed to date are the small, square steatite (soapstone) seals engraved with human or animal motifs. A large number of seals have been found at such sites as Mohenjo-daro and Harappa. Many bear pictographic inscriptions generally thought to be a form of writing or script. Despite the efforts of philologists from all parts of the world, and despite the use of modern cryptographic analysis, the signs remain undeciphered. It is also unknown if they reflect proto-Dravidian or other non-Vedic language(s). The ascription of Indus Valley Civilization iconography and epigraphy to historically known cultures is extremely problematic, in part due to the rather tenuous archaeological evidence of such claims, as well as the projection of modern South Asian political concerns onto the archaeological record of the area. This is especially evident in the radically varying interpretations of Harappan material culture as seen from both Pakistan and India-based scholars.

Notes

The earliest radiocarbon dating mentioned on the web is 2725+-185 BCE (uncalibrated) or 3338, 3213, 3203 BCE calibrated, giving a midpoint of 3251 BCE. Kenoyer, Jonathan Mark (1991) Urban process in the Indus Tradition: A preliminary report. In Harappa Excavations, 1986-1990: A multidisciplinary approach to Second Millennium urbanism, edited by Richard H. Meadow: 29-59. Monographs in World Archaeology No.3. Prehistory Press, Madison Wisconsin.

Periods 4 and 5 are not dated at Harappa. The termination of the Harappan tradition at Harappa falls between 1900 and 1500 BCE.

Mohenjo-daro is another major city of the same period, located in Sindh province of Pakistan. One of its most well-known structures is the Great Bath of Mohenjo-daro.

Dholavira is an ancient Metropolitan City. The Harappans used roughly the same size bricks and weights as were used in other Indus cities, such as Mohenjo Daro and Dholavira. These cities were well planned with wide streets, public and private wells, drains, bathing platforms and reservoirs.

See also

Charles Masson - First European explorer of Harappa

Dholavira

Lothal

Harappan architecture

Mandi, Uttar Pradesh, India

Mehrgarh

Sheri Khan Tarakai

Mohenjo-daro

Sokhta Koh

References

External links

Harappa.com

Category:4th-millennium BC architecture Category:Ancient India Category:Archaeological sites in Pakistan Category:Bronze Age Category:Populated places in Sahiwal District Category:Indus Valley sites Category:Former populated places in Pakistan

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Robin Hood was an outlaw in English folklore. A highly skilled archer and swordsman, he is now known for "robbing from the rich and giving to the poor", assisted by a group of fellow outlaws known as his "Merry Men". Traditionally Robin Hood and his men are depicted wearing Lincoln green clothes. The origin of the legend is claimed by some to have stemmed from actual outlaws, or from ballads or tales of outlaws.

Robin Hood became a popular folk figure starting in the medieval period continuing through modern literature, films, and television. In the earliest sources Robin Hood is a yeoman, but he was often later portrayed as an aristocrat wrongfully dispossessed of his lands and made into an outlaw by an unscrupulous sheriff.

History

In popular culture Robin Hood and his band of Merry Men are usually portrayed as living in Sherwood Forest, in Nottinghamshire, where much of the action in the early ballads takes place. So does the very first recorded Robin Hood rhyme, four lines from the early 15th century, beginning: "Robyn hode in scherewode stod". However, the overall picture from the surviving early ballads and other early references suggest that Robin Hood may have been based in the Barnsdale area of what is now South Yorkshire (which borders Nottinghamshire).

Other traditions point to a variety of locations as Robin's "true" home both inside Yorkshire and elsewhere, with the abundance of places named for Robin causing further confusion. A tradition dating back at least to the end of the 16th century gives his birthplace as Loxley, Sheffield in South Yorkshire, while the site of Robin Hood's Well in Skellow, South Yorkshire has been associated with Robin Hood since at least 1422. Records show a man named Robin Hood lived in Wakefield, Yorkshire in the 13th and 14th centuries. His grave has been claimed to be at Kirklees Priory near Mirfield in West Yorkshire, as implied by the 18th-century version of Robin Hood's Death, and there is a headstone there of dubious authenticity.

The first clear reference to "rhymes of Robin Hood" is from the late 14th-century poem Piers Plowman, but the earliest surviving copies of the narrative ballads which tell his story have been dated to the 15th century or the first decade of the 16th century. In these early accounts Robin Hood's partisanship of the lower classes, his Marianism and associated special regard for women, his outstanding skill as an archer, his anti-clericalism, and his particular animosity towards the Sheriff of Nottingham are already clear. Little John, Much the Miller's Son and Will Scarlet (as Will "Scarlok" or "Scathelocke") all appear, although not yet Maid Marian or Friar Tuck. It is not certain what should be made of these latter two absences as it is known that Friar Tuck, for one, has been part of the legend since at least the later 15th century.

In popular culture Robin Hood is typically seen as a contemporary and supporter of the late 12th-century king Richard the Lionheart, Robin being driven to outlawry during the misrule of Richard's brother John while Richard was away at the Third Crusade. This view first gained currency in the 16th century. It is not supported by the earliest ballads. The early compilation A Gest of Robyn Hode names the king as "Edward," and while it does show Robin Hood as accepting the King's pardon he later repudiates it and returns to the greenwood.

The oldest surviving ballad, Robin Hood and the Monk, gives even less support to the picture of Robin Hood as a partisan of the true king. The setting of the early ballads is usually attributed by scholars to either the 13th century or the 14th, although it is recognised they are not necessarily historically consistent.

The early ballads are also quite clear on Robin Hood's social status: he is a yeoman. While the precise meaning of this term changed over time, including free retainers of an aristocrat and small landholders, it always referred to commoners. The essence of it in the present context was "neither a knight nor a peasant or 'husbonde' but something in between." We know that artisans (such as millers) were among those regarded as "yeomen" in the 14th century. From the 16th century on there were attempts to elevate Robin Hood to the nobility and in two extremely influential plays Anthony Munday presented him at the very end of the 16th century as the Earl of Huntingdon, as he is still commonly presented in modern times.

As well as ballads, the legend was also transmitted by "Robin Hood games" or plays that were an important part of the late medieval and early modern May Day festivities. The first record of a Robin Hood game was in 1426 in Exeter, but the reference does not indicate how old or widespread this custom was at the time. The Robin Hood games are known to have flourished in the later 15th and 16th centuries. It is commonly stated as fact that Maid Marian and a jolly friar (at least partly identifiable with Friar Tuck) entered the legend through the May Games.

The early ballads link Robin Hood to identifiable real places and many are convinced that he was a real person, more or less accurately portrayed. A number of theories as to the identity of "the real Robin Hood" have their supporters. Some of these theories posit that "Robin Hood" or "Robert Hood" or the like was his actual name; others suggest that this may have been merely a nickname disguising a medieval bandit perhaps known to history under another name. One historian has claimed Robin Hood was a pseudonym by which the ancient Lords of Wellow, Nottinghamshire were once known. It is interesting that the village has such a strong connection with maypole celebrations, considering Robin Hood's links with the same thing.

At the same time it is possible that Robin Hood has always been a fictional character; the folklorist Francis James Child declared "Robin Hood is absolutely a creation of the ballad-muse" and this view has been neither proven or disproven. Another view is that Robin Hood's origins must be sought in folklore or mythology; Despite the frequent Christian references in the early ballads, Robin Hood has been claimed for the pagan witch-cult supposed by Margaret Murray to have existed in medieval Europe.

Early references

The oldest references to Robin Hood are not historical records, or even ballads recounting his exploits, but hints and allusions found in various works. From 1228 onwards, the names 'Robinhood', 'Robehod' or 'Robbehod' occur in the rolls of several English Justices. The majority of these references date from the late 13th century. Between 1261 and 1300, there are at least eight references to 'Rabunhod' in various regions across England, from Berkshire in the south to York in the north.

In a petition presented to Parliament in 1439, the name is used to describe an itinerant felon. The petition cites one Piers Venables of Aston, Derbyshire, "who having no liflode, ne sufficeante of goodes, gadered and assembled unto him many misdoers, beynge of his clothynge, and, in manere of insurrection, wente into the wodes in that countrie, like as it hadde be Robyn Hude and his meyne." The name was still used to describe sedition and treachery in 1605, when Guy Fawkes and his associates were branded "Robin Hoods" by Robert Cecil.

The first allusion to a literary tradition of Robin Hood tales occurs in William Langland's ''Piers Plowman'' (c. 1362–c. 1386) in which Sloth, the lazy priest, confesses: "I kan'' [know] ''not parfitly'' [perfectly] ''my Paternoster as the preest it singeth,/ But I kan rymes of Robyn Hood and Randolf Erl of Chestre."

The first mention of a quasi-historical Robin Hood is given in Andrew of Wyntoun's ''Orygynale Chronicle'', written in about 1420. The following lines occur with little contextualisation under the year 1283:

:Lytil Jhon and Robyne Hude :Wayth-men ware commendyd gude :In Yngil-wode and Barnysdale :Thai oysyd all this tyme thare trawale.

The next notice is a statement in the ''Scotichronicon'', composed by John of Fordun between 1377 and 1384, and revised by Walter Bower in about 1440. Among Bower's many interpolations is a passage which directly refers to Robin. It is inserted after Fordun's account of the defeat of Simon de Montfort and the punishment of his adherents. Robin is represented as a fighter for de Montfort's cause. This was in fact true of the historical outlaw of Sherwood Forest Roger Godberd, whose points of similarity to the Robin Hood of the ballads have often been noted.

Bower writes:

:Then [c. 1266] arose the famous murderer, Robert Hood, as well as Little John, together with their accomplices from among the disinherited, whom the foolish populace are so inordinately fond of celebrating both in tragedies and comedies, and about whom they are delighted to hear the jesters and minstrels sing above all other ballads.

The word translated here as "murderer" is the Latin ''siccarius'', from the Latin for "knife." Bower goes on to tell a story about Robin Hood in which he refuses to flee from his enemies while hearing Mass in the greenwood, and then gains a surprise victory over them, apparently as a reward for his piety.

Another reference, discovered by Julian Luxford in 2009, appears in the margin of the "Polychronicon" in the Eton College library. Written around the year 1460 by a monk in Latin, it says:

:Around this time, according to popular opinion, a certain outlaw named Robin Hood, with his accomplices, infested Sherwood and other law-abiding areas of England with continuous robberies.

William Shakespeare makes reference to Robin Hood in his late 16th-century play ''The Two Gentlemen of Verona'', one of his earliest. In it, the character Valentine is banished from Milan and driven out through the forest where he is approached by outlaws who, upon meeting him, desire him as their leader. They comment, "By the bare scalp of Robin Hood's fat friar, This fellow were a king for our wild faction!"

References to Robin as Earl of Huntington

Another reference is provided by Thomas Gale, Dean of York (c. 1635–1702), but this comes nearly four hundred years after the events it describes:

:''[Robin Hood's] death is stated by Ritson to have taken place on the 18th of November, 1247, about the 87th year of his age; but according to the following inscription found among the papers of the Dean of York...the death occurred a month later. In this inscription, which bears evidence of high antiquity, Robin Hood is described as Earl of Huntington - his claim to which title has been as hotly contested as any disputed peerage upon record.''

::''Hear undernead dis laitl stean ::''Lais Robert Earl of Huntingun ::''Near arcir der as hie sa geud ::''An pipl kauld im Robin Heud ::''Sic utlaws as hi an is men ::''Vil England nivr si agen. :::''Obiit 24 Kal Dekembris 1247

This inscription also appears on a grave in the grounds of Kirklees Priory near Kirklees Hall (see below).

Robert is largely fictional by this time. The Gale note is inaccurate. The medieval texts do not refer to him directly, but mediate their allusions through a body of accounts and reports: for Langland, Robin exists principally in "rimes," for Bower, "comedies and tragedies," while for Wyntoun he is, "commendyd gude." Even in a legal context, where one would expect to find verifiable references to Robert, he is primarily a symbol, a generalised outlaw-figure rather than an individual. Consequently, in the medieval period itself, Robin Hood already belongs more to literature than to history. In fact, in an anonymous song called ''Woman'' of c. 1412, he is treated in precisely this manner - as a joke, a figure that the audience will instantly recognise as imaginary: :''He that made this songe full good, :''Came of the northe and the sothern blode,'' :''And somewhat kyne to Robert Hoad.''

Sources

There is at present little scholarly support for the view that tales of Robin Hood have stemmed from mythology or folklore, from fairies or other mythological origins, any such associations being regarded as later development. The mythological theory does go back to at least to 1584, when Reginald Scot identified Robin Hood with the Germanic goblin "Hudgin" or Hodekin and associated him with Robin Goodfellow. Maurice Keen provides a brief summary and useful critique of the once-popular view that Robin Hood had mythological origins, while (unlike some) refraining from utterly and finally dismissing it. While Robin Hood and his men often show super skill in archery, swordplay, and disguise, they are no more exaggerated than those characters in other ballads, such as ''Kinmont Willie'', which were based on historical events.

Robin Hood's role in the traditional May Day games could suggest pagan connections, but that role has not been traced earlier than the early 15th century. However, it is uncontroversial that a Robin and Marion figured in 13th-century French "pastourelles" (of which ''Jeu de Robin et Marion'' c. 1280 is a literary version) and presided over the French May festivities, "this Robin and Marion tended to preside, in the intervals of the attempted seduction of the latter by a series of knights, over a variety of rustic pastimes."

In the ''Jeu de Robin and Marion'' Robin and his companions have to rescue Marion from the clutches of a "lustful knight." Dobson and Taylor in their survey of the legend, in which they reject the mythological theory, nevertheless regard it as "highly probable" that this French Robin's name and functions travelled to the English May Games where they fused with the Robin Hood legend.

The origin of the legend is claimed by some to have stemmed from actual outlaws, or from tales of outlaws, such as Hereward the Wake, Eustace the Monk, Fulk FitzWarin, Hereward appears in a ballad much like ''Robin Hood and the Potter'', and as the Hereward ballad is older, it appears to be the source. The ballad ''Adam Bell, Clym of the Cloughe and Wyllyam of Cloudeslee'' runs parallel to ''Robin Hood and the Monk'', but it is not clear whether either one is the source for the other, or whether they merely show that such tales were told of outlaws.

Some early Robin Hood stories appear to be unique, such as the story wherein Robin gives a knight, generally called Richard at the Lee, money to pay off his mortgage to an abbot, but this may merely indicate that no parallels have survived.

There are a number of theories that attempt to identify a historical Robin Hood. A difficulty with any such historical search is that "Robert" was in medieval England a very common given name, and "Robin" (or Robyn), especially in the 13th century, was its very common diminutive. The surname "Hood" (or Hude or Hode etc.), referring ultimately to the head-covering, was also fairly common. Unsurprisingly, therefore, there are a number of people called "Robert Hood" or "Robin Hood" to be found in medieval records. Some of them are on record for having fallen afoul of the law, but this is not necessarily significant to the legend.

The early ballads give a number of possible historical clues: notably, the Gest names the reigning king as "Edward," but the ballads cannot be assumed to be reliable in such details. For whatever it may be worth, however, King Edward I took the throne in 1272, and an Edward remained on the throne until the death of Edward III in 1377.

On the other hand, what appears to be the first known example of "Robin Hood" as stock name for an outlaw dates to 1262 in Berkshire, where the surname "Robehod" was applied to a man after he had been outlawed, and apparently because he had been outlawed. This could suggest two main possibilities: either that an early form of the Robin Hood legend was already well established in the mid 13th century; or alternatively that the name "Robin Hood" preceded the outlaw hero that we know; so that the "Robin Hood" of legend was so called because that was seen as an appropriate name for an outlaw.

It has long been suggested, notably by John Maddicott, that "Robin Hood" was a stock alias used by thieves. Another theory of the origin of the name needs to be mentioned here. The 1911 ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' remarks that 'hood' was a common dialectical form of 'wood'; and that the outlaw's name has been given as "Robin Wood." There are indeed a number of references to Robin Hood as Robin Wood, or Whood, or Whod, from the 16th and 17th centuries. The earliest recorded example, in connection with May games in Somerset, dates from 1518.

One well-known theory of origin was proposed by Joseph Hunter in 1852. Hunter identified the outlaw with a "Robyn Hode" recorded as employed by Edward II in 1323 during the king's progress through Lancashire. This Robyn Hode was identified with (one or more people called) Robert Hood living in Wakefield before and after that time. Comparing the available records with especially the Gest and also other ballads, Hunter developed a fairly detailed theory according to which Robin Hood was an adherent of the rebel Earl of Lancaster, defeated at the Battle of Boroughbridge in 1322.

According to this theory, Robin Hood was pardoned and employed by the king in 1323. (The Gest does relate that Robin Hood was pardoned by "King Edward" and taken into his service.) The theory supplies Robin Hood with a wife, Matilda, thought to be the origin of Maid Marian, and Hunter also conjectured that the author of the Gest may have been the religious poet Richard Rolle (1290–1349), who lived in the village of Hampole in Barnsdale.

This theory has long been recognised to have serious problems, one of the most serious being that "Robin Hood" and similar names were already used as nicknames for outlaws in the 13th century. Another is that there is no direct evidence that Hunter's Hood had ever been an outlaw or any kind of criminal or rebel at all; the theory is built on conjecture and coincidence of detail. Finally, recent research has shown that Hunter's Robyn Hood had been employed by the king at an earlier stage, thus casting doubt on this Robyn Hood's supposed earlier career as outlaw and rebel.

Another theory identifies him with the historical outlaw Roger Godberd, who was a die-hard supporter of Simon de Montfort, which would place Robin Hood around the 1260s. There are certainly parallels between Godberd's career and that of Robin Hood as he appears in the Gest. John Maddicott has called Godberd "that prototype Robin Hood." Some problems with this theory are that there is no evidence that Godberd was ever known as Robin Hood and no sign in the early Robin Hood ballads of the specific concerns of de Montfort's revolt.

Another well-known theory, first proposed by the historian L. V. D. Owen in 1936 and more recently floated by J.C. Holt and others, is that the original Robin Hood might be identified with an outlawed Robert Hood, or Hod, or Hobbehod, all apparently the same man, referred to in nine successive Yorkshire Pipe Rolls between 1226 and 1234. There is no evidence however that this Robert Hood, although an outlaw, was also a bandit.

Ballads and tales

The earliest surviving text of a Robin Hood ballad is "Robin Hood and the Monk". This is preserved in Cambridge University manuscript Ff.5.48, which was written shortly after 1450. It contains many of the elements still associated with the legend, from the Nottingham setting to the bitter enmity between Robin and the local sheriff.

The first printed version is ''A Gest of Robyn Hode'' (c. 1475), a collection of separate stories which attempts to unite the episodes into a single continuous narrative. After this comes "Robin Hood and the Potter", contained in a manuscript of c. 1503. "The Potter" is markedly different in tone from "The Monk": whereas the earlier tale is "a thriller" the latter is more comic, its plot involving trickery and cunning rather than straightforward force. The difference between the two texts recalls Bower's claim that Robin-tales may be both 'comedies and tragedies'.

Other early texts are dramatic pieces such as the fragmentary ''Robyn Hod and the Shryff off Notyngham'' (c. 1472). These are particularly noteworthy as they show Robin's integration into May Day rituals towards the end of the Middle Ages; ''Robyn Hod and the Shryff off Notyngham'', among other points of interest, contains the earliest reference to Friar Tuck.

The plots of neither "the Monk" nor "the Potter" are included in the Gest; and neither is the plot of "Robin Hood and Guy of Gisborne" which is probably at least as old as those two ballads although preserved in a more recent copy. Each of these three ballads survived in a single copy, so it is unclear how much of the medieval legend has survived, and what has survived may not be typical of the medieval legend. It has been argued that the fact that the surviving ballads were preserved in written form in itself makes it unlikely they were typical; in particular stories with an interest for the gentry were by this view more likely to be preserved. The story of Robin's aid to the "poor knight" that takes up much of the Gest may be an example.

The character of Robin in these first texts is rougher edged than in his later incarnations. In "Robin Hood and the Monk", for example, he is shown as quick tempered and violent, assaulting Little John for defeating him in an archery contest; in the same ballad Much the Miller's Son casually kills a "little page" in the course of rescuing Robin Hood from prison. No extant ballad actually shows Robin Hood "giving to the poor", although in a "A Gest of Robyn Hode" Robin does make a large loan to an unfortunate knight which he does not in the end require to be repaid; and later in the same ballad Robin Hood states his intention of giving money to the next traveller to come down the road if he happens to be poor. :Of my good he shall haue some, :Yf he be a por man.

As it happens the next traveller is not poor, but it seems in context that Robin Hood is stating a general policy. From the beginning Robin Hood is on the side of the poor; the Gest quotes Robin Hood as instructing his men that when they rob: :loke ye do no husbonde harme :That tilleth with his ploughe. :No more ye shall no gode yeman :That walketh by gren-wode shawe; :Ne no knyght ne no squyer :That wol be a gode felawe.

And in its final lines the Gest sums up: :he was a good outlawe, :And dyde pore men moch god.

Within Robin Hood's band medieval forms of courtesy rather than modern ideals of equality are generally in evidence. In the early ballads Robin's men usually kneel before him in strict obedience: in ''A Gest of Robyn Hode'' the king even observes that "His men are more at his byddynge/Then my men be at myn." Their social status, as yeomen, is shown by their weapons; they use swords rather than quarterstaffs. The only character to use a quarterstaff in the early ballads is the potter, and Robin Hood does not take to a staff until the 18th century ''Robin Hood and Little John''.

The political and social assumptions underlying the early Robin Hood ballads have long been controversial. It has been influentially argued by J. C. Holt that the Robin Hood legend was cultivated in the households of the gentry, and that it would be mistaken to see in him a figure of peasant revolt. He is not a peasant but a yeoman, and his tales make no mention of the complaints of the peasants, such as oppressive taxes. He appears not so much as a revolt against societal standards as an embodiment of them, being generous, pious, and courteous, opposed to stingy, worldly, and churlish foes. Other scholars have by contrast stressed the subversive aspects of the legend, and see in the medieval Robin Hood ballads a plebeian literature hostile to the feudal order.

Although the term "Merry Men" belongs to a later period, the ballads do name several of Robin's companions. These include Will Scarlet (or Scathlock), Much the Miller's Son, and Little John - who was called "little" as a joke, as he was quite the opposite. Even though the band is regularly described as being over a hundred men, usually only three or four are specified. Some appear only once or twice in a ballad: Will Stutely in ''Robin Hood Rescuing Will Stutly'' and ''Robin Hood and Little John''; David of Doncaster in ''Robin Hood and the Golden Arrow''; Gilbert with the White Hand in ''A Gest of Robyn Hode''; and Arthur a Bland in ''Robin Hood and the Tanner''.

Printed versions of the Robin Hood ballads, generally based on the ''Gest'', appear in the early 16th century, shortly after the introduction of printing in England. Later that century Robin is promoted to the level of nobleman: he is styled Earl of Huntingdon, Robert of Locksley, or Robert Fitz Ooth. In the early ballads, by contrast, he was a member of the yeoman classes, which included common freeholders possessing a small landed estate.

By the early 15th century at the latest, Robin Hood had become associated with May Day celebrations, with revellers dressing as Robin or as members of his band for the festivities. This was not common throughout England, but in some regions the custom lasted until Elizabethan times, and during the reign of Henry VIII, was briefly popular at court. Robin was often allocated the role of a May King, presiding over games and processions, but plays were also performed with the characters in the roles, sometimes performed at church ales, a means by which churches raised funds.

A complaint of 1492, brought to the Star Chamber, accuses men of acting riotously by coming to a fair as Robin Hood and his men; the accused defended themselves on the grounds that the practice was a long-standing custom to raise money for churches, and they had not acted riotously but peaceably.

It is from the association with the May Games that Robin's romantic attachment to Maid Marian (or Marion) apparently stems. The naming of Marian may have come from the French pastoral play of c. 1280, the ''Jeu de Robin et Marion'', although this play is distinct from the English legends. Both Robin and Marian were certainly associated with May Day festivities in England (as was Friar Tuck), but these may have been originally two distinct types of performance - Alexander Barclay in his ''Ship of Fools'', writing in c. 1500, refers to "some merry fytte of Maid Marian or else of Robin Hood" - but the characters were brought together. Marian did not immediately gain the unquestioned role; in ''Robin Hood's Birth, Breeding, Valor, and Marriage'', his sweetheart is 'Clorinda the Queen of the Shepherdesses'. Clorinda survives in some later stories as an alias of Marian.

In the 16th century, Robin Hood is given a specific historical setting. Up until this point there was little interest in exactly when Robin's adventures took place. The original ballads refer at various points to "King Edward", without stipulating whether this is Edward I, Edward II, or Edward III. Hood may thus have been active at any point between 1272 and 1377. However, during the 16th century the stories become fixed to the 1190s, the period in which King Richard was absent from his throne, fighting in the crusades. This date is first proposed by John Mair in his ''Historia Majoris Britanniæ'' (1521), and gains popular acceptance by the end of the century.

Giving Robin an aristocratic title and female love interest, and placing him in the historical context of the true king's absence, all represent moves to domesticate his legend and reconcile it to ruling powers. In this, his legend is similar to that of King Arthur, which morphed from a dangerous male-centred story to a more comfortable, chivalrous romance under the troubadours serving Eleanor of Aquitaine. From the 16th century on, the legend of Robin Hood is often used to promote the hereditary ruling class, romance, and religious piety. The "criminal" element is retained to provide dramatic colour, rather than as a real challenge to convention.

In 1598, Anthony Munday wrote a pair of plays on the Robin Hood legend, ''The Downfall and The Death of Robert Earl of Huntington'' (published 1601). The 17th century introduced the minstrel Alan-a-Dale. He first appeared in a 17th century broadside ballad, and unlike many of the characters thus associated, managed to adhere to the legend. This is also the era in which the character of Robin became fixed as stealing from the rich to give to the poor.

In the 18th century, the stories began to develop a slightly more farcical vein. From this period there are a number of ballads in which Robin is severely "drubbed" by a succession of professionals including a tanner, a tinker and a ranger. In fact, the only character who does not get the better of Hood is the luckless Sheriff. Yet even in these ballads Robin is more than a mere simpleton: on the contrary, he often acts with great shrewdness. The tinker, setting out to capture Robin, only manages to fight with him after he has been cheated out of his money and the arrest warrant he is carrying. In ''Robin Hood's Golden Prize'', Robin disguises himself as a friar and cheats two priests out of their cash. Even when Robin is defeated, he usually tricks his foe into letting him sound his horn, summoning the Merry Men to his aid. When his enemies do not fall for this ruse, he persuades them to drink with him instead.

The continued popularity of the Robin Hood tales is attested by a number of literary references. In ''As You Like It'', the exiled duke and his men "live like the old Robin Hood of England", while Ben Jonson produced the (incomplete) masque ''The Sad Shepherd, or a Tale of Robin Hood'' as a satire on Puritanism. Somewhat later, the Romantic poet John Keats composed ''Robin Hood. To A Friend'' and Alfred Lord Tennyson wrote a play ''The Foresters, or Robin Hood and Maid Marian'', which was presented with incidental music by Sir Arthur Sullivan in 1892. Later still, T. H. White featured Robin and his band in ''The Sword in the Stone'' - anachronistically, since the novel's chief theme is the childhood of King Arthur.

The Victorian era generated its own distinct versions of Robin Hood. The traditional tales were often adapted for children, most notably in Howard Pyle's ''The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood'', which influenced accounts of Robin Hood through the 20th century. These versions firmly stamp Robin as a staunch philanthropist, a man who takes from the rich to give to the poor. Nevertheless, the adventures are still more local than national in scope: while King Richard's participation in the Crusades is mentioned in passing, Robin takes no stand against Prince John, and plays no part in raising the ransom to free Richard. These developments are part of the 20th century Robin Hood myth.

The idea of Robin Hood as a high-minded Saxon fighting Norman lords also originates in the 19th century. The most notable contributions to this idea of Robin are Jacques Nicolas Augustin Thierry's '''' (1825) and Sir Walter Scott's ''Ivanhoe'' (1819). In this last work in particular, the modern Robin Hood - "King of Outlaws and prince of good fellows!" as Richard the Lionheart calls him - makes his debut.

The 20th century grafted still further details on to the original legends. The 1938 film ''The Adventures of Robin Hood'', starring Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland, portrayed Robin as a hero on a national scale, leading the oppressed Saxons in revolt against their Norman overlords while Richard the Lionheart fought in the Crusades; this movie established itself so definitively that many studios resorted to movies about his son (invented for that purpose) rather than compete with the image of this one.

In the 1973 animated Disney film ''Robin Hood'', the title character is portrayed as an anthropomorphic fox voiced by Brian Bedford. Years before ''Robin Hood'' had even entered production, Disney had considered doing a project on Reynard the Fox. However, due to concerns that Reynard was unsuitable as a hero, animator Ken Anderson lifted many elements from Reynard into ''Robin Hood'', thus making the titular character a fox.

The 1976 British-American film ''Robin and Marian'', starring Sean Connery as Robin Hood and Audrey Hepburn as Maid Marian, portrays the figures in later years after Robin has returned from service with Richard the Lion Hearted in a foreign crusade and Marian has gone into seclusion in a nunnery.

Since the 1980s, it has become commonplace to include a Saracen among the Merry Men, a trend which began with the character Nasir in the ''Robin of Sherwood'' television series. Later versions of the story have followed suit: the 1991 movie ''Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves'' and 2006 BBC TV series ''Robin Hood'' each contain equivalents of Nasir, in the figures of Azeem and Djaq respectively. The latest movie version released in spring of 2010 is simply entitled ''Robin Hood'' and is directed by Ridley Scott, with Robin played by Russell Crowe.

The Robin Hood legend has thus been subject to numerous shifts and mutations throughout its history. Robin himself has evolved from a yeoman bandit to a national hero of epic proportions, who not only supports the poor by taking from the rich, but heroically defends the throne of England itself from unworthy and venal claimants.

Connections to existing locations

In modern versions of the legend, Robin Hood is said to have taken up residence in the verdant Sherwood Forest in the county of Nottinghamshire. For this reason the people of present-day Nottinghamshire have a special affinity with Robin Hood, often claiming him as the symbol of their county. For example, major road signs entering the shire depict Robin Hood with his bow and arrow, welcoming people to 'Robin Hood County.' BBC Radio Nottingham also uses the phrase 'Robin Hood County' on its regular programmes. The Robin Hood Way runs through Nottinghamshire and the county is home to literally thousands of other places, roads, inns and objects bearing Robin's name.

Specific sites linked to Robin Hood include the Major Oak tree, claimed to have been used by him as a hideout, Robin Hood's Well, located near Newstead Abbey (within the boundaries of Sherwood Forest), and the Church of St. Mary in the village of Edwinstowe, where Robin and Maid Marian are historically thought to have wed. To reinforce this belief, the University of Nottingham in 2010 has begun the Nottingham Caves Survey with the goal "to increase the tourist potential of these sites". The project "will use a 3D laser scanner to produce a three dimensional record of more than 450 sandstone caves around Nottingham".

However, the Nottingham setting is a matter of some contention. While the Sheriff of Nottingham and the town itself appear in early ballads, and Sherwood is specifically mentioned in the early ballad ''Robin Hood and the Monk'', certain of the original ballads (even those with Nottingham references) locate Robin on occasion in Barnsdale (the area between Pontefract and Doncaster), approximately fifty miles north of Nottingham, in the county of Yorkshire; furthermore, it has been suggested that the ballads placed in this area are far more geographically specific and accurate. This is reinforced for some by the alleged similarity of ''Locksley'' to the area of Loxley, South Yorkshire in Sheffield, where in nearby Tideswell, which was the "Kings Larder" in the Royal Forest of the Peak, a record of the appearance of a "Robert de Lockesly" in court is found, dated 1245. As "Robert" and its diminutives were amongst the most common of names at the time, and also since it was usual for men to adopt the name of their hometown ("De Lockesly" means simply, "Of [or from] Lockesly"), the record could just as easily be referring to any man from the area named Robert. Although it cannot be proven whether or not this is the man himself, it is further believed by some that Robin had a brother called Thomas - an assertion with no documentary evidence whatsoever to support it in any of the stories, tales or ballads. If the Robert mentioned above was indeed Robin Hood, and if he did have a brother named Thomas, then consideration of the following reference may lend this theory a modicum of credence:

:''24) No. 389, f0- 78. Ascension Day, 29 H. III., Nic Meverill, with John Kantia, on the one part, and Henry de Leke. Henry released to Nicholas and John 5 m. rent, which he received from Nicolas and John and Robert de Lockesly for his life from the lands of Gellery, in consideration of receiving from each of them 2M (2 marks). only, the said Henry to live at table with one of them and to receive 2M. annually from the other. T., Sampson de Leke, Magister Peter Meverill, Roger de Lockesly, John de Leke, Robert fil Umfred, Rico de Newland, Richard Meverill. (25) No. 402, p. 80 b. Thomas de Lockesly bound himself that he would not sell his lands at Leke, which Nicolas Meveril had rendered to him, under a penalty of L40 (40 pounds).'' A pound was 240 silver pence, and a mark was 160 silver pence (i.e., 13 shillings and fourpence).

It is again, however, equally likely that Nicolas, John, Robert and Thomas were simply members of a family which came from the area.

In Barnsdale Forest, Yorkshire, there is a well known as Robin Hood's Well (by the side of the Great North Road), a Little John's Well (near Hampole) and a Robin Hood's stream (in Highfields Wood at Woodlands). There is something of a modern movement amongst Yorkshire residents to attempt to claim the legend of Robin Hood, to the extent that South Yorkshire's new airport, on the site of the redeveloped RAF Finningley airbase near Doncaster, although ironically in the historic county of Nottinghamshire, has been given the name Robin Hood Airport Doncaster Sheffield. Centuries ago, a variant of "as plain as the nose on your face" was "Robin Hood in Barnesdale stood."

In the city centre of Leeds, West Yorkshire at 71, Vicar Lane is a retail clothing store operated by Hugo Boss. This was the previous location of a pub/music venue known as The Duchess of York which was previously known as the Robin Hood. During an interior refurbishment, wallpaper was removed to reveal a wall mural depicting Robin Hood and his Merry Men in the small snug of the pub. The Landlord at the time, Robin Dover, was photographed standing next to the mural which was published in The Yorkshire Evening Post.

There have been further claims made that he is from Swannington in Leicestershire or Loxley, Warwickshire.

This debate is hardly surprising of course, given the considerable value that the Robin Hood legend has for local tourism. The Sheriff of Nottingham also had jurisdiction in Derbyshire that was known as the "Shire of the Deer," and this is where the Royal Forest of the Peak is found, which roughly corresponds to today's Peak District National Park. The Royal Forest included Bakewell, Tideswell, Castleton, Ladybower and the Derwent Valley near Loxley. The Sheriff of Nottingham possessed property near Loxley, amongst other places both far and wide including Hazlebadge Hall, Peveril Castle and Haddon Hall. Mercia, to which Nottingham belonged, came to within three miles of Sheffield City Centre. The supposed grave of Little John can be found in Hathersage, also in the Peak District.

Robin Hood himself was once thought to have been buried in the grounds of Kirklees Priory between Brighouse and Mirfield in West Yorkshire, although for the reasons given above this theory has now largely been abandoned. There is an elaborate grave there with the inscription referred to above. The story said that the Prioress was a relative of Robin's. Robin was ill and staying at the Priory where the Prioress was supposedly caring for him. However, she betrayed him, his health worsened, and he eventually died there.

Before he died, he told Little John (or possibly another of his Merry Men) where to bury him. He shot an arrow from the Priory window, and where the arrow landed was to be the site of his grave. The grave with the inscription is within sight of the ruins of the Kirklees Priory, behind the Three Nuns pub in Mirfield, West Yorkshire. The grave can be visited on occasional organised walks, organised by Calderdale Council Tourist Information office.

Further indications of the legend's connection with West Yorkshire (and particularly Calderdale) are noted in the fact that there are pubs called the Robin Hood in both nearby Brighouse and at Cragg Vale; higher up in the Pennines beyond Halifax, where Robin Hood Rocks can also be found. Robin Hood Hill is near Outwood, West Yorkshire, not far from Lofthouse. There is a village in West Yorkshire called Robin Hood, on the A61 between Leeds and Wakefield and close to Rothwell and Lofthouse. Considering these references to Robin Hood, it is not surprising that the people of both South and West Yorkshire lay some claim to Robin Hood, who, if he existed, could easily have roamed between Nottingham, Lincoln, Doncaster and right into West Yorkshire.

A British Army Territorial (reserves) battalion formed in Nottingham in 1859 was known as The Robin Hood Battalion through various reorganisations until the "Robin Hood" name finally disappeared in 1992. With the 1881 Childers reforms that linked regular and reserve units into regimental families, the Robin Hood Battalion became part of The Sherwood Foresters (Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiment).

A Neolithic causewayed enclosure on Salisbury Plain has acquired the name Robin Hood's Ball, although had Robin Hood existed it is doubtful that he would have travelled so far south.

List of traditional ballads

Ballads are the oldest existing form of the Robin Hood legends, although none of them are recorded at the time of the first allusions to him, and many are much later. They share many common features, often opening with praise of the greenwood and relying heavily on disguise as a plot device, but include a wide variation in tone and plot. The ballads below are sorted into three groups, very roughly according to date of first known free-standing copy. Ballads whose first recorded version appears (usually incomplete) in the Percy Folio may appear in later versions and may be much older than the mid 17th century when the Folio was compiled. Any ballad may be older than the oldest copy which happens to survive, or descended from a lost older ballad. For example, the plot of Robin Hood's Death, found in the Percy Folio, is summarised in the 15th-century A Gest of Robyn Hode, and it also appears in an 18th-century version.

In 2006, the grindcore band 2 0' Clock Girlfriend recorded a song titled "Bow, Meet Arrow (The Real Robin Hood Story)".

Early ballads (i.e., surviving in 15th- or early 16th-century copies)

A Gest of Robyn Hode

Robin Hood and the Monk

Robin Hood and the Potter

Ballads appearing in 17th-century Percy Folio

NB. The first two ballads listed here (the "Death" and "Gisborne"), although preserved in 17th century copies, are generally agreed to preserve the substance of late medieval ballads. The third (the "Curtal Friar") and the fourth (the "Butcher"), also probably have late medieval origins.

Robin Hood's Death

Robin Hood and Guy of Gisborne

Robin Hood and the Curtal Friar

Robin Hood and the Butcher

Robin Hood Rescuing Will Stutly

Robin Hood Rescuing Three Squires

The Jolly Pinder of Wakefield

Robin Hood and Queen Katherine

Other ballads

A True Tale of Robin Hood

Robin Hood and the Bishop

Robin Hood and the Bishop of Hereford

Robin Hood and the Golden Arrow

Robin Hood and the Prince of Aragon

Robin Hood and the Ranger

Robin Hood and the Scotchman

Robin Hood and the Tanner

Robin Hood and the Tinker

Robin Hood and the Valiant Knight

Robin Hood Newly Revived

Robin Hood's Birth, Breeding, Valor, and Marriage

Robin Hood's Chase

Robin Hood's Delight

Robin Hood's Golden Prize

Robin Hood's Progress to Nottingham

The Bold Pedlar and Robin Hood

The King's Disguise, and Friendship with Robin Hood

The Noble Fisherman

Some ballads, such as ''Erlinton'', feature Robin Hood in some variants, where the folk hero appears to be added to a ballad pre-existing him and in which he does not fit very well. He was added to one variant of ''Rose Red and the White Lily'', apparently on no more connection than that one hero of the other variants is named "Brown Robin." Francis James Child indeed retitled Child ballad 102; though it was titled ''The Birth of Robin Hood'', its clear lack of connection with the Robin Hood cycle (and connection with other, unrelated ballads) led him to title it ''Willie and Earl Richard's Daughter'' in his collection.

Popular culture

See also

Tadas Blinda

Eustace Folville

Gwenllian ferch Gruffydd

Juraj Jánošík

Iancu Jianu

Rummu Jüri

Ustym Karmaliuk

Ned Kelly

Kayamkulam Kochunni

Nezumi Kozō

Chucho el Roto

Schinderhannes

Kobus van der Schlossen

Trysting Tree

Verysdale

William de Wendenal

References

Bibliography

Hilton, R.H., The Origins of Robin Hood, ''Past and Present'', No. 14. (Nov., 1958), pp. 30–44. Available online at JSTOR.

External links

Robin Hood the Facts and the Fiction, has a lot of information on Robin Hood, ballads, medieval records, place names, analysis on the legend etc.

BBC History: Robin Hood and his Historical Context

Home of the World Wide Robin Hood Society in Sherwood, Nottingham, England

Robin Hood, Friend of Liberty - Ludwig von Mises Institute

Robin Hood: Bold Outlaw of Barnsdale and Sherwood, contains ballads, information on the development of the legend, and interviews with scholars and authors.

Ben Turner's Robin Hood site one of the first on the web

The Robin Hood Project at the University of Rochester — Houses a large collection of Robin Hood text and art

"Robin Hood - the greatest of English myths" on BBC Radio 4's ''In Our Time'' featuring Stephen Knight, Thomas Hahn and Dr Juliette Wood

Robin Hood - from Internet Archive, Project Gutenberg and Google Books (scanned books original editions color illustrated)

Nottingham Caves Survey

Category:Disney's Robin Hood characters Category:Fictional archers Category:Film characters Category:English folklore Category:English heroic legends Category:English legendary characters Category:English outlaws Category:English rebels Category:English Roman Catholics Category:Fictional earls Category:Medieval legends Category:Nottingham Category:People whose existence is disputed Category:Nottinghamshire folklore

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In Brazil, the term "preto" (black, lowercase) is one of the five categories used by the Brazilian Census, along with "branco" (White), "pardo" (Multiracial, brown), "amarelo" (yellow, East Asian) and "indígena" (Amerindian). In 2009, 13,252,000, 6.9% of the Brazilian population, self-identified themselves as ''preto''.

In recent years, Brazilian government agencies such as the SEPPIR and the IPEA, in their analysis of socioeconomic indicators, have been considering the categories "preto" and "pardo" together, as a single category called "negro" (Black, capital initial), since the indicators of living conditions of "pardos" and "pretos" are similar and the word "negro" can be used in other contexts, and not only when addressing ''pretos''. However, this decision has caused much controversy, because there isn't consensus about it in Brazilian society.

Black Brazilians rarely use the American-style phrase "African Brazilian" to categorise themselves, and never in informal discourse: the IBGE's July 1998 PME shows that, of Black Brazilians, only about 10% consider themselves of "African origin"; most of them identify as having a "Brazilian origin". In the July 1998 PME, the categories "Afro-Brasileiro" (Afro-Brazilian) and "Africano Brasileiro" (African Brazilian) weren't used even once; the category "Africano" (African) was used by 0.004% of the respondents. In the 1976 PNAD, none of these were used even once.

Brazilian geneticist Sérgio Pena has criticised American scholar Edward Telles for lumping "pretos" and "pardos" in the same category. According to him, "the autosomal genetic analysis that we have performed in non-related individuals from Rio de Janeiro shows that it does not make any sense to put "pretos" and "pardos" in the same category". In support of Sérgio Pena, for example, another autosomal genetic study on a school in the poor periphery of Rio de Janeiro found that the "pardos" there were found to be on average over 80% European, even though they (the tested students) thought of themselves as 1/3 European, 1/3 African and 1/3 Amerindian before the tests.

According to Edward Telles, in Brazil there are three different systems related to "racial classification" along the White-Black continuum. The first is the Census System, which distinguishes three categories: "branco" (White), "pardo", and "preto". The second is the popular system that uses many different categories, including the ambiguous term "moreno" (literally, "tanned", "brunette", or "with an olive complexion"). The third is the Black movement system that distinguishes only two categories, summing up "pardos" and "pretos" (blacks, lowercase) as "negros" (Blacks, with capital initial). More recently, the term "afrodescendente" has been brought into use, but it is restricted to very formal discourse, such as governmental or academic discussions, being viewed by some as a cultural imposition from the "politically correct speech" common in the United States.

A large but unknown number of Brazilians have some African ancestry. Due to intensive mixing and assortative mating with White Brazilians, Brazilians with African ancestors may or may not be "Black", i.e., they may or may not show any trace of African features.

Brazilian race/colour categories

The first system referred by Telles is that of the IBGE. In the Census, respondents choose their race or color in five categories: ''branca'' (white), ''parda'' (brown), ''preta'' (black), ''amarela'' (yellow) or ''indígena'' (indigenous). The term "parda" needs further explanation; it has been systematically used since Census of 1940. In that Census, people were asked for their "colour or race"; if the answer was not "White", "preta" (black), or "Yellow", interviewers were instructed to fill the "colour or race" box with a slash. These slashes were later summed up in the category "pardo". In practice this means answers such as "pardo", "moreno", "mulato", "caboclo", etc. In the following Censuses, "pardo" became a category on its own, and included Amerindians, which became a separate category only in 1991. So it is a term that describes people who have a skin darker than Whites and lighter than Blacks, but not necessarily implies a White-Black mixture.

Telles' second system is that of popular classification. Two IBGE surveys (the 1976 PNAD and the July 1998 PME) have sought to understand the way Brazilians think of themselves in "racial" terms, with the explicit aim of adjusting the census classification (neither, however, resulted in actual changes in the Census). Besides that, Data Folha has also conducted research on this subject. The results of these surveys are somewhat varied, but seem to coincide in some fundamental aspects. First, there is an enormous variety of "racial" terms in use in Brazil; the 1976 PNAD found 136 different answers to the question about race; the July 1998 PME found 143. However, most of these terms are used by very small minorities. Telles remarks that 95% of the population chose only 6 different terms (''branco, moreno, pardo, moreno-claro, preto'' and ''negro''); Petrucelli shows that the 7 most common responses (the above plus ''amarela'') sum up 97%, and the 10 more common (the previous plus ''mulata'', ''clara'', and ''morena-escura'') make 99%. Petrucelli, analysing the July 98 PME, finds that 77 denominations were mentioned by only one person in the sample. Other 12 are misunderstandings, referring to national or regional origin (''francesa, italiana, baiana, cearense''). Many of the "racial" terms are (or could be) remarks about the relation between skin colour and exposition to sun (''amorenada, bem morena, branca-morena, branca-queimada, corada, bronzeada, meio morena, morena-bronzeada, morena-trigueira, morenada, morenão, moreninha, pouco morena, queimada, queimada de sol, tostada, rosa queimada, tostada''). Others are clearly variations of the same idea (''preto, negro, escuro, crioulo, retinto'', for black, ''alva, clara, cor-de-leite, galega, rosa, rosada, pálida'', for White, ''parda, mulata, mestiça, mista'', for "parda"), or precisions of the same concept (''branca morena, branca clara''), and can actually grouped together with one of the main racial terms without falsifying the interpretation. Some seem to express an outright refusal of classification: ''azul-marinho'' (navy blue), ''azul'' (blue), ''verde'' (green), ''cor-de-burro-quando-foge''. In the July 1998 PME, the categories "Afro-Brasileiro" (Afro-Brazilian) and "Africano Brasileiro" (African Brazilian) weren't used even once; the category "Africano" (African) was used by 0.004% of the respondents. In the 1976 PNAD, none of these were used even once.

The remarkable difference of the popular system is the use of the term "moreno". This is actually difficult to translate into English, and carries a few different meanings. Derived from Latin ''maurus'', meaning inhabitant of Mauritania, traditionally it is used as a term to distinguish White people with dark hair, as opposed to "ruivo" (redhead) and "loiro" (blonde). It is also commonly used as a term for people with an olive complexion, a characteristic that is often found in connection with dark hair. In connection to this, it is used as a term for suntanned people, and is commonly opposed to "pálido" (pale) and "amarelo" (yellow), which in this case refer to people who aren't frequently exposed to sun. Finally, it is also often used as a euphemism for "pardo" and "preto".

Finally, the Black movement system groups "pardos" and "pretos" in a single category, "negro" (and not "Afro-brasileiro" or any other hyphenated form) This looks more similar to the American racial perception, but there are some subtle differences. First, as other Brazilians, the Black movement understands that not everybody with some African descent is Black, and that many or most White Brazilians indeed have African (or Amerindian, or both) ancestrals – so an "one drop rule" isn't what the Black movement envisages, as it would make affirmative actions impossible; second, the main issue for the Black movement isn't "cultural", but rather economic: it is not a supposed cultural identification with Africa, but rather a situation of disadvantage, common to those who are non-White (with the exception of those of East Asian ancestry) that groups them into a "negro" category.

However, this binary division of Brazilians between "brancos" and "negros" is nevertheless seen as influenced by American one-drop rule, and attracts much criticism. For instance, sociologist Demétrio Magnoli considers the sum of ''pretos'' and ''pardos'' as Blacks an "assault" on the racial vision of Brazilians. He believes that scholars and activists of the Black movement misinterpret the ample variety of intermediate categories, characteristic of the popular system, as a result of Brazilian racism, that would cause Blacks to refuse their identity, and hide themselves in euphemisms. According to the same author, a survey about race, conducted in the town of Rio de Contas, Bahia (total population about 14,000, 58% of whom White), replaced the word "pardo" by "moreno". Not only "pardos" choose the "moreno" category, but also almost half of the people who previously reported to be wWhite and half of the people who previously reported to be ''pretos'' also choose the moreno category.

6% 2% 6%

colspan="4"	Self-reported ancestry of people from Rio de Janeiro, by race or skin color (2000 survey)
! Ancestry!! ''brancos'' !! ''pardos''!! ''pretos''
European only	48%
African only	–	12%
Amerindian only	–
African and European	23%	34%
Amerindian and European	14%
African and Amerindian	–	4%
African, Amerindian and European	15%	36%
Total	100%	100%
Any African	38%	86%

According to a 2000 survey held in Rio de Janeiro, the entire self-reported ''preta'' population reported to have African ancestry. 86% of the self-reported "pardo" and 38% of the self-reported White population reported to have African ancestors. It is notable that 14% of the Pardos (brown) from Rio de Janeiro said they have no African ancestors. This percentage may be even higher in Northern Brazil, where there was a greater ethnic contribution from Amerindian populations.

Racial classifications in Brazil are based on skin color and on other physical characteristics such as facial features, hair texture, etc. This is a poor indication of ancestry, because only a few genes are responsible for someone's skin color: a person who is considered White may have more African ancestry than a person who is considered Black, and vice-versa.

Conception of Black and prejudice

In Brazil, a person's "race" is based primarily on physical appearance, unlike in the United States, where ancestry is more important. In Brazil it is possible for two siblings of different colors to be classified as people of different races. Children who were born to a black mother and a European father would be classified as black if their features read as African, and classified as white if their features appeared more European. With no strict criteria for racial classifications, lighter-skinned mulattoes were easily integrated into the white population, introducing a large proportion of African blood in the white Brazilian population, as well as a large proportion of European blood in the black population. This system is very different from that found in the United States, which had defined concepts of race due to the one drop rule so that people with any known African ancestry were automatically classified as Black, regardless of their skin color. Thus, many Black Americans have some degree of European ancestry, while few white Americans have African ancestry.

The Brazilian approach is criticized by geneticist Sérgio Pena: "Only a few genes are responsible for someone's skin colour, which is a very poor indication of ancestry. A white person could have more African genes than a black one or vice-versa, especially in a country like Brazil".

At the same time, Brazilian approaches to race have had significant implications on individuals' economic conditions. Many black Brazilians live in poor conditions, a situation that caused the popular imagination to associate being black with being poor. Moreover, for many decades, the Brazilian ruling classes blamed Blacks for the underdevelopment of Brazil. In this context, the Black population was deemed poor because of the "inferiority of the Black race", rather than because of slavery and its consequences. The poverty of many Black Brazilians is due to the lack of government assistance after the slaves were freed, so that former slaves remained underemployed and vulnerable to the arbitrariness of land owners. Since Brazilian lands were monopolized by a small rural aristocracy, many Blacks migrated to urban centers that were not prepared to receive so many people because there were few jobs available. A 2007 study found that White workers received an average monthly income almost twice that of blacks and ''pardos'' (browns). The blacks and browns earned on average 1.8 minimum wages, while the whites had a yield of 3.4 minimum wages.

colspan="4"	Self-reported race in Brazil in 1872, 1940, 2000 and 2008
! Year!! ''brancos'' !! ''pardos''!! ''pretos''
1872	38.1%	42.2%	19.7%
1940	64%	21%
2000	53.7%	38.5%
2008	48.8%	43.8%

The stigma of being Black because of the unfavorable social situation of this population prevents the creation of a Black identity in Brazil. Historian Joel Rufino dos Santos has written that because Blacks are disadvantaged in access to education and earn lower wages, it is not a surprise that Blacks self-report to be ''pardos'' because the prejudice in Brazil is based on the representation, on what people think about themselves or on what others think about them. Gilberto Freyre has described how few wealthy Brazilians admit to having African ancestry, with people of darker complexion from the dominant classes usually associating their skin color with an Indian rather than African ancestry.

In recent years, however, the consequences of the "whiten ideology" on racial classifications in Brazil seem to be gradually reversing. According to a IBGE resource, from 2007 to 2008 the self-reported ''parda'' population increased by 3.2 million people, while 450,000 Whites and 1 million blacks "disappeared". This phenomenon should not be attributed solely to the variation in the birth and death rates. The conception of race is a social construction and these changes may be related to the feeling of belonging to a particular ethnicity, prejudice or even a reaction to the affirmative action policies recently taken by the Brazilian Government. In fact, many of the people who used to classify themselves as Whites in previous Censuses are now reporting to be ''pardos''. Even though the proportion of Brazilians who self-report to be ''pardos'' is growing in each Census, the self-reported ''preta'' population is not and, in fact, their proportion decreased between 2007 and 2008, from 7.2% to 6.5%. According to scholars, this is because the black Brazilian population, because of the prejudice, is reporting to be ''parda'' in the Censuses. Yet Ribeiro has argued that the example of wealthy African Americans has inspired many black and mulatto Brazilians to be proud of themselves and to accept their blackness.

The revaluation of Black identity

In the last years, Brazil has been undergoing a process of redemption of its Black identity. This process was also reflected in national censuses. Each year the percentage of Brazilians who self-report to be non-Whites (''pretos or ''pardos'') is growing, while there is a decrease of the population that self-reports to be White. According to IBGE this is because of the "revaluation of the identity of historically discriminated ethnic groups". In the social context of Brazil, where Blacks are seen as being in an undesirable situation of pauperism, disease, crime and violence, to be assumed as Black was an unusual attitude.

Affirmative action issue

In recent years, the Brazilian government has encouraged affirmative action programs for segments of the population considered to be "African-descendant" and also for the Amerindians. This is happening, in part, through the created systems of preferred admissions (quotas) for "racial minorities". Other measures include priority in land reform for areas populated by remnants of ''quilombos''. To support these attitudes, it is argued that these groups have historically been discriminated because of their race, and they often appear in the poorest segments of Brazilian society, while the White population often appears in the upper classes. The affirmative actions have been criticized because of inaccuracy in the racial classification in Brazil. A scandalous case happened in 2007, involving the twin brothers Alex and Alan Teixeira. Both have applied for a place in the University of Brasília through quotas reserved for "Black students". In the university, there was a team of specialists and teachers who, through photos of the candidates, chose who was Black and who was not. The Teixeira brothers were identical twins, however only Alan was considered to be Black, while his identical brother Alex was not. Since that case, the affirmative action has been widely criticized, supported by the idea of the high degree of miscegenation of the Brazilian people, which makes the definition of who is Black and who is not very subjective. According to many scholars, the Brazilian society is not divided between races, but between the poor and the rich, even though it is widely agreed that the people of darker skin complexions suffer an "additional discrimination".

History

Slavery

Black Brazilians are, for the most part, descendants of Africans taken by force from Africa and sold in Brazil as slaves. As the Portuguese realised the necessity to occupy the Brazil, and given the fact that no mineral riches such as gold or silver were easily found in the new territory, they attempted agricultural exploitation. As the population of Portugal was insufficient for the task, and the Amerindians were either deemed unfitting for agricultural jobs or exterminated by war and disease, by 1550 the Portuguese started to resort to the import of African slaves. This trend was reinforced by the fact that Portugal already had settlements in the African coast – namely São Paulo de Loanda (modern Luanda, founded 1575) and Benguela (founded 1587), in Angola, and Sofala, in Mozambique – and Portuguese merchants quickly started to deal in slave trade between Africa and Brazil.

From the middle of the 16th to the middle of the 19th centuries, millions of slaves were exported from Africa and sold in the Americas. Of these, Brazil probably received the biggest share than any other region taken in separate. According to the IBGE, about 4 million African slaves were brought into Brazil.

!Total in Brazil 2.113.900 63.100 97.800 125.000 108.700 117.900 123.500 139.400 188.300 181.200 250.200 93.700 240.600 120.900 257.500 6.100

colspan = "5"	Estimated disembarkment of Africans in Brazil from 1781 to 1855
Period	Place of arrival
	|	South of Bahia	Bahia	North of Bahia
align="left"	Total period	|	1.314.900	409.000	390.000
align="left"	1781–1785	|	34.800	...	28.300
align="left"	1786–1790	|	44.800	20.300	32.700
align="left"	1791–1795	|	47.600	34.300	43.100
align="left"	1796–1800	|	45.100	36.200	27.400
align="left"	1801–1805	|	50.100	36.300	31.500
align="left"	1806–1810	|	58.300	39.100	26.100
align="left"	1811–1815	|	78.700	36.400	24.300
align="left"	1816–1820	|	95.700	34.300	58.300
align="left"	1821–1825	|	120.100	23.700	37.400
align="left"	1826–1830	|	176.100	47.900	26.200
align="left"	1831–1835	|	57.800	16.700	19.200
align="left"	1836–1840	|	202.800	15.800	22.000
align="left"	1841–1845	|	90.800	21.100	9.000
align="left"	1846–1850	|	208.900	45.000	3.600
align="left"	1851–1855	|	3.300	1.900	900

Slave trade was a huge business that involved hundreds of ships and thousands of people in Brazil and Africa. There were officers on the coast of Africa that sold the slaves to hundreds of small regional dealers in Brazil. In 1812, half of the thirty richest merchants of Rio de Janeiro were slave traders. The profits were huge: in 1810 a slave purchased in Luanda for 70,000 réis was sold in the District of Diamantina, Minas Gerais, for up to 240,000 réis. With taxes, the state collected a year the equivalent of 18 million reais with the slave trade. In Africa, people were kidnapped as prisoners of war or offered as payment of tribute to a tribal chief. The merchants, who were black Africans too, took the slaves to the coast where they would be purchased by agents of the Portuguese slave traders. Until the early 18th century such purchases were made with smuggled gold. In 1703, Portugal banned the use of gold for this purpose. Since then, they started to use products of the colony, such as textiles, tobacco, sugar and cachaça to buy the slaves.

1701–1760

colspan = "5"	African disembarkments in Brazil, from 1500 to 1855
Period	1500–1700	|	1761–1829	1830–1855
align="left"	Numbers	510,000||	958,000	1,720,000	618,000

The travel

In Africa, about 40% of Blacks died in the route between the areas of capture and the African coast. Another 15% died in the ships crossing the Atlantic Ocean between Africa and Brazil. From the Atlantic coast the journey could take from 33 to 43 days. From Mozambique it could take as many as 76 days. Once in Brazil from 10 to 12% of the slaves also died in the places where they were taken to be bought by their future masters. In consequence, only 45% of the Africans captured in Africa to become slaves in Brazil survived.

Violence and resistance

Slavery can only be maintained through constant supervision, physical and moral violence, and fear of violence, to prevent flight and rebellion of slaves. Although there is a myth that the slavery in Brazil was more lenient, the reports of colonial chroniclers show the opposite. The African slaves in Brazil were known to have suffered various types of physical violence. Lashes on the back was the most common repressive measure. About 40 lashes per day were common and they prevented the mutilation of slaves. After the violence, the wounds were washed with salt, pepper or vinegar to prevent infection. This washing was also painful. "Preventive punishments" were also common, as they served to keep slaves under systematic, permanent fear. Foremen monitored the slaves during all day, forcing them to comply with their tasks and physically repressing them as deemed necessary. In 1741 the Portuguese Crown decreed that all slaves who fled to quilombos should be branded in their backs with the letter F (from ''fugido'', fugitive in Portuguese). Reincidents should have one ear cut off and should be sentenced to death. The colonial chroniclers recorded the extreme violence and sadism of White women against female slaves, usually due to jealousy or to prevent a relationship between their husbands and the slaves.

Slaves resisted against slavery during all the centuries it lasted. The most frequent form of resistance was flight, which often led to death. Fled slaves tried to reunite, forming quilombos, communities composed of fugitive slaves. The biggest quilombo, Palmares had a population of about 30,000 people and resisted for about 100 years, until it was finally destroyed by bandeirantes. Another form of resistance were working slowly or hurting animals or destroying tools in order to hinder the production. The most notorious slave rebellion occurred in 1835, when Muslim slaves tried to kill whites and mulattos considered traitors in Salvador, Bahia and free all slaves in Bahia. As with all other rebellions, the insurgents would have been repressed, killed or sold as slaves to the Caribbean.

Origins

The Africans brought to Brazil belonged to two major groups: the West African and the Bantu people.

West African people (previously known as Sudanese, and without connection with Sudan) were sent in large scale to Bahia. They mostly belong to the Yoruba people; Ewe; Fanti-Ashanti; Ga-Adangbe; Igbo People; Fon People; and Mandinka people. Other West African groups native to Ghana, Benin, Guinea-Bissau and Nigeria were also subjected to slavery in Brazil.

Bantu were brought from Angola, Congo region and Mozambique and sent in large scale to Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais, and Northeastern Brazil.

The Bantus were brought from Angola, Congo region and the Shona kingdoms from Zimbabwe and Mozambique and sent in large scale to Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais, and the Northeastern Brazil.

Gilberto Freyre noted the major differences between these groups. Some Sudanese peoples, such as Hausa, Fula and others were Islamic, spoke Arabic and many of them could read and write in this language. Freyre noted that many slaves were better educated than their masters, because many Muslim slaves were literate in Arabic, while many Portuguese Brazilian masters could not even read or write in Portuguese. These slaves of greater Arab and Berber influence were largely sent to Bahia. These Muslim slaves, known as ''Malê'' in Brazil, produced one of the greatest slave revolts in the Americas, when in 1835 they tried to take the control of Salvador, Bahia. The event was known as the Malê Revolt.

Despite the large influx of Islamic slaves, most of the slaves in Brazil were brought from the Bantu regions of the Atlantic coast of Africa where today Congo and Angola are located, and also from Mozambique. In general, these people lived in either tribes, kingdoms or city-states. The people from Congo had developed agriculture, raised livestock, domesticated animals such as goat, pig, chicken and dog and produced sculpture in wood. Some groups from Angola were nomadic and did not know agriculture.

Abolition of Slavery

According to Petrônio Domingues, by 1887 the slave struggles pointed to a real possibility of widespread insurrection. On October 23, in São Paulo, for instance, there were violent confrontations between the police and rioting Blacks, who chanted "long life freedom" and "death to the slaveowners". The president of the province, Rodrigues Alves, reported the situation as following:

:''The massive flight of slaves from several ''fazendas'' threatens, in some places in the province, public order, alarming the proprietaries and the productive classes''.

Uprisings irrupted in Itu, Campinas, Indaiatuba, Amparo, Piracicaba and Capivari; ten thousand fugitive slaves grouped in Santos. Flights were happening in daylight, guns were spotted among the fugitives, who, instead of hiding from police, seemed ready to engage in confrontation.

It was as a response to such situation that, on May 13, 1888, slavery was abolished, as a means to restore order and the control of the ruling class, in a situation in which the slave system was almost completely disorganised.

As an abolitionist newspaper, ''O Rebate'', put it, ten years later,

:''Had the slaves not fled en mass from the plantations, rebelling against their masters'' (...) ''Had they not, more than 20,000 of them, gone to the famous ''quilombo'' of Jabaquara (out of Santos, itself a center of abolitionist agitation), then maybe they would still be slaves today'' (...) ''Slavery ended because slaves no longer wanted to be slaves, because slaves rebelled against their masters and against the law that enslaved them'' (...) ''The law of May 13th was nothing more than the legal recognition – so as not to discredit public authority – of an act that had already been accomplished by the mass revolt of slaves''.

Evolution of the Black population in Brazil

{| style="float: right; margin: 1em 1em 1em 0em" !colspan="2"|Evolution of the Brazilian populationaccording skin color: 1872–1991 |-align="center" | |-align="center" | |}

Before abolition, the growth of the black population was mainly due to the acquisition of new slaves from Africa. In Brazil, the black population had a negative growth. This was due to the low life expectancy of the slaves, which was around 7 years. It was also because of the imbalance between the number of men and women. The vast majority of slaves were men, black women being a minority. Slaves rarely had a family and the unions between the slaves was hampered due to incessant hours of work. Another very important factor was that black women were held by white and mixed-race men. The Portuguese colonization, largely composed of men with very few women resulted in a social context in which white men disputed indigenous or African women. According to Gilberto Freyre in colonial Brazilian society, the few African women who arrived quickly became concubines, and in some cases, officially wives of the Portuguese settlers. In large plantations of sugar cane and in the mining areas, the white master often choose the most beautiful black slaves to work inside the house. These slaves were forced to have sex with their master, producing a very large Mulato population. The English diplomat and ethnologist Richard Francis Burton wrote that "''Mulatism became a necessary evil''" in the captaincies in the interior of Brazil. He noticed a "''strange aversion to marriage''" in the 19th century Minas Gerais, arguing that the colonists preferred to have quick relationships with black slaves rather than a marriage.

According to Darcy Ribeiro the process of miscegenation between whites and blacks in Brazil, in contrast to an idealized racial democracy and a peaceful integration, was a process of sexual domination, in which the white man imposed an unequal relationship using violence because of his prime condition in society. As an official wife or as a concubine or subjected to a condition of sexual slave, the black woman was the responsible for the growth of the "parda" population. The non-White population has grown mainly through sexual intercourse between the black female slave and the Portuguese master, which, together with assortative mating, explains the high degree of European ancestry in the black Brazilian population and the high degree of African ancestry in the white population.

Historian Manolo Florentino refutes the idea that a large part of the Brazilian people is a result of the forced relationship between the rich Portuguese colonizer and the Indian or African slaves. According to him, most of the Portuguese settlers in Brazil were poor adventurers from Northern Portugal who immigrated to Brazil alone. Most of them were men (the proportion was eight or nine men for each woman) and then it was natural that they had relationships with the Indian or Black women. According to him the mixture of races in Brazil, more than a sexual domination of the rich Portuguese master over the poor slaves, was a mixture between the poor Portuguese settlers with the Indian and Black women.

The Brazilian population of more evident black physiognomy is more strongly present along the coast, due to the high concentration of slaves working on sugar cane plantations. Another region that had a strong presence of Africans was the mining areas in the center of Brazil. Gilberto Freyre wrote that the states with strongest African presence were Bahia and Minas Gerais. Freyre wrote, however, that there's no region in Brazil where the black people have not penetrated. Many blacks fled to the hinterland of Brazil, including the Northern region, and met Amerindian and Mameluco populations. Many of these acculturated blacks were accepted in these communities and taught them the Portuguese language and the European culture. In these areas the blacks were "agents for transmitting European culture" to those isolated communities in Brazil. Many blacks mixed with the Indian and caboclo women.

Geographic distribution of Black Brazilians

As of 2007, the Brazilian Metropolitan Area with the largest percentage of people reported as Black was Salvador, Bahia, with 1,869,550 Pardo people (53.8%) and 990,375 ''pretos'' (28.5%). The state of Bahia has also the largest percentage of "pardos" (62.9%) and ''pretos'' (15.7%).

Genetic studies

Origin Sub-Saharan Africa align="right" align="right"Sub-Saharan Africa align="right" align="right"

Genetic origin of Brazilian population (Perc.% rounded values)
Line	|	''Negros''(Black)	''Brancos''(White)
rowspan="3"	Maternal(mtDNA)	|	85%	28%
Europe	>align="right"| 39%
Indigenous peoples in Brazil	Native Brazilian	12.5%|| align="right"|33%
rowspan="3"	Paternal(Y chromosome)	|	48%	2%
Europe	|align="right">98%
Indigenous peoples in Brazil	Native Brazilian	>align="right"| 0%

A recent genetic study of Black Brazilians made for BBC Brasil analysed the DNA of self-reported Blacks from São Paulo.

The research analyzed the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), that is present in all human beings and passed down with only minor mutations through the maternal line. The other is the Y chromosome, that is present only in males and passed down with only minor mutations through the paternal line. Both can show from what part of the world a matrilineal or patrilineal ancestor of a person came from, but one can have in mind that they are only a fraction of the human genome, and reading ancestry from Y chromosome and mtDNA only tells 1/23rd the story, since humans have 23 chromosome pairs in the cellular DNA.

Analyzing the Y chromosome, which comes from male ancestors through paternal line, it was concluded that half (50%) of Brazilian black population have at least one male ancestor who came from Europe, 48% have at least on male ancestor who came from Africa and 1.6% have at least one male ancestor who was a Native American. Analyzing their mitochondrial DNA, that comes from female ancestors though maternal line, 85% of them have at least a female ancestor who came from Africa, 12.5% have at least a female ancestor who was Native American and 2.5% have at least a female ancestor who came from Europe.

The high level of European ancestry in black Brazilians through paternal line exists because, for much of Brazil's History, there were more Caucasian males than Caucasian females. So inter-racial relationships between Caucasian males and Sub-Saharan African or Native American females were widespread.

Over 75% of Caucasians from North, Northeast and Southeast Brazil would have over 10% Sub-Saharan African genes, according to this particular study. Even Southern Brazil that received a large group of European immigration, 49% of the Caucasian population would have over 10% Sub-Saharan African genes, according to that study. Thus, 86% of Brazilians would have at least 10% of genes that came from Africa. The researchers however were cautious about its conclusions: "Obviously these estimates were made by extrapolation of experimental results with relatively small samples and, therefore, their confidence limits are very ample". A new autosomal study from 2011, also led by Sérgio Pena, but with nearly 1000 samples this time, from all over the country, shows that in most Brazilian regions most Brazilians "whites" are less than 10% African in ancestry, and it also shows that the "pardos" are predominantly European in ancestry, the European ancestry being therefore the main component in the Brazilian population, in spite of a very high degree of African ancestry and significant Native American contribution. Other autosomal studies (see some of them below) show a European predominance in the Brazilian population.

One thousand individuals from Porto Alegre city, Southern Brazil, and 760 from Natal city, Northeastern Brazil, were studied in relation to 12 and 8 genetic systems, respectively (blood polymorphisms, study dating back to 1981). The gathered data were used to estimate quantitatively the ethnic composition of individuals from these communities. More than half of the genes present in individuals classified as black in Porto Alegre city would be of European origin, while the Whites from this city would have 8% of African alleles genes. The estimated degree of admixture in persons identified as White or Mixed in Natal city is not much different. The ancestry of the total sample can be characterized as 58% White, 25% Black, and 17% Native American. This study found that persons identified as White or Pardo in Natal have similar dominant European ancestries, while persons identified as White in Porto Alegre have an overwhelming majority of European ancestry.

According to another study conducted on a school in the poor periphery of Rio de Janeiro, autosomal DNA study (from 2009), the "pardos" there were found to be on average over 80% European, and the "whites" (who thought of themselves as "very mixed") were found out to carry very little Amerindian and/or African admixtures. "The results of the tests of genomic ancestry are quite different from the self made estimates of European ancestry", say the researchers. In general, the test results showed that European ancestry is far more important than the students thought it would be. The "pardos" for example thought of themselves as 1/3 European, 1/3 African and 1/3 Amerindian before the tests, and yet their ancestry was determined to be at over 80% European. The "blacks" (pretos) of the periphery of Rio de Janeiro, according to this study, thought of themselves as predominantly African before the study and yet they turned out ''predominantly European'' (at 52%), the African contribution at 41% and the Native American 7%.

According to another autosomal DNA study (see table), those who identified as Whites in Rio de Janeiro turned out to have 86.4% – and self identified pardos 68.1% – European ancestry on average (autosomal). ''Pretos'' were found out to have on average 41.8% European ancestry

Amerindian 107 119 109

style="background:#f99;" colspan="5"	Genomic ancestry of non-related individuals in Rio de Janeiro
Cor	Number of individuals	|	African	European
White	|	6.7%	6.9%	86.4%
"parda"	|	8.3%	23.6%	68.1%
"preta"	|	7.3%	50.9%	41.8%

Another study (autosomal DNA study from 2010) found out that that European ancestry predominates in the Brazilian population as a whole ("whites", "pardos" and "blacks" altogether). European ancestry is dominant throughout Brazil at nearly 80%, except for the Southern part of Brazil, where the European heritage reaches 90%. "A new portrayal of each ethnicity contribution to the DNA of Brazilians, obtained with samples from the five regions of the country, has indicated that, on average, European ancestors are responsible for nearly 80% of the genetic heritage of the population. The variation between the regions is small, with the possible exception of the South, where the European contribution reaches nearly 90%. The results, published by the scientific magazine 'American Journal of Human Biology' by a team of the Catholic University of Brasília, show that, in Brazil, physical indicators such as skin colour, colour of the eyes and colour of the hair have little to do with the genetic ancestry of each person, which has been shown in previous studies"(regardless of census classification) "Ancestry informative SNPs can be useful to estimate individual and population biogeographical ancestry. Brazilian population is characterized by a genetic background of three parental populations (European, African, and Brazilian Native Amerindians) with a wide degree and diverse patterns of admixture. In this work we analyzed the information content of 28 ancestry-informative SNPs into multiplexed panels using three parental population sources (African, Amerindian, and European) to infer the genetic admixture in an urban sample of the five Brazilian geopolitical regions. The SNPs assigned apart the parental populations from each other and thus can be applied for ancestry estimation in a three hybrid admixed population. Data was used to infer genetic ancestry in Brazilians with an admixture model. Pairwise estimates of F(st) among the five Brazilian geopolitical regions suggested little genetic differentiation only between the South and the remaining regions.'' Estimates of ancestry results are consistent with the heterogeneous genetic profile of Brazilian population, with a major contribution of European ancestry (0.771) followed by African (0.143) and Amerindian contributions (0.085). The described multiplexed SNP panels can be useful tool for bioanthropological studies but it can be mainly valuable to control for spurious results in genetic association studies in admixed populations."

In support of the dominant European heritage of Brazil, according to another autosomal DNA study (from 2009) conducted on a school in the poor periphery of Rio de Janeiro the "pardos" there were found to be on average over 80% European, and the "whites" (who thought of themselves as "very mixed") were found out to carry very little Amerindian and/or African admixtures. "The results of the tests of genomic ancestry are quite different from the self made estimates of European ancestry", say the researchers. In general, the test results showed that European ancestry is far more important than the students thought it would be. The "pardos" for example thought of themselves as 1/3 European, 1/3 African and 1/3 Amerindian before the tests, and yet their ancestry was determined to be at over 80% European. The "blacks" (pretos) of the periphery of Rio de Janeiro, according to this study, thought of themselves as predominantly African before the study and yet they turned out ''predominantly European'' (''at 52%''), the African contribution at 41% and the Native American 7%.

According to another autosomal DNA study from 2009, the Brazilian population, in all regions of the country, was also found out to be predominantly European: "all the Brazilian samples (regions) lie more closely to the European group than to the African populations or to the Mestizos from Mexico". According to it European ancestry was the main component in all regions of Brazil: Northeast of Brazil (''66.7% European 23.3% African 10.0% Amerindian'') Northern Brazil (''60.6% European 21.3% African 18.1% Amerindian'') Central West (''66,3% European 21.7% African 12.0% Amerindian'') Southeast Brazil (''60.7% European 32.0% African 7.3% Amerindian'') Southern Brazil (''81.5% European 9.3% African 9.2% Amerindian'').

According to another study from 2008, by the University of Brasília (UnB), European ancestry dominates in the whole of Brazil (in all regions), accounting for 65,90% of the heritage of the population, followed by the African contribution (24,80%) and the Native American (9,3%).

According to an autosomal DNA study (from 2003) focused on the composition of the Brazilian population as a whole, "European contribution [...] is highest in the South (81% to 82%), and lowest in the North (68% to 71%). The African component is lowest in the South (11%), while the highest values are found in the Southeast (18%-20%). Extreme values for the Amerindian fraction were found in the South and Southeast (7%-8%) and North (17%-18%)". The researchers were cautious with the results as their samples came from paternity test takers which may have skewed the results partly.

An autosomal study from 2011 (with nearly almost 1000 samples from all over the country) has also concluded that European ancestry is the predominant ancestry in Brazil, accounting for nearly 70% of the ancestry of the population: "''In all regions studied, the European ancestry was predominant, with proportions ranging from 60.6% in the Northeast to 77.7% in the South''". The African contribution was found to be thus distributed: 10,50% in the North region of Brazil, 29,30% in the Northeast of Brazil, 17,30% in the Southeast of Brazil and 10,30% in the South of Brazil. The Native American: 18,50% in the North of Brazil, 8,9% in the Northeast of Brazil, 7,30% in the Southeast of Brazil and 9,40% in the South of Brazil.

Several other older studies have suggested that European ancestry is the main component in all Brazilian regions. A study from 2002 quoted previous and older studies (28. Salzano F M. Interciêência. 1997;22:221––227. 29. Santos S E B, Guerreiro J F. Braz J Genet. 1995;18:311––315. 30. Dornelles C L, Callegari-Jacques S M, Robinson W M, Weimer T A, Franco M H L P, Hickmann A C, Geiger C J, Salzamo F M. Genet Mol Biol. 1999;22:151––161. 31. Krieger H, Morton N E, Mi M P, Azevedo E, Freire-Maia A, Yasuda N. Ann Hum Genet. 1965;29:113––125. [PubMed]), saying that: "Salzano (28, a study from 1997) calculated for the Northeastern population as a whole, 51% European, 36% African, and 13% Amerindian ancestries whereas in the north, Santos and Guerreiro (29, a study from 1995) obtained 47% European, 12% African, and 41% Amerindian descent, and in the southernmost state of Rio Grande do Sul, Dornelles et al. (30, a study from 1999) calculated 82% European, 7% African, and 11% Amerindian ancestries. Krieger et al. (31, ''a study from 1965'') studied a population of Brazilian northeastern origin living in São Paulo with blood groups and electrophoretic markers and showed that whites presented 18% of African and 12% of Amerindian genetic contribution and that blacks presented 28% of European and 5% of Amerindian genetic contribution (31). Of course, all of these Amerindian admixture estimates are subject to the caveat mentioned in the previous paragraph. At any rate, compared with these previous studies, our estimates showed higher levels of bidirectional admixture between Africans and non-Africans."

In 2007 BBC Brasil launched the project ''Raízes Afro-Brasileiras'' (Afro-Brazilian Roots), in which they analyzed the genetic ancestry of nine famous Brazilian blacks and "pardos". Three tests were based on analysis of different parts of their DNA: an examination of paternal ancestry, maternal ancestry and the genomic ancestry, allowing to estimate the percentage of African, European and Amerindian genes in the composition of an individual.

Of the 9 people analyzed, 3 of them had more European ancestry than African one, while the other 6 people had more African ancestry, with varying degrees of European and Amerindian admixture. The African admixture varied from 19.5% in actress Ildi Silva to 99.3% in singer Milton Nascimento. The European admixture varied from 0.4% in Nascimento to 70% in Silva. The Amerindian admixture from 0.3% in Nascimento to 25.4% in soccer player Obina.

Media

thumb|right|170px|Taís Araújo was the first Black actress to be a protagonist of a Brazilian telenovela (soap opera). ''Pretos'' and "pardos" have a low representation in the Brazilian media. Blacks are under-represented in telenovelas, which have the largest audience of Brazilian television. The Brazilian soap operas, as well as throughout Latin America, are accused of hiding the Black and Indian population and to make almost entirely white casts, usually as upper middle-class people. Brazil produces soap operas since the 1960s, but it was only in 1996 that a black actress, Taís Araújo, was the protagonist of a telenovela, the role of the famous slave Chica da Silva. In 2002, Araujo was protagonist of another soap, being the only Black actress to have a more prominent role in a TV production of Brazil. The black actors in Brazil are usually required to follow stereotypes usually as subordinate and submissive roles, as maids, drivers, servants, bodyguards, and poor favelados. Joel Zito Araújo wrote the book ''A Negação do Brasil'' (''The Denial of Brazil'') which talks about how Brazilian TV hides the Black population. Araújo analyzed Brazilian soap operas from 1964 to 1997 and only 4 black families were represented as being of middle-class. Black women usually appear under strong sexual connotation and sensuality. Black men usually appear as rascals or criminals. Another common stereotype is of the "old mammies". In 1970, in the soap ''A Cabana do Pai Tomás'' (based on American novel ''Uncle Tom's Cabin'') a white actor, Sérgio Cardoso, played Thomas, who was a black man in the book. The actor had to paint his body in black to look black. The choice of a White actor to play a black character caused major protests in Brazil. In 1975 the telenovela ''Gabriela'' was produced, based on a book by Jorge Amado, who described Gabriela, the main character, as a ''mulata''. But to play Gabriela on television Rede Globo choose a White actress, Sônia Braga. The producer claimed he "did not find any talented Black actress" for the role of Gabriela. In 2001 Rede Globo produced ''Porto dos Milagres'', also based on a book by Jorge Amado. In the book Amado described a Bahia full of blacks. In the Rede Globo's soap opera, on the other hand, almost all the cast was white.

In the fashion world blacks and "pardos" are also poorly represented. In Brazil there is a clear predominance of models from the South of Brazil, mostly of European descent. Many black models complained of the difficulty of finding work in the fashion world in Brazil. This reflects a Caucasian standard of beauty demanded by the media. To change this trend, the Black Movement of Brazil entered in court against the fashion show, where almost all the models were whites. In a fashion show during São Paulo Fashion Week in January 2008, of the 344 models only eight (2.3% of total) were blacks. A public attorney reuquired the fashion show to contract Black models and demanded that during São Paulo Fashion Week 2009, at least 10% of the models should be "Blacks, Afro-descendants or Indians", under penalty of fine of 250,000 reais.

Religion

Most blacks are Christians, mainly Catholics. Afro-Brazilian religions such as Candomblé and Umbanda have many followers, but they are open to people of any race, and, indeed, while the proportions of blacks (in the strict sense, i.e., "pretos") are higher among practitioners of these religions than among the population in general, Whites are a majority in Umbanda, and a significant minority (bigger than blacks in the strict sense) in Candomblé. They are concentrated mainly in large urban centers such as Salvador de Bahia, Recife, Rio de Janeiro, Porto Alegre, Brasília, São Luís. In addition to Candomblé which is closer to the original West African religions, there is also Umbanda which blends Catholic and Kardecist Spiritism beliefs with African beliefs. Candomblé, Batuque, Xango and Tambor de Mina were originally brought by black slaves shipped from Africa to Brazil.

These black slaves would summon their gods, called Orixas, Voduns or Inkices with chants and dances they had brought from Africa. These religions have been persecuted in the past, mainly due to Catholic influence. However, Brazilian government has legalized them. In current practice, Umbanda followers leave offerings of food, candles and flowers in public places for the spirits. The Candomblé terreiros are more hidden from general view, except in famous festivals such as Iemanjá Festival and the Waters of Oxalá in the Northeast. From Bahia northwards there is also different practices such as Catimbo, Jurema with heavy, though not necessarily authentic, indigenous elements.

Since the late 20th Century, a large number of negros became followers of Protestant denominations, mainly Neopentecostal churches. Among Brazil's predominant ethnicities, Blacks make up the largest proportion of Pentecostal Protestants, while Whites make up the largest group of non-Pentecostal Protestants.

Cuisine

The influence of African cuisine in Brazil is expressed in a wide variety of dishes. In the state of Bahia, an exquisite cuisine evolved when cooks improvised on African and traditional Portuguese dishes using locally available ingredients. Typical dishes include Vatapá and Moqueca, both with seafood and dendê palm oil (). This heavy oil extracted from the fruits of an African palm tree is one of the basic ingredients in Bahian or Afro-Brazilian cuisine, adding flavor and bright orange color to foods. There is no equivalent substitute, but it is available in markets specializing in Brazilian or African imports.

Feijoada is the national dish of Brazil (for over 300 years). It is basically a mixture of black beans, pork and farofa (lightly roasted coarse cassava manioc flour). It started as a Portuguese dish that the African slaves built upon, made out of cheap ingredients: pork ears, feet and tail, beans and manioc flour. It has been adopted by all the other cultural regions, and there are hundreds of ways to make it.

Sports

Capoeira

Capoeira is a martial art developed initially by African slaves that came predominantly from Angola or Mozambique to Brazil, starting in the colonial period. It is marked by deft, tricky movements often played on the ground or completely inverted. It also has a strong acrobatic component in some versions and is always played with music. Recently, the sport has been popularized by the addition of Capoeira performed in various computer games and movies, and Capoeira music has been featured in modern pop music (see Capoeira in popular culture).

Football

Football is the most important national sport in Brazil, until recently the only to be practiced in truly professional way, and even nowadays the one that has most professional practitioners, infrastructure, and public. Although it has been, in its early development, an elite amateur sport, whose clubs discriminated against Blacks, it soon became a popular sport, with a huge following. The need to win competitions eventually forced football clubs to adopt professionalism, and, consequently, to hire the best players, regardless of race.

Soccer was quickly dominated by blacks and "pardos", and it became – and still remains – a mainstream way of social ascension for poor boys, especially blacks and "pardos" who had fewer opportunities in education or conventional labour.

The International Federation of Football History & Statistics Player of the Century list of the 20 best Brazilian players of the 20th Century includes 6 black (Pelé (#1), Arthur Friedenreich (#5), Leônidas da Silva (#8), Luís Pereira (#15), Domingos da Guia (#17), and Jairzinho (#19)) and 9 "pardo" (Garrincha (#2), Zizinho (#4), Didi (#7), Nilton Santos (#9), Ronaldo (#9), Romário (#11), Ademir da Guia (#14), Carlos Alberto Torres (#16) and Ademir (#18)) players, compared to only 5 Whites (Zico, Tostão, Falcão, Rivelino and Bebeto).

Music

The music of Brazil is a mixture of Portuguese, Amerindian, and African music, making a wide variety of styles. Brazil is well known for the rhythmic liveliness of its music as in its Samba dance music. This is largely because Brazilian slave owners allowed their slaves to continue their heritage of playing drums (unlike U.S. slave owners who feared use of the drum for communications). Other popular music styles include pagode and hip hop.

Literature

Many important names of Brazilian literature are or have been blacks or "pardos". Machado de Assis, generally considered the most important Brazilian fictional writer, was himself "pardo". Other remarkable writers include: João da Cruz e Souza, symbolist poet of refined inspiration; Lima Barreto, novelist, master of satyre and sarcasm, and pioneer of social criticism; João Ubaldo Ribeiro, novelist and short story writer; João do Rio, fine chronicler, José do Patrocínio, journalist; Paulo Leminski, poet.

Important or famous Black Brazilians

In spite of strong prejudice, many black Brazilians and "pardos" have been prominent in Brazilian society. This is particularly true of fields where neither academic achievement nor material investment is decisive: the arts, particularly music and sports. From the colonial times, "pardos" as Father José Maurício Nunes Garcia (baroque conductor and composer) or Aleijadinho (outstanding sculptor and architect) attained high prestige as artists.

Other remarkable artists include Machado de Assis, arguably Brazil's most important writer, whose novels are the kernel of the Brazilian canon, João da Cruz e Souza, symbolist poet of refined inspiration, Lima Barreto, novelist, master of satire and sarcasm, pioneer of social criticism. It is in popular music, however, that the talents of black Brazilians and "pardos" found the most fertile ground for their development. Masters of samba, Pixinguinha, Cartola, Lupicínio Rodrigues, Geraldo Pereira, Wilson Moreira, and of MPB, Milton Nascimento, Jorge Ben Jor, Gilberto Gil, have built the Brazilian musical identity.

Another field where black Brazilians and "pardos" have excelled is soccer: Pelé, arguably the most complete soccer player ever, Garrincha, right-forward, exceptional dribbler, Leônidas da Silva, nicknamed "Black Diamond", Arthur Friedenreich, Ademir da Guia, are well known historic names of Brazilian soccer; Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Romário, Robinho and many others continue this tradition. Important athletes in other sports include Daiane dos Santos (gymnastics), known for the invention of original movements, João Carlos de Oliveira Jadel Gregório, Nelson Prudêncio, Ademar Ferreira da Silva.

Particularly important among sports is capoeira, itself a creation of Black Brazilians; important "Mestres" (masters) include Mestre Amen Santo, Mestre Barba Branca, Mestre Bimba, Mestre Cobra Mansa, Mestre João Grande, Mestre João Pequeno, Mestre Jogo de Dentro, Mestre Moraes, Mestre Pastinha, Mestre Pé de Chumbo.

Since the end of the military dictatorship, the political participation of black Brazilians and "pardos" has increased. The first female senator, Benedita da Silva, is Black; other important politicians include Senator Paulo Paim, former mayor of São Paulo Celso Pitta, former Senator Marina Silva, former governor of Rio Grande do Sul, Alceu Collares, former governor of Espírito Santo, Albuíno Azeredo. One of the justices of the Supremo Tribunal Federal, Joaquim Barbosa, is Black.

Despite many obstacles, black Brazilians and "pardos" have also excelled as actors, such as Lázaro Ramos, Ruth de Souza, Milton Gonçalves, Taís Araújo, Zezé Motta.

musician Image:Djavan_en_Chile_cropped.jpg|Djavan, musician Image:Sandrasa21032007.jpg|Sandra de Sá, singer Image:Obina.jpg|Obina, soccer player Image:Beneditadasilva11012007.jpg|Benedita da Silva Image:Paulopaim2006.jpg|Paulo Paim Image:Joaquim_Barbosa.jpg|Joaquim Barbosa Image:Machado_assis.jpg|Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis Image:Nilo Peçanha 02.jpg|Nilo Peçanha Image:Cruz_e_Sousa.jpg|João da Cruz e Sousa Image:Pel%C3%A9.jpg|Pelé Image:Ronaldinho061115.jpg|Ronaldinho Image:Rom%C3%A1rio2004.jpg|Romário Image:Robinho061115-2.jpg|Robinho Image:Brazil.GilbertoGil.01.jpg|Gilberto Gil Image:Seu_Jorge_Coachella.jpg|Seu Jorge Image:DJMarky.jpg|DJ Marky Image:L%C3%A1zaro_Ramos_13072007.jpg|Lázaro Ramos Image:City_of_god.jpg Alexandre Rodrigues Image:Margareth_menezes_foto.jpg|Margareth Menezes File:Anderson Silva.jpg|Anderson Silva File:Taís Araújo Ordem de Rio Branco Cropped.png|Taís Araújo File:Vanessa da Mata.jpg|Vanessa da Mata File:Joao Candido.jpg|João Cândido Felisberto with sailors and reporters on the last day of the Revolt of the Lash

See also

Ethnic groups in Brazil

Afro-Hispanic people

Afro-Anglo American

Batuque

Candomblé

Kalunga

Liberated Africans in Nigeria

Macumba

Quimbanda

Racial democracy

Umbanda

List of Brazilians of Black African descent

Tambor de Mina

References

Further reading

Ankerl, Guy. Coexisting Contemporary Civilizations: Arabo-Muslim, Bharati, Chinese, and Western. 2000, Geneva. INUPRESS, ISBN 2-88155-004-5. pp. 187–210.

External links

Candomblé music Webcast explores the influence of African culture on Brazilian music

* Category:Ethnic groups in Brazil * Brazil

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