François Mackandal
François Mackandal was a Haitian Maroon leader in Haiti. He is sometimes described as a Haitian vodou priest, or houngan. French interrogators have archived evidence that during his interrogation he repeated the Shahada in Arabic several times and even translated its meaning to his French captors during his interrogation before being condemned to death. According to Islamic doctrine, a person who understands this declaration, recites, it with sincerity, and lives according to its teaching is a Muslim. Documented accounts of his shahada during his interrogation confirm the claims of early historians that Macandal was a Muslim.
Given the predominance of Haitian Vodou on the island, many assume Mackandal to be associated with this faith as well. In the book "Open door to Liberty," Mackandal was mentioned, talking about his life as a vodou priest and joining Maroons to kill whites in Saint Domingue, till he was captured and burned alive by French colonial authorities.
Although this is mistaken as contradiction by some, historians note that Muslims in West Africa traditionally accommodated the ancient indigenous rituals.
Scholars further note that this syncretism found often found its way into African diasporic religions.
Given this historical reality it is likely that Macandal identified with both faiths. In any case Islamic doctrine dictates that testimony of faith annuls all which occurred before it. Thus, his former alleged role as a vodou priest prior to his capture would not have negated a latter testimony of faith made before being condemned to death.
Haitian historian Thomas Madiou states that Mackandal "had instruction and possessed the Arabic language very well."
Early sources identify him as coming from Mount Atlas which spans the Magreb, but contemporary scholars such as Sylviane Diouf have speculated that he may have been from the modern day nations of Senegal, Mali, or Guinea.
Details aside his significance as a leader in the fight for Haitian independence has been immortalized through Haitian currency.
The association of Mackandal with "black magic" seems to be a result of his use of poison, derived from natural plants:
The slave Mackandal, a houngan knowledgeable of poisons, organized a widespread plot to poison the masters, their water supplies and animals. The movement spread great terror among the slave owners and killed hundreds before the secret of Mackandal was tortured from a slave.
Biography
Mackandal created poisons from island herbs. He distributed the poison to slaves, who added it to the meals and refreshments they served the French plantation owners and planters. He became a charismatic guerrilla leader who united the different Maroon bands and created a network of secret organizations connected with slaves still on plantations. According to C.L.R. James, Mackandal had equal eloquence to a European orator, and was only different in strength and vigor. He led Maroons to raid plantations at night, torch property, and kill the owners.In 1758, the French, fearing that Mackandal would drive all whites from the colony, tortured an ally of Mackandal into divulging information that led to Makandal's capture. After six years of planning and building up an organization of black slaves throughout Haiti to poison the French, he was burned at the stake in the center square of Port-au-Prince in front of everyone. However, people from the crowd, particularly the black slaves, believed that Mackandal rose out of the flames and transformed into a winged beast that flew to safety.
Beyond the sketch of historical events outlined above, a colorful and varied range of myths about the man's life exist. Various supernatural accounts of his execution, and of his escaping capture by the French authorities, are preserved in island folklore, and are widely depicted in paintings and popular art.
It is speculated that Mackandal lost his right arm in a farming accident when it was caught in a sugarcane press and crushed between the rollers.
In popular culture
One of the most well-known portraits of Mackandal is that in Alejo Carpentier's magical realist novel, The Kingdom of this World.Mackandal's public torture and execution is depicted vividly in Guy Endore's 1934 novel Babouk. Both Mackandal's rebel conspiracy and his brutal killing are shown as influential on Babouk, who helps to lead a 1791 slave revolt.
A fictionalized version of Mackandal also appears in Nalo Hopkinson's novel, The Salt Roads and in Mikelson Toussaint-Fils's novel, Bloody trails: the Messiah of the islands.
In Neil Gaiman's novel American Gods, a boy named Agasu is enslaved in Africa and brought to Haiti, where he eventually loses his arm and leads a rebellion against the European establishment. This account is very similar to that of Mackandal's.
C G S Millworth's novel, Makandal's Legacy tells of Makandal's fictional son, Jericho, and the gift of immortality he received as a result of his father's pact with the voodoo spirits, the lwa.
The Harvard ethnobotanist and Anthropologist, Wade Davis, writes about Francois Macandal in his novel "The Serpent and the Rainbow." In the chapter "Tell my Horse" Davis explores the historical beginnings of vodoun culture and speculates Mackandal as a chief propagator of the Vodoun religion.
In the video game , the character Agaté mentions François Mackandal as having been his Assassin mentor, and also recalls how Mackandal was burned at the stake following his failed attempt to poison the colonists of Saint-Domingue. The game portrays a false Mackandal who is actually another character called Baptiste, who according to Agaté was once a brother and has also been trained by the real Mackandal. The character uses a Skull face painting and like the real Mackandal he is missing his right arm. Mackandal is also mentioned many times in Assassin's Creed Rogue.