Bailundo Revolt of 1902

The Bailundo Revolt of 1902 was the last attempt by the Ovimbundu peoples to resist Portuguese colonization. The revolt, prompted by the declining price of rubber, pitted rival traders against one another. However, while the Portuguese maintained ethnic and national solidarity, the Ovimbundu continued to engage in slave raids. The Portuguese suppressed the rebellion and annexed the Central Highlands.

Degredado settlers and Boer farmers stole natives' lands, impressing and deporting workers to plantations. Portuguese authorities arrested the king of Bailundo after an Ovimbundu celebration in which natives consumed Portuguese rum, allegedly without paying. The king's advisor, Mutu ya Kevela, allied with Bailundo's neighboring kingdoms and launched a liberation war. He told his council, rallying them to fight, "Before the traders came we had our own home-brewed beer, we lived long lives and were strong." Kevela's troops killed Portuguese colonists and burned down their trading posts. The native revolt spread towards Bié, but Portuguese troops stationed in Benguela and Moçâmedes put down the revolt. The war ended in 1903, almost two years later, with the Portuguese victorious and Kevela dead.