Among African slaves, several ethnic groups revealed themselves to be fiercer opponents of slavery than others. Bahia was the scene for numerous slave revolts in the first half of the nineteenth century due to the thousands of enslaved Yorubas (known as nagôs in Brazil) who congregated there, as well as the presence of Hausas. These groups had recently experienced warfare mainly in the form of conflicts linked to the expansion of Islam in Hausa territory, the collapse of the Oyo kingdom and the consequent outbreak of violence across the entire Yoruba territory. Rio de Janeiro  
and other provinces in the south witnessed few revolts in the same period because the Africans trafficked to the area in the period were mainly of Bantu extraction, without experience in the art of war and mostly young, female, or still children.  
The earliest revolts that occurred in Bahia from 1807 to circa 1820 were mainly instigated by Hausa slaves, before being substituted by Yoruba. Over 30 conspiracies and revolts occurred, with half of these in the 1820s, which was an intensive decade for the slave trade from Africa. This suggests that recently arrived slaves played a key role in the revolts. Hausa and Yoruba people - particularly the former - had a strong Muslim contingent among them.  
Although it was not the only factor behind rebellions among Bahian slaves, Islam was of definite relevance, although only in the 1807 conspiracy and the 1814 and 1835 revolts Muslim influence were documented. In May 1807, rebels hatched a plan to besiege and conquer the city of Salvador. The conspiracy was discovered, however, and smothered at the source. Evidence of Muslim participation included confiscated papers presumed to be written in Arabic, but which unfortunately have been lost. It was discovered that part of the rebels' plan was to attack Catholic temples, burn images of saints in public squares, and to install a Muslim leader to power. (Reis, 2006, pp. 383-418).