Nanny of the Maroons

Queen Nanny or Nanny (c. 1686 – c. 1755), Jamaican National Hero, was a well-known, 18th-century leader of the Jamaican Maroons. Much of what is known about her comes from oral history, as little textual evidence exists. She was born into the Asante people in what is today Ghana, and escaped from slavery after being transported to Jamaica.

Historical documents refer to her as the "rebels' old 'obeah' woman." Following some armed confrontations, colonial officials reached a settlement for peace. They legally granted "Nanny and the people now residing with her and their heirs ... a certain parcel of Land containing five hundred acres in the parish of Portland ...".Nanny Town was founded on this land but was destroyed during the First Maroon War in 1734. Another Maroon town was founded by survivors and later known as Moore Town.

The Maroons are descendants of West Africans, mainly people from the Ashanti region of what is today Ghana. After being brought to Jamaica in the course of the Transatlantic slave trade, many slaves fled from the oppressive conditions of plantations and formed their own communities in the rugged, hilly interior of the island. A minority of slaves originated from other regions of Africa, including the Congo and Madagascar; they were known as Coromantie or Koromantee, and were considered ferocious fighters. People who escaped from slavery joined the other Maroons. Up to the 1650s under Spanish rule, slaves escaped and intermarried with the native islanders, the Arawak, in their communities on the west of the island.

Later, after the British assumed control of the colony, more slaves escaped from to join the two main bands of Windward and Leeward Maroons. By the early 17th century, these were headed respectively by Nanny of the Maroons and Captain Cudjoe. Between 1655 until the 1830s, these Maroons led most of the slave rebellions in Jamaica, helping to free slaves from the plantations. They raided and then damaged lands and buildings held by plantation owners.

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