Pirajá, Salvador

Pirajá is a neighborhood in the municipality of Salvador, in the state of Bahia, Brazil.^[1] It is home to bus company garages, wholesale warehouses, several auto parts stores, a bus station (Pirajá Station), a dry port, housing complexes, the Cobre Dam and São Bartolomeu Park. It also houses the headquarters of "Cortejo Afro", an association focused on Afro-Brazilian culture that is sung about by singer Daniela Mercury in the song "Preta".

"Pirajá" is a term of Tupi origin: it means "that which is full of fish", through the combination of pirá (fish) and îá (full).^[2]

The Battle of Pirajá is considered one of the main clashes of arms in the war for the Independence of Bahia, and was fought in the Cabrito-Campinas-Pirajá area. The main battle for independence, in which the people of Bahia defeated the forces of Portuguese colonialism in 1823, took place in the Pantheon of Pirajá, located in Largo de Pirajá. Every July 1st, the place receives the Symbolic Fire coming from the Recôncavo, representing the revolutionary villages established in the region. In the main square of the neighborhood, Pierre Labatut, the French general who fought in the Battle of Pirajá, has his remains in the local pantheon.

The neighborhood is one of the oldest in Salvador: it emerged from sugar mills and the first Jesuit missions that arrived in Bahia during the colonization period, as noted by Professor Luís Henrique Dias Tavares: “In the Ribeira de Pirajá, the Jesuits established the village of São João de Plataforma in the early years of colonization, beginning the first experiences of catechesis. There, the first sugar mills in the city emerged, such as El-Rei or Pirajá.

In the São João sugar mill, which belonged to the Society of Jesus, Father António Vieira preached his first sermon in 1633. One of the oldest routes to the interior of the country, Estrada das Boiadas, ran through the hills of Pirajá. On the other hand, Enseada do Cabrito offered the only truly safe shelter for ships in the vicinity of the city.”

The Pirajá neighborhood is located on the banks of the BR-324 and the Railway Suburbs of Salvador. It can be accessed via the BR-324 (from the North and East), DERBA Road (from the North), Estrada Velha de Campinas (from the South) and the Pirajá-Suburbana Connection (from the West). Pirajá has very few connections, roads and transportation to the Railway Suburbs Region and neighboring neighborhoods separated by the Cobre Dam, such as Rio Sena, Alto da Terezinha and Ilha Amarela.

The Labatut Festival has existed since 1853, created four years after the death of General Pierre Labatut. At that time, a pilgrimage to the general's tomb began, and to this day, he is revered as the main figure in the independence of Bahia. The Labatut Festival begins a week after the biggest celebration on July 2nd. On that occasion, the residents of Pirajá and neighboring neighborhoods gather and hold their own party, which lasts three days.

The name of Pirajá's busiest commercial street, 8 de Novembro, is related to the date of the Battle of Pirajá. The conflict began in the early hours of November 8, 1822, when Portuguese soldiers landed in Itacaranha and attacked the Engenho do Cabrito area, while another group advanced by land to Pirajá. General Pierre Labatut, a French mercenary hired by D. Pedro I to fight for Brazil's independence, reinforced the troops besieging the capital of Bahia with the Brigade of Major (later Colonel) José de Barros Falcão de Lacerda, composed of 1,300 soldiers from Pernambuco, Bahia and Rio de Janeiro, which repelled three Portuguese attacks, causing 80 deaths and leaving another 80 injured.^[3]

In command of the Portuguese forces in Bahia was Commander Inácio Luís Madeira de Melo, sent by Portugal to quell rumors of independence and political-administrative dissent.

A curious fact about this battle is a report, cited by Tobias Monteiro in his "The Elaboration of Independence", about an episode in which Major Barros Falcão, who commanded the Brazilian troops at a certain point, had given the order to retreat, but Bugler Luís Lopes, on his own, changed the call to "cavalry, advance and cut throats". The Portuguese, frightened by such a move (which was impossible, since there was no Brazilian cavalry in the battle), panicked and retreated, giving the battle momentum to the soldiers of Pernambuco, who, more experienced, attacked with renewed enthusiasm, inflicting a considerable number of casualties on their adversaries. The Brazilian forces emerged victorious.

Pirajá was listed as one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in Salvador, according to data from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) and the Public Security Secretariat (SSP) published on the neighborhood-by-neighborhood violence map by the newspaper Correio in 2012.^[4] It was among the most violent as a result of the homicide rate for every hundred thousand inhabitants per year (with reference to the UN) having reached the second most negative level, with the indicator of "61-90", being one of the worst neighborhoods on the list.^[4]

• Battle of Pirajá