Independence of Bahia

The Independence of Bahia, also called the Independence of Brazil in Bahia, was the movement that, beginning on 19 February 1822 and concluding on 2 July 1823, secured the integration of Bahia as a province in the Empire of Brazil, consolidating the country's independence.

Salvador, the capital of the Province of Bahia and one of the most important cities of the Kingdom of Brazil, then part of the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil, and the Algarves, joined the Liberal Revolution of Porto in 1820. With the convening of the Constituent Cortes in Lisbon in January of the following year, the province sent its representatives, including Miguel Calmon du Pin e Almeida, to defend local interests. The city split into factions: the liberals - uniting both Portuguese and Brazilians - sought to preserve the status quo achieved when the Portuguese royal court relocated to Brazil and elevated it to the rank of a kingdom, while the Portuguese wished to return to the prior colonial condition. As tensions rose, sides hardened: on one end, the Portuguese sought to keep the province as a colony; on the other, Brazilians - liberals, conservatives, monarchists, and even republicans - joined forces in a common struggle. The conflict, ongoing for nearly a year, only unified after 14 June 1822, when the Chamber of Santo Amaro da Purificação proclaimed national unity and recognized the authority of prince Pedro of Braganza.

Although preceded by the Beberibe Convention and reactions to the Dia do Fico, the struggle for independence in Bahia began before Brazil's official separation from Portugal on 7 September 1822, only coming to fruition almost a year after it. Unlike the relatively peaceful proclamation at the Ipiranga stream, the struggle in Bahia against Portugal came at the cost of bloody land and naval battles. On 8 November 1822, the Battle of Pirajá took place. French General Pierre Labatut, hired by Pedro I to fight for Brazilian independence, reinforced the troops besieging Bahia's capital with Major (later Colonel) José de Barros Falcão de Lacerda's brigade, consisting of 1,300 soldiers from Pernambuco, Bahia, and Rio de Janeiro. They repelled three Portuguese assaults, causing 80 deaths and leaving another 80 wounded. In April 1823, the imperial fleet under British Admiral Thomas Cochrane arrived in Salvador and blockaded the port. Deprived of food supplies and unable to receive reinforcements, the Portuguese evacuated during the night of 1–2 July, carrying away whatever riches they could. On 2 July 1823, the Liberation Army triumphantly entered the city, already abandoned by the Portuguese. Over the course of the movement, which lasted one year and four months, around 150 Brazilians were killed in combat. That day became a public holiday in Bahia and is celebrated annually with civic parades retracing the route taken by General Labatut in 1823 through Salvador, in what is known as the Bahia Independence Festival.