The Taro Revolt (), or the Taro Mutiny (), is the name given to the 17th-century peasant conflicts that occurred on the island of São Jorge—particularly the municipality of Calheta, in the parishes of Ribeira Seca and Norte Pequeno—in protest to the annual payment of tithes for the production of taro, a green-stalk plant whose root was used as a food source throughout the Azores.
History
The taro (Colocasia esculenta), referred to in the Azores as inhames or coco in Portuguese, is cultivated in many islands of the archipelago. It was first introduced onto the island of São Jorge during the 17th century, probably from Southeast Asia, and became popular with the peasant class. Given its nutritional importance, taro was planted in peasant gardens to stave off food crises and famine; in periods when crops failed, the taro was used to supplant local sources of protein.
On the eastern coast, which is characterized by the plain of Serra do Topo (800 m above sea level) and almost constantly covered in thick fog, made it difficult to cultivate cereal crops. This was usually confined to a narrow platform that circuited the village of Topo and the lower portion of Santo Antão. These were ideal conditions, with their ravines and rugged valleys, that allowed the cultivation of taro, which assumed a dominant part of the local agriculture and economy. The taro was usually cultivated along the margins of the fields that were seeded with cereal crops and provided a guaranteed source of proteins for local settlers, until the potato was introduced later in the century. The plant occupied areas with abundant sources of water and could tolerate areas of shade, and were therefore ideal in the fajãs, ravines and valleys, taking advantage of access to water and waterfalls. On São Jorge, in particular, the coastal debris fields (the fajãs) were ideal along the southern coast of the island. Today, there still exist some plants in these zones and especially in those areas that have since been abandoned by human settlement, but yet wild plants have survived.
Culturally, some locals would refer to residents near taro fields as inhameiros ("taro-fielders"), the leaves of the taro figure prominently on the coat-of-arms of the municipality of Calheta and the heraldry of the civil parish of Ribeira Seca, the locality at the center of the leader of the Taro Revolt.
Increased taxation
The costs associated with the Portuguese Restoration War could not be eliminated through the increase in standard taxation, which was primarily centered on products of greater value, such as cereals or meats. Therefore, the crown looked to other mechanisms to generate new financial income and expanded the number of products that were taxable, in order to expand this revenue stream.
The new tax, the dízimo das miunças e ervagens ("Tithe on Miunças and Greens"), was such a new tax: it imposed a tax on one-tenth of all green plants, including those for animal consumption (as well as the cattle) and other smaller agricultural products. The tax, which lasted until the establishment of the Liberal Constitution of 1822, was the norm, and established payment to the Royal coffers in taro, which would be sold by administers to fill the public finances. The payment was generally repudiated by all, but in general by commercial traders and capitalists from Lisbon, who extorted payment from their clients. This discontent extend to many of the peasant class, who had hopes that the Restoration would bring prosperity, but were excluded from lands by aristocratic fiefdoms of Lisbon nobility. In some parishes, what few lands were available were those in ravines and cliffs, where the taro could be cultivated. This discontentment increased in the latter half of the 17th century, creating the conditions for conflict that only required a match.
Considered food of the peasants, it was never subject to a tithe, until the population of the municipalities of Calheta and Topo were informed that they were to begin paying the tax on the root-vegetable. Many did not pay, and the situation began to fester. In 1692, Francisco Lopes Beirão set the tithe for three years to 415$000 Portuguese real, and instructed his agents to "squeeze" peasants for the payment, as well as the costs associated with the transport of the tuber from field to the collection site.