Manoel Batista de Morais was born on 2 November 1875, in Afogados da Ingazeira, a small town situated on the banks of the Pajeú das Flores River, in the semi-arid region of Pernambuco. His parents were Francisco Batista de Morais and Balbina Pereira de Morais.

Cangaço was born in the 18th century, a period when the country’s interior had not yet been tamed. Even then, the bandit Jesuíno Brilhante (aka Cabeleira) attacked Recife, but was arrested and hanged.

Son of Manuel Gomes da Silva and Firmina Cleto, Cristino Gomes da Silva Cleto – later known as Corisco - was born in 1907, in the town of Matinha de Água Branca, in the State of Alagoas.

Known as the ‘King of Cangaço’ [banditry] and ‘Governor of the Sertão’ [semi-arid region], Virgulino Ferreira da Silva was born on 7 July 1897 on the Ingazeira Farm, located in the municipality of Vila Bela (today Serra Talhada), in the Pernambuco semi-arid region.