Queen Nanny, Granny Nanny, or Nanny of the Maroons ONH (c. 1686 – c. 1733), was an 18th-century leader of the Jamaican Maroons. She led a community of formerly enslaved Africans called the Windward Maroons. In the early 18th century, under the leadership of Nanny, the Windward Maroons fought a guerrilla war over many years against British authorities in the Colony of Jamaica in what became known as the First Maroon War. Much of what is known about her comes from oral history, as little textual evidence exists. According to Maroon legend, Queen Nanny was born in what is today Ghana of the Asante. According to the oral tradition and at least one documentary source, she was never enslaved. Although widely assumed that she arrived in Jamaica as a slave, how she arrived in Jamaica is not certain. During the years of warfare, the British suffered significant losses in their encounters with the Windward Maroons of eastern Jamaica. Maroons attributed their success against the British to the successful use of supernatural powers by Nanny, but historians argue that the Maroon mastery of guerrilla warfare played a significant role in their success. Having failed to defeat them on the battle field, the British sued for peace, signing a treaty with them on 20 April 1740. The treaty stopped the hostilities, provided for state sanctioned freedom for the Maroons, and granted 500 acres of land to Nanny and her followers. The village built on the land grant still stands and today is called Moore Town. It is also known as the New Nanny Town. Modern members of the Moore Town celebrate 20 April 1740 as a holiday. In 1975, the government of Jamaica declared Nanny as their only female national hero celebrating her success as a leader, military tactician and strategist. Her image is also on the Jamaican $500 note which is called a Nanny in Jamaican slang. The origins of Nanny According to Maroon legend, Nanny was born into the Akan people about 1686 in what is now Ghana, West Africa. There are several versions of her early story. It is not clear from objective sources which are accurate. In one story, she came as a free woman who may have even had her own slaves. In another, she came to Jamaica as a slave but then escaped, perhaps even jumping off of the ship while it was offshore. However, the