Martim Afonso de Sousa ( – 21 July 1564) was a Portuguese ''

fidalgo ''Fidalgo'' (, ), from Galician and Portuguese —equivalent to nobleman, but sometimes literally translated into English as "son of somebody" or "son of some (important family)"—is a traditional title of Portuguese nobility that refers to a ...

'', explorer and colonial administrator.

Life

Born in Vila Viçosa, he was commander of the first official Portuguese expedition into mainland of the colony of Brazil. Threatened by the presence of French ships along the coast of Brazil, the Portuguese crown in December 1530 sent a fleet with 400 people led by Martim Afonso de Sousa to establish control and explore. His mission was to place Portuguese markers as far south as the River Plate estuary, but he was shipwrecked there. Upon return to São Vicente and Santos, in 1532 he led troops guided by the native inhabitants and by earlier Portuguese settlers such as João Ramalho up the Serra do Mar mountains to the area near the future village of São Paulo. On the high plateau, he founded the town of Santo André. He also established a sugar mill near the coast at São Vicente, with sugarcane brought from the Portuguese Cape Verde islands. In both activities, Afonso de Sousa established a pattern followed by Portuguese colonizers and Brazilians for long afterward: the "entradas" and "bandeiras" – or explorations and raids into the interior – and the production of sugar along the coast for export. Sousa was the first Royal Governor of Brazil. He settled in the north-east region of the modern country. Afonso de Sousa also helped decisively in the acquisition of Diu, in

India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...

for Portugal in 1535. From 1542 to 1545 he was governor of

Portuguese India The State of India ( pt, Estado da Índia), also referred as the Portuguese State of India (''Estado Português da Índia'', EPI) or simply Portuguese India (), was a state of the Portuguese Empire founded six years after the discovery of a se ...

. His mandate was especially controversial. Afonso de Sousa had been raised in the King´s household and was a personal friend since childhood of

King John III of Portugal John III ( pt, João III ; 7 June 1502 – 11 June 1557), nicknamed The Pious ( Portuguese: ''o Piedoso''), was the King of Portugal and the Algarves from 1521 until his death in 1557. He was the son of King Manuel I and Maria of Aragon, the ...

. He sought the title of Earl after his governorship of India, but failed in this. He became a close advisor of Catherine of Austria, widow of John III of Portugal, when she ruled the Realm between 1557 and 1562. He died in Lisbon in 1564.

References

External links

Biography at UOL Educacao (Portuguese)Pedro Taques de Almeida Paes Leme ''História da Capitania de São Paulo'' "History of the Captaincy of São Paulo"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sousa, Martim Afonso De 1500 births 1564 deaths Portuguese explorers of South America 16th-century explorers Portuguese colonization of the Americas Portuguese colonial governors and administrators People from Vila Viçosa 16th-century Portuguese people History of São Paulo (state)