António Raposo Tavares ''o Velho'' ( Portuguese: ''the old one'') (1598–1658) was a Portuguese colonial bandeirante who explored mainland eastern South America and claimed it for

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

, extending the territory of the colony beyond the limits imposed by the

treaty of Tordesillas The Treaty of Tordesillas, ; pt, Tratado de Tordesilhas . signed in Tordesillas, Spain on 7 June 1494, and authenticated in Setúbal, Portugal, divided the newly discovered lands outside Europe between the Portuguese Empire and the Spanish Emp ...

. He also led the largest expedition ever made in the

Americas The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. Along with th ...

, covering over 10,000 kilometres (over 6,200 mi) around South America, unifying completely the two large South American river basins and the

Andes The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...

in a single voyage. Raposo Tavares departed from

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaWC a ...

towards the rivers of the Río de la Plata Basin (mainly the

Paraguay River The Paraguay River (Río Paraguay in Spanish, Rio Paraguai in Portuguese, Ysyry Paraguái in Guarani) is a major river in south-central South America, running through Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay and Argentina. It flows about from its headwaters in ...

) and the Andean slopes, and from there to

Belém Belém (; Portuguese for Bethlehem; initially called Nossa Senhora de Belém do Grão-Pará, in English Our Lady of Bethlehem of Great Pará) often called Belém of Pará, is a Brazilian city, capital and largest city of the state of Pará in t ...

, at the mouth of the

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology c ...

. Raposo Tavares was partly of

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

origin according to the Jewish historian Anita Novinsky.

Biography

Tavares was born in São Miguel do Pinheiro,

Alentejo Alentejo ( , ) is a geographical, historical, and cultural region of south–central and southern Portugal. In Portuguese, its name means "beyond () the Tagus river" (''Tejo''). Alentejo includes the regions of Alto Alentejo and Baixo Alent ...

in 1598. He sailed for South America in 1618 with his father Fernão Vieira Tavares. In 1622, after his father died, he settled around

; six years later, in 1628, he left the village with the first '' bandeira'' composed of 900 settlers and 2000

Tupi Tupi may refer to: * Tupi people of Brazil * Tupi or Tupian languages, spoken in South America ** Tupi language, an extinct Tupian language spoken by the Tupi people * Tupi oil field off the coast of Brazil * Tupi Paulista, a Brazilian municipalit ...

warriors. This voyage was started to hunt the heretics down and to capture more indigenous slaves (mostly Tupi, Tememinos and Carijós). The bandeirantes first attacked some Guarani villages in the upper Parana valley, which were protected by the Spanish

Jesuits The Society of Jesus ( la, Societas Iesu; abbreviation: SJ), also known as the Jesuits (; la, Iesuitæ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

and brutally killed many people, capturing 2500 Indians. This journey allowed the annexation of a portion of the land east of the Uruguay River (current states of Paraná and Santa Catarina) to the Portuguese colony. Tavares went back to São Paulo in 1633 and he became a judge. Three years later he left again on a new journey, this time to destroy the Spanish Jesuit settlements established southeast of the Uruguay River (current

Rio Grande do Sul Rio Grande do Sul (, , ; "Great River of the South") is a Federative units of Brazil, state in the South Region, Brazil, southern region of Brazil. It is the Federative_units_of_Brazil#List, fifth-most-populous state and the List of Brazilian st ...

). From 1639 to 1642, Tavares fought along with the military which was engaged in war against the Dutch, who had conquered the settlements in the north-eastern coast (

Bahia Bahia ( , , ; meaning "bay") is one of the 26 Federative units of Brazil, states of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast Region of the country. It is the fourth-largest Brazilian state by population (after São Paulo (sta ...

and

Pernambuco Pernambuco () is a state of Brazil, located in the Northeast region of the country. With an estimated population of 9.6 million people as of 2020, making it seventh-most populous state of Brazil and with around 98,148 km², being the 19 ...

). He embarked on his last journey with a bandeira in 1648, searching for gold, precious minerals and slaves in the unexplored mainland. He was joined by 200 white mercenaries from São Paulo and over a thousand Indians. The bandeirantes travelled for over following the courses of the rivers, most notably the

, the Grande River, the

Mamoré River The Mamoré is a large river in Brazil and Bolivia which unites with the Beni to form the Madeira, one of the largest tributaries of the Amazon. It rises on the northern slope of the Sierra de Cochabamba, east of the city of Cochabamba, and is k ...

, the

Madeira River The Madeira River ( pt, Rio Madeira, link=no ) is a major waterway in South America. It is estimated to be in length, while the Madeira-Mamoré is estimated near or in length depending on the measuring party and their methods. The Madeira is ...

and the Amazon River. Only Tavares, 59 whites and some Indians reached Belém at the mouth of the Amazon River. After that, the survivors returned to São Paulo, where Raposo Tavares died in 1658.

References

External links

Antônio Raposo Tavares
Encyclopædia Britannica online {{DEFAULTSORT:Tavares, Antonio Raposo Portuguese explorers of South America Explorers of Amazonia 17th-century explorers 1598 births 1658 deaths Colonial Brazil People from Mértola Portuguese people of Jewish descent Portuguese colonization of the Americas 17th-century Brazilian people 17th-century Portuguese people 1630s in Brazil 1640s in South America 1650s in South America