The Captaincy of Maranhão ( Portuguese: ''Capitania do Maranhão'') was one of the administrative subdivisions of the Brazilian territory during the colonial period in

Portuguese America Portuguese America (), sometimes called or Lusophone America in the English language, in contrast to Anglo-America, French America, or Hispanic America, is the Portuguese-speaking community of people and their diaspora, notably those tracing b ...

. It was created in 1534 along with thirteen other hereditary captaincies and granted by John III, King of Portugal, to the so-called ''

donatário A ' (Portuguese language, Portuguese for "donated" or "endowed ne), sometimes anglicized as donatary, was a private person — often a noble — who was granted a considerable piece of land (a ') by the Kingdom of Portugal. The kings of Portug ...

s''. The Captaincy of Maranhão included the northeast of the current state of

Maranhão Maranhão () is a States of Brazil, state in Brazil. Located in the country's Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast Region, it has a population of about 7 million and an area of and it is divided into 217 municipalities. Clockwise from north, it ...

, the eastern part of the state of

Pará Pará () is a Federative units of Brazil, state of Brazil, located in northern Brazil and traversed by the lower Amazon River. It borders the Brazilian states of Amapá, Maranhão, Tocantins (state), Tocantins, Mato Grosso, Amazonas (Brazilian st ...

(now

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 the capital and largest city of the state of Pará in the north of B ...

) and the island of Marajó, and was divided into two sections, with Aires da Cunha and

João de Barros João de Barros (; 1496 – 20 October 1570), nicknamed the "Portuguese Livy", is one of the first great Portuguese historians, most famous for his (''Decades of Asia''), a history of the Portuguese in India, Asia, and southeast Africa. Early y ...

holding the first and Fernando Álvares de Andrade the second.

History

Background

European colonization The phenomenon of colonization is one that stretches around the globe and across time. Ancient and medieval colonialism was practiced by various civilizations such as the Phoenicians, Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Han Chinese, and A ...

in America effectively began in 1534, when King John III divided the territory into fourteen hereditary captaincies and gave them to twelve ''donatários'', who could exploit the land's resources, but in exchange had to populate and protect the regions. Since the 15th century, the system of captaincies had been used by the

Portuguese Empire The Portuguese Empire was a colonial empire that existed between 1415 and 1999. In conjunction with the Spanish Empire, it ushered in the European Age of Discovery. It achieved a global scale, controlling vast portions of the Americas, Africa ...

on the islands of

Madeira Madeira ( ; ), officially the Autonomous Region of Madeira (), is an autonomous Regions of Portugal, autonomous region of Portugal. It is an archipelago situated in the North Atlantic Ocean, in the region of Macaronesia, just under north of ...

and

Cape Verde Cape Verde or Cabo Verde, officially the Republic of Cabo Verde, is an island country and archipelagic state of West Africa in the central Atlantic Ocean, consisting of ten volcanic islands with a combined land area of about . These islands ...

. In a letter addressed to

Martim Afonso de Sousa Martim Afonso de Sousa ( – 21 July 1564) was a Portuguese '' fidalgo'', explorer and colonial administrator. Life Martim Afonso de Sousa was born in Vila Viçosa, and had been raised in the Duke of Bragança household and was a personal fri ...

in 1532, John III announced the decision to divide the Portuguese territory, beginning the donations in 1534. There are three possible factors for the adoption of the captaincy system in Brazil: a response by the Portuguese monarchy to France's threat to its project of domination in America; the transfer of expenses with colonization from Portugal to the ''donatários'', favoring the Crown in a situation of limited resources; and the conversion of the native population to

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...

, continuing the ideal of the

Crusades The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding t ...

Origins

In 1535, João de Barros and Aires da Cunha were honored with the possession of two captaincies: the

Captaincy of Rio Grande The Captaincy of Rio Grande ( Portuguese: ''Capitania do Rio Grande)'' was one of the administrative subdivisions of Brazilian territory during the colonial period of Portuguese America. It was created in 1534 along with thirteen other heredita ...

and the Captaincy of Maranhão. In November 1535, a fleet of ten ships, with 900 men and over a hundred horses, commanded by Aires da Cunha, experienced in the conquests of the Orient, set sail from the

Tagus The Tagus ( ; ; ) is the longest river in the Iberian Peninsula. The river rises in the Montes Universales between Cuenca and Teruel, in mid-eastern Spain, flows , generally westward, and empties into the Atlantic Ocean in Lisbon. Name T ...

for

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

. João de Barros, Aires' partner in the expedition, sent two of his sons, Jerónimo and João, as his representatives. The large fleet headed first for

Pernambuco Pernambuco ( , , ) is a States of Brazil, state of Brazil located in the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast region of the country. With an estimated population of 9.5 million people as of 2024, it is the List of Brazilian states by population, ...

, where

Duarte Coelho Duarte Coelho Pereira ( – ) was a nobleman, military leader, and colonial administrator in the Portuguese colony of Brazil. He was the first Donatario (Lord Proprietor) of the captaincy of Pernambuco and founder of Olinda. Early life The bir ...

welcomed the expeditionaries and provided them with information and interpreters, as well as a rowing boat to survey the coast, in order to prevent the ships from crashing into shallows or reaching deep anchorages. On the way from

Cape São Roque Cape São Roque ( Port. ''Cabo de São Roque'') or Cape St Roque is a cape that forms the northeastern tip of Brazil. Cape São Roque is located in the municipality of Maxaranguape, 51 km north of Natal, in the state of Rio Grande do Nor ...

to the

Maranhão River The Maranhão River is a river of Goiás state in central Brazil. See also *List of rivers of Goiás References Brazilian Ministry of Transport
Rivers of the Federal District (Brazil) Rivers of Goiás Rivers of Tocantins {{Goiás-river ...

, the ship ''Capitania'' was shipwrecked and Aires da Cunha died, but the remaining ships reached the estuary and landed on the island of Trindade. There, they built a castle and established a colony which they named

Nazareth Nazareth is the largest Cities in Israel, city in the Northern District (Israel), Northern District of Israel. In its population was . Known as "the Arab capital of Israel", Nazareth serves as a cultural, political, religious, economic and ...

. In 1538, the territory was abandoned by the ''donatários'', who tried to occupy the area again in 1554, under the command of Luís Melo. The French privateers, however, frequently visited the region, which forced the Crown to reconquer the region at the beginning of the 17th century, expelling the invaders in 1615. The first 100 leagues north of the border of the

Captaincy of Itamaracá The Captaincy of Itamaracá ( Portuguese: ''Capitania de Itamaracá)'' was one of the administrative subdivisions of Brazilian territory during the colonial period of Portuguese America. It was created in 1534 along with thirteen other hereditar ...

, corresponding to the Captaincy of Rio Grande, belonged to Aires da Cunha and João de Barros and included the current states of

Paraíba Paraíba ( , ; ) is a states of Brazil, state of Brazil. It is located in the Brazilian Northeast, and it is bordered by Rio Grande do Norte to the north, Ceará to the west, Pernambuco to the south and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Paraíba i ...

and

Rio Grande do Norte Rio Grande do Norte (, , ) is one of the states of Brazil. It is located in the northeastern region of the country, forming the northeasternmost tip of the South American continent. The name literally translates as "Great Northern River", refe ...

. The next 40 leagues belonged to Antônio Cardoso de Barros, ''donatário'' of the

Captaincy of Ceará The Captaincy of Ceará () was one of the administrative subdivisions of Brazilian territory during the Colonial Brazil, colonial period of Portuguese America. It was created in 1534 along with thirteen other Captaincies of Brazil, hereditary capta ...

, and covered the current state of

Ceará Ceará (, ) is one of the 26 states of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region, Brazil, northeastern part of the country, on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast. It is the List of Brazilian states by population, eighth-largest Brazilian State by ...

and part of

Piauí Piauí ( ) is one of the states of Brazil, located in the country's Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast Region. The state has 1.6% of the Brazilian population and produces 0.7% of the Brazilian GDP. Piauí has the shortest coastline of any coas ...

. The following 75 leagues covered the 2nd section of the Captaincy of Maranhão, which belonged to Fernando Álvares de Andrade and included part of Piauí and Maranhão. The last 50 leagues referred to the 1st section of the Captaincy of Maranhão that had been granted to Aires da Cunha and João de Barros and covered parts of Maranhão and Pará.

Dissolution

In 1621, the territory of Portuguese America was divided by Philip III of Spain into two autonomous administrative units: the State of Maranhão to the north, with its capital in São Luís, covering the Captaincy of Grão-Pará, the Captaincy of Maranhão and the Captaincy of Ceará, in order to secure possession of the territory and promote development; and the

State of Brazil The State of Brazil () was one of the states of the Portuguese Empire, in the Americas during the period of Colonial Brazil. History In 1621, the Governorate General of Brazil was split into two states, the State of Brazil and the State ...

to the south, whose capital was

Salvador Salvador, meaning "salvation" (or "saviour") in Catalan, Spanish, and Portuguese may refer to: * Salvador (name) Arts, entertainment, and media Music *Salvador (band), a Christian band that plays both English and Spanish music ** ''Salvador'' ( ...

, and included the other captaincies.

References

Bibliography

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Captaincy of Maranhao

1535 establishments in Brazil Portuguese colonization of the Americas