Conquista do Pará (region initially called ''pa'ra'', from Tupi-Guarani: "river-sea"), also called the Império das Amazonas (in English: Amazonas Empire), now the Brazilian 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 ...

, was an indigenous territory transformed into

Portuguese colonial 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 ...

territory in 1615 by the military man and nobleman , at the beginning of the colonization of the

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

and conquest of the Amazon River. It was located in the then Captaincy of Maranhão (1534-1621). The Captaincy of Maranhão had 75 leagues of coastline, extending from the

Bay of All Saints The Bay of All Saints (), also known as All Saints' Bay and Todos os Santos Bay, is the principal bay of the Brazilian state of Bahia, to which it gave its name. It sits on the Brazilian coast, eastern coast of Brazil, surrounding part of Bahia' ...

to the mouth of the da Cruz River, covering the northeastern area 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 region of the Conquista do Pará (where

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 ...

is today), and the island of

Marajó Marajó () is a large coastal island in the state of Pará, Brazil. It is the main and largest of the islands in the Marajó Archipelago. Marajó Island is separated from the mainland by Marajó Bay, Pará River, smaller rivers (especially M ...

. In 1621, the Conquista do Pará was transformed into the

Captaincy of Grão Pará The Capitania of Grão-Pará, in English Captaincy of Grão-Pará (region initially called ''pa'ra'', from Tupi–Guarani languages, Tupi-Guarani: "river-sea") was one of the administrative units of Colonial Brazil (in Portuguese America), creat ...

and the State of

, consolidating Portuguese rule in the Amazon.

History

In 1534, the Captaincy of Maranhão was created along with 13 other hereditary captaincies, in the colonial period of

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 ...

, combining

feudal Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was a combination of legal, economic, military, cultural, and political customs that flourished in Middle Ages, medieval Europe from the 9th to 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of struc ...

and

capitalist Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their use for the purpose of obtaining profit. This socioeconomic system has developed historically through several stages and is defined by ...

elements; a system that had been used successfully in the development of 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

Azores The Azores ( , , ; , ), officially the Autonomous Region of the Azores (), is one of the two autonomous regions of Portugal (along with Madeira). It is an archipelago composed of nine volcanic islands in the Macaronesia region of the North Atl ...

. In 1572, the

Portuguese Crown This is a list of Portuguese monarchs who ruled from the establishment of the Kingdom of Portugal, in 1139, to the deposition of the Portuguese monarchy and creation of the Portuguese Republic with the 5 October 1910 revolution. Through the n ...

, still perceiving flaws in colonial administration, divided Portuguese America into two general governments (from 1572 to 1577): Government of the North (with Salvador as capital) which had administrative dominion over the future Conquista do Pará (1615); and the Government of the South, with its capital in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

. In 1615, the military man and nobleman Alexandre de Moura began the protection and colonization of the

region, conquering the mouth of the Amazon River and transforming the indigenous region in the far north called Mairi (home to the Tupinambá and Pacajá Indians under the command of ''

cacique A cacique, sometimes spelled as cazique (; ; feminine form: ), was a tribal chieftain of the Taíno people, who were the Indigenous inhabitants of the Bahamas, the Greater Antilles, and the northern Lesser Antilles at the time of European cont ...

'' Guaimiaba), into the Portuguese colonial territory Conquista do Pará or Império das Amazonas ("Amazonas Empire") (1615–1621), located in the then Captaincy of Maranhão (1534–1621). In 1616, in an attempt to secure dominance in eastern Amazon and protect the region from the

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

and

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

in search of spices (the ''drogas do sertão''), the Portuguese, at the behest of the King of the

Iberian Union The Iberian Union is a historiographical term used to describe the period in which the Habsburg Spain, Monarchy of Spain under Habsburg dynasty, until then the personal union of the crowns of Crown of Castile, Castile and Crown of Aragon, Aragon ...

Philippine Dynasty The Philippine dynasty (), also known as the House of Habsburg in Portugal, was the third royal house of Portugal. It was named after the three Habsburg Spanish kings, all named Philip (; , ), who ruled Portugal between 1581 and 1640 under th ...

Manuel I Manuel I may refer to: *Manuel I Komnenos Manuel I Komnenos (; 28 November 1118 – 24 September 1180), Latinized as Comnenus, also called Porphyrogenitus (; " born in the purple"), was a Byzantine emperor of the 12th century who reigned ov ...

, held the military expedition Feliz Lusitânia. It was commanded by Captain Francisco Caldeira Castelo Branco and founded the Conquista do Pará near the Piry creek on January 12, 1616, starting the colonial settlement named after the military expedition (present-day city of

). In 1621, Conquista do Pará was transformed into the

and the State of Maranhão (1621–1775).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Conquista do Para Pará Portuguese Empire