The Americas

Terra do Brasil (Portuguese Empire)
AD 1516 - 1815

Two years after the first successful Portuguese voyage to India, Pedro Alvares Cabral officially discovered the Terra do Brasil in 1500 in the Americas. However, there exists a theory that the secretive Portuguese court had contact with territory within Brazil as early as 1480, before Castile's much-trumpeted discovery of the Bahamas and Hispaniola, perhaps through the central Atlantic voyages of Captain Duarte Pacheco Pereira.

This may (or may not) be a later story which was designed to sidestep Spanish Colonial claims to the whole of South America, Either way, Brazil's first colonisers were met by the Tupinamba people, one group in the vast array of the continent's native population.

This vast land was known by them as Pindorma, the 'land of the palms'. The native population was broad and diverse within the territory which would be claimed by Portugal, with the Karitiana people at least being linked via DNA with the ancient Afontova Gora people of Central Asia.

The Treaty of Tordesillas was signed on 7 June 1494, dividing the newly discovered territories between Spain (in the form of the united kingdom of Castile and Aragon) and Portugal. This gave Portuguese explorers carte blanche to explore and colonise what is now known as the republic of Brazil.

The earliest European arrivals under Cabral labelled it 'Ilha de Vera Cruz, meaning 'Island of the True Cross'. When his courier arrived with the news in Lisbon it was quickly renamed 'Terra de Santa Cruz', meaning 'Land of the Holy Cross'. The courier himself on his initial coast-hugging departure from Brazil likely worked out that it was not an island. Other names were also put forward at various early times.

It was the burgeoning brazilwood industry at the start of the 1500s which coined a more lasting name. Usage of Terra do Brasil, meaning 'Land of Brazil', quickly became popular in records in several countries.

Expansion was vigorously pursued under John III, with the colony being divided into twelve captaincies which were charged with protecting and exploiting their commands. Once the Spanish Habsburgs controlled Portugal between 1580-1640, the terms of the treaty were irrelevant and any restriction on Portuguese settlement in Brazil was removed.

Afterwards, when Portugal was freed under the rule of the Braganzas, the discovery and exploitation of gold and diamond mines made the Portuguese crown one of the richest in the world. More was extracted from Brazil alone than the Spanish managed to get from all of their colonies combined over the entire lifetime of their colonial rule in the Americas.

(Information by Peter Kessler, with additional information from External Links: Upper Palaeolithic Siberian genome reveals dual ancestry of Native Americans (US National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health), and A Brief History of Brazil (New York Times).)

1500

Brazil is officially discovered by Pedro Alvares Cabral as he leads a thirteen-vessel fleet from Portugal to introduce Christianity wherever he goes, by force if necessary.

Following directions given to him by Vasco de Gama and with one of his vessels captained by Vasco de Gama's companion, Nicolau Coelho, he sails to Brazil and then on round the Cape of Good Hope towards Mozambique and Madagascar, before returning to Portugal.

In AD 1500 Pedro Alvares Cabral found a rich and sometimes dangerous South American land which was ripe for colonisation - this would become the Portuguese imperial colony of Brazil

1516

Little detail is known about the appointment of the first governor in Brazil, and there is even some doubt that this is indeed his title. However, his appointment begins a system of governance in the new colony which survives for three hundred years.

1516 - 1526

First governor of Brazil.

1526 - 1528

1528 - 1532

1532 - 1534

Later governor of Goa (1542-1545).

1534 - 1549

The Portuguese crown initiates a system of hereditary captaincies in order to begin the exploitation of its colony (and keep the competing French and other European nations away from the money-making brazilwood sources).

Brazil is held in low regard while Portugal is making vast profits in commerce with India, China, Japan, and South-East Asia, as are uncolonised Caribbean islands such as Barbados which remains mainly ignored.

The fifteen captaincies are formed as huge strips of territory which stretch from the coast to the interior, each one immediately south of the other. All but two fail to live up to expectations so, in 1549, Tome de Sousa is sent to Brazil to establish a central government and establish a new capital at Salvador da Bahia, in the north-east.

1549 - 1553

First governor-general of Brazil.

1553 - 1557

1553 - 1557

Much of Duarte da Costa's tenure as governor-general is consumed by war against the natives around Salvador. In 1556 the first bishop of Brazil, Pero Fernandes Sardinha, is captured and eaten by the natives after he is shipwrecked. Only da Costa's successor is able to defeat the natives and establish a stable and efficient administration.

1557 - 1573

1567

The city of Rio de Janeiro is founded in the south of Brazil.

1572 - 1573

Acting governor-general.

1573

Two viceroyalties are established, north and south, although this form of governance only lasts until 1578.

1573 - 1578

At Bahia.

1574 - 1577

At Rio de Janeiro.

1578 - 1581

Governor-general of all Brazil.

1581 - 1583

Junta.

1581 - 1583

Junta.

1582 - 1587

Governor-general.

1587 - 1591

Junta, for the second time.

1587 - 1591

Junta.

1587 - 1591

Junta.

1590 - 1602

1602

1602 - 1608

1605

The Quilombo of Palmares settlement of escaped slaves is formed in far eastern Brazil (the term 'quilombo' is specifically used for such settlements). The settlement's population is formed largely of free-born enslaved Africans and is ruled by chiefs who apparently have a princely origin within Africa.

By the early seventeenth century, slavery in Brazil was a highly profitable business, having been integral to the initial phases of European settlement

1608 - 1613

At Bahia.

1613

Junta, at Bahia.

1613

Junta, at Bahia.

1613

Junta, at Bahia.

1609 - 1611

Second term of office, at Rio de Janeiro.

1611 - 1613

At Rio de Janeiro.

1613 - 1617

1617 - 1621

1621

The huge colony is divided in two by Portugal, while the half-hearted claim to ownership of Barbados has already been dropped (in 1620). The more important of the divisions, Estado do Brasil, has Salvador as its capital, while Estado do Maranhao, is given Sao Luis as its capital.

1621 - 1624

1624

1624

Died 1624.

1624

Died 1647.

1624

1624 - 1626

1626 - 1635

1628

A Portuguese attack from Brazil on a Spanish mission in the viceroyalty of Peru results in the enslavement of 60,000 natives. The raid is one of a series in what is effectively a low level war of territorial conquest, despite Spain governing the Portuguese.

1635 - 1639

1639

1639 - 1640

1640 - 1641

Viceroy.

1641 - 1642

Provisional government Junta.

1641 - 1642

Provisional government Junta.

1641 - 1642

Provisional government Junta.

1642 - 1647

1647 - 1650

1650 - 1654

1654 - 1657

1657 - 1663

1663 - 1667

Second term of office.

1667 - 1671

1671 - 1675

1675 - 1678

Provisional government junta.

1675 - 1678

Provisional government junta.

1675 - 1678

Provisional government junta.

1675 - 1678

Provisional government junta.

1678 - 1682

1680

Portuguese settlers from Brazil build a fort at Colonia del Sacramento in Uruguay. The move causes the Spanish administration to increase its interest in the area, as it seeks to limit the expansion of Brazil.

Governor Jose de Garro of Rio de la Plata launches a surprise attack on the fort which captures it in 1680 for the Spanish Colonies. However, it is returned by royal decree to the Portuguese in 1681 as the attack had been undertaken without royal permission.

1682 - 1684

1684 - 1687

1687 - 1688

1688 - 1690

President of the provisional junta.

1690 - 1694

1694 - 1702

1695

The Quilombo of Palmares settlement of escaped slaves is finally conquered. One of the last rulers is Zumbi, claimed as a grandson of an unnamed manikongo of the Kongo kingdom. Elements of the royal family had been captured at the Battle of Mbwila in 1665, so the claim is not without merit.

1702 - 1708

1704 - 1705

Spain is involved in the War of the Spanish Succession as Austria, Britain, and Portugal dispute the Bourbon accession. As part of that war, Governor Antonio Juan de Valdes y Inclan besieges the growing Portuguese settlement at Colonia del Sacramento. In 1705, defeated, the Portuguese are evacuated - troops, civilians, and all their possessions.

1708 - 1710

1710 - 1711

1711 - 1714

1713 - 1714

The Treaty of Utrecht of 1713 which concludes the War of the Spanish Succession sees the former Portuguese settlement of Colonia del Sacramento handed back. A fresh influx of settlers arrives there from Brazil. The colony subsequently changes hands many times.

By now the territory directly under the control of the colonists of Brazil has increased vastly to the west, and from this date the governor-generals begin to term themselves viceroys to reflect their greater power and improved position. However this 'promotion' is not confirmed by the king until 1763.

1714 - 1718

First (self-proclaimed) viceroy of Brazil.

1718 - 1719

Uses the title of governor-general.

1720 - 1735

(Self-proclaimed) viceroy.

1724

Governor Bruno Mauricio de Zavala of the Spanish governorate of Rio de la Plata founds a fortress which forms the basis for the later development of Montevideo. In this period it is purely a military stronghold, with de Zavala feeling that it is required in order to hold back Portuguese encroachment from Brazil. In time it becomes the capital of the independent republic of Uruguay.

1735 - 1749

(Self-proclaimed) viceroy.

1749 - 1754

(Self-proclaimed) viceroy.

1750

The Treaty of Madrid between Portugal and Spain legitimises the established borders of the colonial territories in Peru and Brazil. The treaty also stipulates that Spain receives the Sacramento Colony and Portugal the Misiones Orientales, seven independent Jesuit missions in the upper River Uruguay. Spain and Portugal combine forces and crush the resisting colonies in the Guarani War of 1756 (as shown in the film, 'The Mission').

1755 - 1760

(Self-proclaimed) viceroy.

1760

(Self-proclaimed) viceroy.

1760 - 1763

The position of governor-general (viceroy) is vacant. In 1763, Rio de Janeiro is made the capital of Estado do Brasil, replacing Salvador. This date is the point at which viceroys are officially appointed to command Brazil.

1763 - 1767

First official viceroy of Brazil.

1767 - 1769

1769 - 1778

1775

All of Brazil is united under the control of the viceroy.

1778 - 1790

1790 - 1801

1801 - 1806

1806 - 1808

1807 - 1815

Portugal is occupied by Napoleonic France. Led by John VI, the Portuguese royal family flees to Brazil. By 1811 Portugal has effectively been freed by an Anglo-Portuguese army under General Wellesley.

1809 - 1817

French Guiana is treated as a colony following the sweeping changes which have been experience in France, although it is occupied by Portuguese from Brazil between 14 January 1809 and 8 November 1817, subordinated to the governor of Pará province.

1808 - 1815

1815

The colony of Brazil is elevated to a kingdom in 1815, and Prince Joao remains the effective power behind the throne until 1816, when he becomes king of the 'United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil, and the Algarves'.

United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil, and the Algarves
AD 1815 - 1822

When Napoleon Bonaparte sent a French army to invade and occupy Portugal in 1807, the Portuguese royal family went into exile to evade capture, sailing to their colonies within the 'Terra Do Brasil'.

Once there, they ruled Portugal and its colonies at a distance until 1815. Then the colony of Brazil was elevated to the status of a kingdom by a law which was confirmed on 16 December 1815. The 'united kingdom' of Portugal, Brazil, and associated colonies was governed as a single state until it became the republic of Brazil which is known today.

(Information by Peter Kessler and the John De Cleene Archive.)

1815 - 1816

Queen of Portugal in name only. Died in Rio de Janeiro.

1816

Uruguay is invaded by Portuguese troops from Brazil and is ultimately seized from the Spanish control of the United Provinces of La Plata.

1816 - 1822

Regent of Portugal (until 1816) and thereafter king.

1820 - 1822

The Liberal Revolution in Portugal in 1820 forces the king to return home from exile the following year. In 1822, his son, Dom Pedro, regent of Brazil, declares the kingdom of Brazil to be independent of Portugal, in the form of the 'Empire of Brazil'.