Conquista do Pará

In 1534, the Captaincy of Maranhão was created along with 13 other hereditary captaincies,[7] in the colonial period of Portuguese America, combining feudal and capitalist elements; a system that had been used successfully in the development of the islands of Madeira and Azores.[8]

In 1572, the Portuguese Crown, still perceiving flaws in colonial administration, divided Portuguese America into two general governments (from 1572 to 1577):[9] 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.[10][11]

In 1615, the military man and nobleman Alexandre de Moura began the protection and colonization of the Amazon region, conquering the mouth of the Amazon River and transforming the indigenous region in the far north called Mairi[1] (home to the Tupinambá and Pacajá Indians under the command of cacique Guaimiaba),[9][5][6] into the Portuguese colonial territory Conquista do Pará or Império das Amazonas ("Amazonas Empire") (1615-1621),[1] located in the then Captaincy of Maranhão (1534-1621).[2][3]

In 1616, in an attempt to secure dominance in eastern Amazon and protect the region from the Dutch and British in search of spices (the drogas do sertão),[1][12][13][5][6] the Portuguese, at the behest of the King of the Iberian Union/Philippine Dynasty, Manuel I, 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,[14][15][9][16] starting the colonial settlement named after the military expedition (present-day city of Belém).[5][17][18]

In 1621, Conquista do Pará was transformed into the Captaincy of Grão Pará and the State of Maranhão (1621-1775).[1]

Map of Brazil in the 1610s, when the Captaincies of Maranhão and Grão Pará were created.