📅 29 Mart 1549
On 29 March 1549, Tomé de Sousa arrived at Porto da Barra with the Crown’s instructions to establish Salvador and the government-general. A centralized colonial administration helped organize...
📅 24 Febrüari 1587
On 24 February 1587, the Crown issued legislation describing which Indigenous people could be held captive and under what purported legal conditions. Such rules did not establish meaningful consent or...
📅 11 Novèmber 1595
On 11 November 1595, a new law said Indigenous people could be captured only in wars specifically authorized by the Crown, while those captured by other means were to be free. The 1609 law later...
📅 26 Yüli 1596
On 26 July 1596, the Crown transferred administration of Indigenous peoples in Brazil to the Jesuits. This measure limited settlers’ direct control in some settings while expanding missionary...
📅 30 Yüli 1609
On 30 July 1609, the Crown issued a law declaring Indigenous people in Portuguese America free and condemning unlawful captivity. The law’s language responded to documented abuses, yet colonial...
📅 10 Sèptèmber 1611
On 10 September 1611, the Crown enacted a law defining conditions under which Indigenous people could be captured in “just wars” and setting rules for their treatment and service. In practice,...
📅 9 April 1655
On 9 April 1655, the Crown issued a law governing Indigenous “rescue” and labor in Maranhão. It retained categories through which captives could be transferred into colonial service, despite earlier...
📅 1 April 1680
On 1 April 1680, a royal law prohibited the captivity of Indigenous people in the State of Maranhão, including cases previously treated as exceptions. It ordered officials to free people held...
📅 28 April 1688
On 28 April 1688, the Crown partially revoked the 1680 prohibition and restored rules from 1655 that permitted Indigenous captivity under specified “rescue” and war conditions. The reversal followed...
📅 3 Mei 1757
On 3 May 1757, the Diretório dos Índios was established for Indigenous settlements in Pará and Maranhão. It replaced Jesuit temporal administration with secular directors but imposed Portuguese...
📅 17 Ougùstùs 1758
On 17 August 1758, the Crown extended the Diretório to Indigenous settlements throughout Brazil. The policy joined imperial occupation to cultural assimilation and labor administration. Its...
📅 3 Sèptèmber 1759
On 3 September 1759, the Portuguese Crown promulgated a law proscribing and expelling the Society of Jesus from Portugal and its overseas domains. In Brazil, Jesuits had held extensive mission estates...
