Conquest and territorialization in the captaincy of Siará Grande: villages and sesmarias of indigenous people in the eighteenth century

ABSTRACT

This paper analyses the process of conquest and territorialization in the Captaincy of Siará Grande starting from the constitution of native people villages and the distribution of sesmarias within the indigenous territories throughout the Eighteenth Century. The conquest and territorialization of the Siará Grande lands is described within the Portuguese domination policy that aimed on the geographic expansion and the control of the territory of the Captaincy lands with the advancement of the colonizer and the livestock establishment as the main element of the colonial economy for the semiarid areas of the North Captaincies. This process specifically established some actions that were being included in the conquest and territorialization of the Siará Grande Captaincy across the Eighteenth Century, such as: the incorporation of jesuits religious labour, the social and war control of natives, the introduction of settlers and livestock farms, besides the mediation of lands to the indigenous villages, as well as the grant of sesmarias to the native population in the region. In this article, we aim on identifying and analyzing the donation letters of sesmarias to the indigenous people, examining its justifications, location, duties and size of the given lands.

Keywords:
indigenous sesmarias; territorialization; Captaincy of Siará Grande