Tapajós, Pauxis e Paru: atuação de particulares e militares no avanço da fronteira colonial para o baixo amazonas (finais do século XVII e início do século XVIII)

Abstract

This work aims to understand how was the colonial expansion to Baixo Amazonas, at the end of eighteenth century and the fisrt half of nineteenth, from the acting of private individuals and military. Addressed in the sources as “hinterland”, the region was aimed of occupation and defense policies. From the analysis of the documentation of the colonial period it is argued that these individuals for participating in this expansion of the colonial frontier of strategic points occupied strategic political positions in Santarém, Óbidos and Almeirim. The fortifications at these spaces were constituted as fundamental elements of the lusa demarcation. As a result, they enjoyed autonomy and dynamics of their own in the hinterlandy that their actions were not always aligned with the colonial project. From the occupation of this region, the private individuals and military projected in space the opportunity to ascend socially from the receipt of titles, military post and possessions in forms of mercês, constituting a particular power in the hinterland.