Os sertões em movimento: sertanistas, indígenas e escravidão na Bahia Colonial (1651-1720)

Abstract

The theme of this thesis is the roaming through the backlands of colonial Bahia, a process carefully designed by the Portuguese Crown with the aim of increasing the territorial frontier, incorporating indigenous peoples into the colonial project. Its axis of studies covers the expeditions that entered the interior, departing from the Captaincy of Ilhéus and from the villages of Bahia's Recôncavo during the second half of the 17th century and the first half of the 18th, culminating in the meeting of the mines of Rio de Contas, in Jacobina, in exploitation of saltpeter, the enslavement of countless indigenous groups and the opening of several paths, connecting the coast to the interior. The possibilities for reflection that we intended to open with this research did not end in “(un) just wars”, it also allowed us to think about the legislation, the land tenure structure and the men who visited this region, becoming the local authorities, many times with strength and privileges to question the King's actions, asserting his demands in a universe controlled by those who had more capacity to regroup armed labor under his command.