Martim Afonso de Sousa ( – 21 July 1564) was a Portuguese '' fidalgo'',

explorer Exploration refers to the historical practice of discovering remote lands. It is studied by geographers and historians. Two major eras of exploration occurred in human history: one of convergence, and one of divergence. The first, covering most ...

and colonial administrator.

Life

Born in

Vila Viçosa Vila Viçosa () is a town and a municipality in the District of Évora, Alentejo in Portugal. The population in 2011 was 8,319, in an area of 194.86 km². The municipal holiday is August 16. Parishes Administratively, the municipality is d ...

, he was commander of the first official Portuguese expedition into mainland of the

colony of Brazil Colonial Brazil ( pt, Brasil Colonial) comprises the period from 1500, with the arrival of the Portuguese, until 1815, when Brazil was elevated to a kingdom in union with Portugal as the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves. Duri ...

. Threatened by the presence of French ships along the coast of Brazil, the Portuguese crown in December 1530 sent a fleet with 400 people led by Martim Afonso de Sousa to establish control and explore. His mission was to place Portuguese markers as far south as the River Plate estuary, but he was shipwrecked there. Upon return to São Vicente and Santos, in 1532 he led troops guided by the native inhabitants and by earlier Portuguese settlers such as João Ramalho up the Serra do Mar mountains to the area near the future village of

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for ' Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaW ...

. On the high plateau, he founded the town of Santo André. He also established a sugar mill near the coast at São Vicente, with sugarcane brought from the

Portuguese Cape Verde Cape Verde was a colony of the Portuguese Empire from the initial settlement of the Cape Verde Islands in 1462 until the independence of Cape Verde in 1975. History 15th century The islands of Cape Verde was discovered in 1444 by Dom Prin ...

islands. In both activities, Afonso de Sousa established a pattern followed by Portuguese colonizers and Brazilians for long afterward: the "entradas" and "bandeiras" – or explorations and raids into the interior – and the production of sugar along the coast for export. Sousa was the first Royal Governor of Brazil. He settled in the north-east region of the modern country. Afonso de Sousa also helped decisively in the acquisition of Diu, in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

for Portugal in 1535. From 1542 to 1545 he was governor of

Portuguese India The State of India ( pt, Estado da Índia), also referred as the Portuguese State of India (''Estado Português da Índia'', EPI) or simply Portuguese India (), was a state of the Portuguese Empire founded six years after the discovery of a s ...

. His mandate was especially controversial. Afonso de Sousa had been raised in the King´s household and was a personal friend since childhood of

King John III of Portugal John III ( pt, João III ; 7 June 1502 – 11 June 1557), nicknamed The Pious ( Portuguese: ''o Piedoso''), was the King of Portugal and the Algarves from 1521 until his death in 1557. He was the son of King Manuel I and Maria of Aragon, the t ...

. He sought the title of Earl after his governorship of India, but failed in this. He became a close advisor of Catherine of Austria, widow of John III of Portugal, when she ruled the Realm between 1557 and 1562. He died in Lisbon in 1564.

References

External links

Biography at UOL Educacao (Portuguese)Pedro Taques de Almeida Paes Leme ''História da Capitania de São Paulo'' "History of the Captaincy of São Paulo"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sousa, Martim Afonso De 1500 births 1564 deaths Portuguese explorers of South America 16th-century explorers Portuguese colonization of the Americas Portuguese colonial governors and administrators People from Vila Viçosa 16th-century Portuguese people History of São Paulo (state)