António Raposo Tavares
Raposo Tavares | |
|---|---|
Portuguese | |
| Occupation(s) | Explorer, slaver |
| Known for | Expanding the Portuguese territory in the colony of Brazil. |
António Raposo Tavares (1598–1658) known as the Elder (
Biography
Tavares was born in
in 1598. He sailed for South America in 1618 with his father Fernão Vieira Tavares. In 1622, after his father died, he settled around São Paulo; six years later, in 1628, he left the village with the first bandeira composed of 900 settlers and 2000 Tupi warriors. This voyage was started to hunt the heretics[Tavares went back to São Paulo in 1633 and he became a judge. Three years later he left again on a new journey, this time to destroy the Spanish Jesuit settlements established southeast of the Uruguay River (current Rio Grande do Sul). From 1639 to 1642, Tavares fought along with the military which was engaged in war against the
).He embarked on his last journey with a bandeira in 1648, searching for gold, precious minerals and slaves in the unexplored mainland. He was joined by 200 white mercenaries from São Paulo and over a thousand Indians. The bandeirantes travelled for over 10,000 kilometres (6,200 mi) following the courses of the rivers, most notably the Paraguay River, the Grande River, the Mamoré River, the Madeira River and the Amazon River. Only Tavares, 59 whites and some Indians reached Belém at the mouth of the Amazon River. After that, the survivors returned to São Paulo, where Raposo Tavares died in 1658.
References
- ^ Mario Cesar Carvalho (2004-09-04). "Bandeirantes tinham origem judaica" (in Portuguese). Folha de S.Paolo. Retrieved 2012-08-27.
- ^ Encyclopædia Britannica. Antonio Raposo Tavares. Encyclopædia Britannica online. Retrieved 2012-08-27.
External links
- Antônio Raposo Tavares, Encyclopædia Britannica online