Brazil history part VI The bandeirantes

Brazil history part VI The bandeirantes 1580 -1640

The main starting point for this bandeirantes exploration was the captaincy of São Vicente,Brazil and it was from their base in São Paulo that the pioneers pushed the frontier forward from the seaboard into the interior. Expeditions (known as Bandeiras) in search of Indian slaves cut their way through forest,climbed the difficult escarpments, and marched across the inland plateau. The expeditionaries (Bandeirantes) are known to have brought back with them Indians captured from Jesuit missions scattered in the interior of the country. Thus, without realising it, the Bandeirantes, by crossing the borders drawn by the Treaty of Tordesillas, expanded the boundaries of the future independent Brazil. In 1640, when the Portuguese under John IV recovered their independence, they refused to abandon the lands they had occupied and colonised west of the original Tordesillas

line. Claiming what has since become recognised in international law as the right of uti possidetis the right derived not only from title but also from useful possession the Portuguese succeeded in establishing themselves as the lawful owners.