This article examines the Portuguese expansion towards the eastern hinterlands of the captaincies of Maranhão and Piauí, in eighteenth-century Portuguese America. It focuses on the relationship between the many wars against the Indians of this region, the spread of cattle ranching and the personal and political interests of the governors of the State of Maranhão and Pará.
Captaincy of Maranhão; captaincy of Piauí; eighteenth century; Indians; wars; cattle ranching