colony · South America
Captaincy of Minas Gerais
Origins
Gold was discovered in the highlands of Minas Gerais in the 1690s, starting the largest gold rush in the colonial Americas. After a tax revolt at Vila Rica in 1720 led by Filipe dos Santos, the crown separated the mining region from the Captaincy of São Paulo as its own captaincy, with Vila Rica, now Ouro Preto, as capital.
Rule and society
The crown taxed gold through the royal fifth and strictly controlled the region. Diamonds were found around Tijuco, now Diamantina, in the 1720s and became a royal monopoly. Hundreds of thousands of enslaved Africans worked the mines. Wealthy brotherhoods built baroque churches decorated by the sculptor Aleijadinho. As gold declined, a conspiracy, the Inconfidência Mineira, plotted independence in 1789; its leader Tiradentes was hanged in 1792.
Decline and legacy
After the gold ran low, Minas turned to farming and cattle. In 1821 it became a province of Brazil, and later one of its most populous states. Ouro Preto became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1980.
Lineage
On the connections map
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- Captaincy of Minas Gerais was part of Colonial Brazil1720 CE – 1821 CE
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Cite this page
- APA
- The Epoch Institute. (2026). Captaincy of Minas Gerais. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/captaincy-of-minas-gerais
- MLA
- “Captaincy of Minas Gerais.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/captaincy-of-minas-gerais. Accessed .
- Chicago
- The Epoch Institute. “Captaincy of Minas Gerais.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/captaincy-of-minas-gerais.
- Harvard
- The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Captaincy of Minas Gerais’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/captaincy-of-minas-gerais (Accessed: ).
Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻