colony · South America
Captaincy of Porto Seguro
Origins
In 1534 King John III granted the Captaincy of Porto Seguro, in the south of modern Bahia, to Pero do Campo Tourinho. The coast included the place where Pedro Álvares Cabral had landed in 1500. Tourinho founded the town of Porto Seguro and several villages in 1535.
Rule and society
The captaincy grew sugar and brazilwood but remained small. Tourinho was denounced by settlers to the Inquisition and sent to Lisbon in 1546. Attacks by the Aimoré people repeatedly devastated settlements, and Jesuit missions were founded among indigenous groups. The captaincy passed through several noble families, including the Dukes of Aveiro, while Salvador to the north overshadowed it.
Decline and legacy
In 1759, as part of Pombal's reforms ending private captaincies, the crown took back Porto Seguro, and it was later attached to Bahia. Its coast is today known as the Discovery Coast, whose Atlantic Forest reserves are a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Lineage
On the connections map
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- Captaincy of Porto Seguro was part of Colonial Brazil1534 CE – 1759 CE
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Cite this page
- APA
- The Epoch Institute. (2026). Captaincy of Porto Seguro. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/captaincy-of-porto-seguro
- MLA
- “Captaincy of Porto Seguro.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/captaincy-of-porto-seguro. Accessed .
- Chicago
- The Epoch Institute. “Captaincy of Porto Seguro.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/captaincy-of-porto-seguro.
- Harvard
- The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Captaincy of Porto Seguro’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/captaincy-of-porto-seguro (Accessed: ).
Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻