colony · South America
State of Maranhão
Origins
After expelling the French of Equinoctial France in 1615 and founding Belém in 1616, Portugal created the State of Maranhão in 1621, separate from the State of Brazil. Its capital was São Luís, and it included Grão-Pará, Ceará and the Amazon basin, which were easier to reach by sea from Lisbon than from Salvador.
Rule and society
The colony depended on indigenous labour to collect forest products such as cacao, cloves and sarsaparilla. Pedro Teixeira's expedition up the Amazon in 1637 to 1639 extended Portuguese claims. The Dutch held São Luís from 1641 to 1644. The Jesuit António Vieira campaigned against the enslavement of indigenous people. Settlers resented Jesuit control and a trading company's monopoly, which led to the Beckman Revolt in 1684.
Decline and legacy
In 1751 the Marquis of Pombal reorganised the colony as the State of Grão-Pará and Maranhão, with its capital moved to Belém and his brother Francisco Xavier de Mendonça Furtado as governor.
Lineage
On the connections map
Open the full map →Connections (2)
- State of Maranhão was part of Colonial Brazil1621 CE – 1751 CE
- State of Maranhão was a colony of Portuguese Empire1621 CE – 1751 CE
More states of South America →
Cite this page
- APA
- The Epoch Institute. (2026). State of Maranhão. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/state-of-maranhao
- MLA
- “State of Maranhão.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/state-of-maranhao. Accessed .
- Chicago
- The Epoch Institute. “State of Maranhão.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/state-of-maranhao.
- Harvard
- The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘State of Maranhão’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/state-of-maranhao (Accessed: ).
Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻