State of Brazil

State of Brazil
Estado do Brasil
State of the Portuguese Empire
←   ←   ← 1621–1815 →
Flag Coat of arms
State of Brazil; 1789
Capital		Salvador (1621–1763) Rio de Janeiro (1763–1815)
Languages		Portuguese
Religion		Roman Catholicism
Government		Monarchy
Monarch
-	1621-1640	Filipe III
-	1777-1815	Maria I
Governor General
-	1621	Luís de Sousa
-	1806-1808	Marcos de Noronha e Brito, 8th Count of the Arcos
History
-	Established	1621
-	Disestablished	1815
Currency		Portuguese Real
Warning: Value not specified for "common_name"

The State of Brazil (Portuguese: Estado do Brasil) was one of the states of the Portuguese Empire, in the Americas during the period of Colonial Brazil.

History

In 1621, the Governorate General of Brazil was separated into two states, the State of Brazil and the State of Maranhão. The state was created in June 13, 1621 by Philip II of Portugal.

With the creation of the state, Portuguese America now had two administrative units: the State of Maranhão, with its capital in São Luís, Maranhão, and the State of Brazil, whose capital was São Salvador.

The State of Brazil became a Viceroyalty in 1763, when the capital of the State of Brazil was transferred from Salvador to Rio de Janeiro. In 1775 Brazilian States (Brasil, Maranhão and Grão-Pará) were unified into the Viceroyalty of Brazil, with Rio de Janeiro as capital.

In 1808, with the Transfer of the Portuguese Court to Brazil, the Prince Regent (future John VI of Portugal) assumed direct control of the government of the colony, suppressing the office of Viceroy.

In 1815, the state of Brazil was raised to the level of Kingdom, in the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves.

Composition

The State of Brazil originally included 12 of the original 15 captaincies, all except Ceara (which became subordinate to Pernambuco later) and Maranhão, two parts, which included the subcaptaincy of Para west of the Torsedillas Line at that time (north to south):

• Captaincy of Rio Grande de Norte
• Captaincy of Paraíba (southern Rio Grande & Itamaraca)
• Captaincy of Pernambuco
• Captaincy of Bahia
• Captaincy of Ilhéus (became a comarca of Bahia in 1761)
• Captaincy of Porto Seguro
• Captaincy of Espírito Santo
• Captaincy of Rio de Janeiro (São Tomé and São Vicente first section)
• Captaincy of Santo Amaro
• Captaincy of São Vicente (second section, later renamed Captaincy of São Paulo e Minas de Ouro)
• Captaincy of Santana

Captaincies created by the state

• Captaincy of Alagoas 1817 from Pernambuco
• Captaincy of Ceara 1799 re-split from Pernambuco (previously existed as one of 15 original donatary captaincies)
• Captaincy of Goiás
• Captaincy of Mato Grosso
• Captaincy of Minas Gerais
• Captaincy of São Paulo
• Captaincy of Sergipe 1820 from Bahia
• Captaincy of Rio Grande do Sul (from region of Rio Grande de Sao Pedro)
• Captaincy of Santa Catarina

Captaincies from merger of State of Maranhão

• Captaincy of Cabo Norte
• Captaincy of Caeté
• Captaincy of Cametá
• Captaincy of Cumã
• Captaincy of Marajó
• Captaincy of Maranhão
• Captaincy of Pará
• Captaincy of Piauí 1759 split from Maranhao
• Captaincy of São José do Rio Negro
• Captaincy of Xingu