Bandeirantes

Bandeirantes (Portuguese: [bɐ̃dejˈɾɐ̃tʃis]; lit. 'flag-carriers'; singular: bandeirante) were settlers in Portuguese Brazil who participated in exploratory voyages during the early modern period to expand the colony's borders and subjugate indigenous Brazilians. They played a major role in expanding the colony to the modern-day borders of independent Brazil, beyond the boundaries demarcated by the 1494 Treaty of Tordesillas. Bandeirantes also enslaved thousands of indigenous people, which ultimately played a major role in the genocide of Indigenous peoples in Brazil.

Most bandeirantes were based in the region of São Paulo, which was part of the Captaincy of São Vicente from 1534 to 1709 and the Captaincy of São Paulo from 1709 to 1821. The city of São Paulo served as the home base for the most famous bandeirantes. Some bandeirantes were descended from Portuguese colonists who settled in São Paulo, but most were of mameluco descent with both Portuguese and indigenous ancestry. This was due to miscegenation being the norm in colonial Brazilian society, as well as polygamy.

Though they originally aimed to subjugate and enslave indigenous peoples, the bandeirantes later began to focus their expeditions on finding gold, silver and diamond deposits and establishing mines. As they ventured into unmapped regions in search of profit and adventure, the bandeirantes expanded the effective borders of the colony. Bandeirantes spoke a mixture of Portuguese and the Paulista General Language, which was the main source of toponyms in the Brazilian interior.