History of Sao Paulo
The area around Sao Paulo was inhabited by the indigenous Guaianás until the Portuguese arrived at the beginning of the 16th century. The first Westerner to settle here was Joao Ramalho, stranded by a shipwreck on the Sao Paulo coastline in 1510.
He later helped Lord Martin Afonso de Souza, commander of the first Portuguese colonial expedition, to establish a village in the upland region. A number of Jesuit priests accompanied the expedition in an attempt to convert the local indigenous inhabitants to Christianity.
In 1554, these priests began to build a settlement on the banks of the Tamanduateí River, next to the Vale do Anhangabaú (now the centre of Sao Paulo). The settlement was originally named Colegio Sao Paulo, which was eventually to become the largest city in South America and one of the biggest in the world.
In 1560, the population of Colegio Sao Paulo grew dramatically when the inhabitants of nearby Santo Andre da Borda do Campo moved here in a bid to prevent a possible attack by the indigenous Tamoios. The town remained a backwater during the 16th and 17th centuries. At this time, tt was remote and relatively untouched by developments and the population survived on subsistence farming.
The Bandeirantes
The Jesuits were followed by another group known as the Bandeirantes, who enslaved the local Indian population and explored much of the unknown surrounding area. They were largely responsible for expanding the boundaries of Portuguese territory.
The importance of the Jesuits and Bandeirantes in Sao Paulo can be seen by the number of cities and rivers named after saints; more than any other state in Brazil. These two groups were responsible for shaping the character of perseverance and self-determination which distinguishes the state from all others.
During the 18th century, the Bandeirantes turned their attention to mineral exploration after they discovered gold mines in Minas Gerais, Goiás and Mato Grosso. Sao Paulo became a regular stopover for the increasing number of pioneers, explorers and fortune-hunters heading for the mines as well as for sugar dealers taking their shipments to the port of Santos.
Independence
Two events significantly changed Sao Paulo during the early part of the 19th century. In 1822, it was the city in which Emperor Pedro I proclaimed Brazil's independence from Portugal. A few years later, the Law Faculty was founded, which attracted a new, transient population of students and intellectuals. As a political and intellectual centre, Sao Paulo was prominent in both the campaign to abolish slavery and in the founding of the republic.
During the 19th century, the state became a major coffee-growing region, with the city as its primary market. Although coffee-growing has declined in recent years, soyabeans have taken up part of the slack in agriculture, and industrialisation has boomed. Modern Sao Paulo state is overwhelmingly urban and highly industrialised, although it contains some of the few remaining areas of Brazil's Atlantic coastal forest.
