First Europeans in Brazil: The Portuguese (1500)

The first Europeans to reach Brazil were the Portuguese, commanded by Pedro Álvares Cabral, who made landfall on April 22, 1500 at Porto Seguro (present-day Bahia).

Context

• Voyage: 13 ships, 1,200 men, bound for India via Vasco da Gama's route
• Landfall: Monte Pascoal sighted April 21; anchored Porto Seguro April 22
• Claim: Cabral erected a padrão (stone pillar), claimed for Portugal per Treaty of Tordesillas (1494)
• First Mass: Friar Henrique de Coimbra, April 26 (Coroa Vermelha)
• Departure: May 2, leaving two degredados (exiles) to learn language/customs

Pre-Cabral Claims

• Duarte Pacheco Pereira (1498?): Possible earlier sighting (Esmeraldo de Situ Orbis)—unproven
• Spanish (Vicente Yáñez Pinzón, 1500 Jan): Reached NE Brazil (Cabo de Santo Agostinho) but after Tordesillas line; Portugal's zone
• Diego de Lepe (1500 Feb): Similar

Indigenous Peoples

Brazil was inhabited for 10,000+ years by 1,000+ distinct groups (Tupi, Guarani, Jê, Arawak, Carib, etc.). "First people" = Indigenous Brazilians. Europeans were first outsiders.