Caminhos fluviais e mobilidade: os rios Guaporé, Mamoré e Madeira e a rota entre o Mato Grosso e o Grão-Pará (séculos XVII e XVIII)

Abstract

In the mid-eighteenth century, the Guaporé, Mamoré and Madeira rivers became a river way used to establish communication between the Captaincy of Mato Grosso and the State of Grão-Pará and Maranhão. The historiography that analyzed the subject pointed out, notably, the importance of the Portuguese crown in the constitution of this way and the relevance of commercial activities for its consolidation. Although these axes of reflection are important, it is believed that they are not enough to analyze the composition of this river way. In this sense, this thesis argues how this way was also constituted from the mobility and interest of the people who, in expeditions, navigated these rivers and how this displacement was connected to other demands and was constituted, equally, from the interaction with the environment.