Jaguaripe, Brazil

History

Jaguaripe was home to speakers of Macro-Jê languages, ancient inhabitants of the Recôncavo Baiano region. The Tupi people emerged from the Amazon and expelled the Macro-Jês peoples. The Portuguese arrived in the region in 16th century, and encountered Tupinambá settlements. European colonization of Jaguaripe dates to the beginning of the 17th century under Mem de Sá (ca. 1500-1572), the 3rd General Government of Brazil. Mem de Sá, on the advice of Father Manuel da Nóbrega, directed the Jesuits to establish small Christian settlements (aldeias) to baptize and education indigenous people.

A Jesuit mission, the Aldeia de Santa Cruz, was created on the Island of Itaparica in 1560 by Father Pedro Lírio da Gra. A large smallpox epidemic broke out between 1560 and 1568 that decimated much of the aldeia. The Jesuits decided to transfer the remnants of the Aldeia de Santa Cruz to the present-day city of Jaguaripe until the end of the plague. The aldeia subsequently became a settlement on a strip of land between the Jaguaripe River and the smaller Dona River. The Jaguaripe River extends from Nazare and Maragogipinho to the northeast, and opens into the Bay of All Saints at Itaparica Island to the east.

From the History section of Jaguaripe on Wikipedia, under CC BY-SA 4.0.