bandeira

bandeira, Portuguese slave-hunting expedition into the Brazilian interior in the 17th century. The bandeirantes (members of such expeditions) were usually mamelucos (of mixed Indian and Portuguese ancestry) from São Paulo who went in search of profit and adventure as they penetrated into unmapped regions. They thus helped establish Brazil’s claim to the South American interior, beyond the line between Portuguese and Spanish possessions in the Americas that had been laid down in the Treaty of...