Colinization of Brazil

The first colonists went to brazil to establish a sugar industry during the final years of Manuel I's ruling and many years later, additional colonists were sent. Martim Afonso de Sousa was named the major captain of Brazil and had invested power to distribute land among captains which were large strips of land that extended from the coast to the interior. The captancies were not able to defend themselves so a governor general was appointed over the captancies. Tome de Sousa was appointed general and he defeated french pirates in a naval engagement in the bay of Rio de Janeiro. Colonization under Sousa began with coastal settlements and indigenous crops, wheat, grapes, manioc, oranges and sugarcane were cultivated.