Entre a carta e a flecha: Senhorios coloniais e indígenas nas fronteiras dos sertões da Capitania da Bahia, 1650-1679

This article investigates the conflicts and the dynamics of the frontiers in the Sertões of the Captaincy of Bahia through the significant increase in the granting of sesmarias in the 1670s. It demonstrates that the establishment of agricultural properties in the Paraguaçu River region consolidated the formation of a frontier that served as a shield to keep indigenous peoples away from the towns and parishes of the Recôncavo. The war against the indigenous nations aimed to ensure the colonists' access to roads and paths connecting the Recôncavo to the Sertões, the establishment of cattle ranches on indigenous lands, and the continuation of the conquest. In this sense, the frontier is the result of the power relations between humans and space, and thus, it is unstable, reversible, and contingent by nature.