A Contract, Two Ports: The Petition of Nicolau Lopes da Silva Guimarães for the River Passages of Inhomirim and Couto in the Recôncavo of Rio de Janeiro (1739)

Abstract

The 1739 petition submitted by Nicolau Lopes da Silva Guimarães to King João V of Portugal, requesting a monopoly over the river passages between Rio de Janeiro and the ports of Inhomirim and Couto, offers significant insight into the infrastructure and sociopolitical dynamics of colonial Brazil. The petition, justified on the grounds of improving order and fiscal efficiency, was met with strong opposition from local authorities and witnesses who defended the common use of rivers based on customary practices. These conflicts reveal the limitations of royal power in the face of local forms of regulation and resistance, showing that rivers functioned not only as logistical routes but also as spaces of power, sociability, and belonging. The episode highlights the crucial role of small boats, such as saveiros, in the regional economy and illustrates how centralizing attempts could threaten established ways of life. The analyzed document allows us to explore disputes over mobility, tensions between the imperial center and colonial periphery, and the agency of subaltern actors, contributing to a social history of infrastructure and common goods in the formation of Brazil’s colonial territory.