Manaos

The Manaós were an Indigenous people of the Rio Negro basin in the central Amazon. Their country lay along the dark waters and tributaries of the great river north of the Solimões. They gave their name to Manaus, the settlement that grew near the confluence of the two rivers. Long before a Portuguese fort was built there, the waterways supported Indigenous communities and connections across the forest.

Portuguese expansion into the Rio Negro brought violent campaigns to seize Indigenous labour. During the 1720s the Manaós resisted under Ajuricaba, who rallied allies against the colonists. Fighting continued for several years, until a Portuguese expedition captured him and many other warriors in 1728. The conflict illustrates the scale of resistance encountered by colonial expeditions seeking control of people and routes in the Amazon interior.