Bandeirantes is called men who penetrated the Interior of the American continent territories, from the 16th century on the basis of San Pablo de Piratininga (Sao Paulo ) The name " bandeirante " it comes from the Portuguese word " bandeira " ( 41 flag; Since were grouped using flags which distinguished them, figuratively then they were called " bandeiras " armed gangs and also " were called bandeiras " the Portuguese incursions into territories claimed by Portugal. The village of São Paulo was then different from other Portuguese populations in America, because he was not on the coast, but nestled on the high plateau that could be reached after climbing the Sierra del Mar. Thus, isolated trade and economic alternatives, men went to attack the Indians to make them slaves and selling them primarily in sugar-producing regions. Its secondary activities were the mining and agriculture that eventually came to dominate the economic landscape.While history in Spanish and the countries bordering with Brazil the bandeirantes are considered a kind of land pirates, in Brazil the bandeirantes are recognized for having brought the borders of the Portuguese America beyond those laid down in the Treaty of Tordesillas, by what defined the current limits of the Brazilian territory.The bandeirantes were ethnically mixed with indigenous descendants of Portuguese, mostly. From the 17TH century, general paulista or nheengatu paulista, derived from the language of the Tupi Indians spoke a lingua franca called language. The tupian during his expeditions in great number, then representanan between 80% and 90% of the workforce of a " bandeira ".Due to its violent actions against the indigenous population ( especially against the indigenous people of guarani origin who despite having an ancient common origin with the tupian then had passed to be their biggest rivals and enemies ) the bandeirantes were sentenced by the priests of the society of Jesus, who became their enemies and those who entered combat armed many times. The Jesuits armed and trained militarily to the Indians of the reductions in defense against the paulistas.
