AS VILAS QUE NÃO SE CONCRETIZARAM: DINÂMICAS DE OCUPAÇÃO DO ESPAÇO NA AMAZÔNIA PORTUGUESA (MARANHÃO, 1755).

The aim of this article is to analyse the formation and development of the Portuguese colonial territories in the states of Grão-Pará and Maranhão at the time of the Pombaline reforms in the region. The starting point will be the analysis of a document from the collection of the National Archives of Torre do Tombo (Lisbon): a map and plan of the city entitled 'Mapa de Mar e Terra entre o Rio da Parnahiba e Rio Tocantins'. Maranhão, 26 April 1755' and 'Planta da Villa do Itapicurû'. The aim is to understand the peculiarities and dynamics of this region during the occupation process. It will highlight the people who occupied these territories and how they were protagonists in the complex experience of building or not building, as in the case of this example, these cities and towns. Using interrelated historical methodologies and different scales of observation, this research aims to contribute to the relative silence of Maranhão's historiography on this subject. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]