THE REGION SOUTH OF BENGUELA IN 18TH-CENTURY PORTUGUESE CARTOGRAPHY: THE MAPS OF LUÍS CÂNDIDO CORDEIRO PINHEIRO FURTADO (1785/86)

Abstract

This article presents and analyses two pioneering cartographic documents depicting the region south of Benguela, drawn by Portuguese engineer Lieutenant Colonel Luís Cândido Cordeiro Pinheiro Furtado between 1785 and 1786. Constructed with elements collected during a reconnaissance expedition in 1785, the maps provided a wealth of information that until then had been officially unknown to the Portuguese, such as a detailed characterisation of the coastline, toponymy, the societies that inhabited the interior and the regional hydrography. The maps were used politically by the Governor of Angola, José de Almeida e Vasconcelos de Soveral e Carvalho Soares de Albergaria, the Baron of Moçâmedes (who ruled between 1784 and 1790), and were seen by him as an asset capable of guaranteeing the Portuguese Crown's support for his project to occupy the region.