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Dutch Raid on Brazil

Type Event Region South America Time 1599–1600

In December 1599, Dutch admiral Peter van der Does raided Salvador, capital of Portuguese-ruled Bahia, burning warehouses and ships and briefly occup…

Timeline

  1. 1599Rotterdam · Dutch RepublicSeeking to strike the Spanish-Portuguese colonial economy during the Eighty Years' War, the Dutch Republic dispatched naval admiral Peter van der Does with a fleet of about ten warships and 1,500 soldiers to Brazil, targeting Portuguese sugar-colonial centers and plundering wealth.
  2. 1599Salvador · BahiaOn December 10, 1599, the Dutch fleet landed in Salvador Bay and after fierce fighting captured the colonial capital of Brazil. The Portuguese garrison was weakly defended, and Governor Francisco de Sousa retreated inland. Dutch forces burned sugar mills, warehouses, and port facilities, plundering large quantities of sugar, tobacco, and valuables.
  3. 1600Bay of Bahia · BahiaAlthough the Dutch briefly occupied Salvador, they struggled to maintain supplies and rule, and with Portugal organizing counterattacks from Rio de Janeiro and elsewhere, van der Does ordered a withdrawal in January 1600. Though the expedition established no permanent foothold, it severely damaged Brazil's sugar economy and laid the groundwork for the Dutch invasion of Bahia in 1624 and the subsequent Dutch-Portuguese War in Brazil.

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