The Arquivo Público do Estado da Bahia is second in size to the National Archives in Rio de Janeiro, which became the capital of the Portuguese colony in 1763, and then of the Brazilian Empire in 1822, and finally of the Brazilian Republic in 1889. The Arquivo Público do Estado da Bahia archive contains a large variety of material such as: Police Records, Slavery Records, Post mortem Inventories, Provincial President Correspondence. Only the Notary Records have been digitised as part of EAP703. The material is written in Portuguese. Very rarely, it also includes Spanish, French, and English.
These documents represent perhaps the most dependable source for the study of the social and economic history of colonial and post-colonial Bahia up until the end of the 19th century. Here, researchers can read, amongst others, bills of sale (for plantations, land, houses, ships, slaves, etc), wills and testaments, inheritance partition, power of attorney letters, marriage, dowry, labour and business contracts, children’s legitimisation papers, and slave manumission papers.
Custodial history: The Arquivo Público do Estado da Bahia was founded by Bahia's state in 1890 to hold public records in general. The notary books of Salvador being digitised have been incorporated since the early 20th century.
Extent and format of original material: Ca. 1.329 volumes.
