 Barcelos was originally named Mariuá, village of the Manaus Indians.When the captaincy of São José do Rio Negro was formed in 1755, Francisco Xavier de Mendonça Furtado, Governor General of state of Grao Para e Maranhao chose the "aldeia" de São José do Javari, a village founded by Carmelite Friar Matias São Boaventuras in 1728 near the mouth of the Javari River, as its capital.It was the capital of the captaincy of São José do Rio Negro from 1755–1791, and again from 1799–1808.