Portuguese Empire-Persian Safavid Empire war in Straits of Hormuz

[Lion of War]

First The Safavid Empire sued for peace in 1590 with the Ottomans giving away territory in the north-west. Then two Englishmen, Robert Sherley (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Sherley) and his brother Anthony (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_Sherley), helped Abbas I to reorganize the Shah's soldiers into an officer-paid and well-trained standing army similar to a European model.

Abbas I first recapturing Herat (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herat) and Mashhad in 1598. Then he turned against the Ottomans recapturing Baghdad, eastern Iraq and the Caucasian provinces by 1622. He also used his new force to dislodge the Portuguese from Bahrain (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bahrain) (1602) and the English navy from Hormuz (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hormuz) (1622), in the Persian Gulf (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persian_Gulf) (a vital link in Portuguese trade with India). He expanded commercial links with the English East India Company (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_East_India_Company) and the Dutch East India Company (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_East_India_Company).



In 1497, European colonialists landed in the region for the first time, headed by Vasco da Gama (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasco_da_Gama). In 1506, the Portuguese (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portugal), led by Alfonso d'Albuquerque (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfonso_d%27Albuquerque) invaded the area with 7 warships, under the pretext of protecting their interests from Egypt (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egypt) and Venice (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venice). The port of Hormuz was at this time considered a strategic port for commercial interests in the Persian Gulf.


Portugal and Safavid Persia's war, which began with the attempts by Afonso de Albuquerque to take Hormuz in 1507.Ismail I (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ismail_I) who was trying to counter the Ottoman Empire (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottoman_Empire) to the west , was unable to save the port from the Portuguese, until Shah Abbas I (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abbas_I_of_Safavid) was finally able to drive them out of the Persian Gulf with the aid of the British. The name of Bandar Abbas (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bandar_Abbas) comes directly from the name of Shah Abbas I.

[Pars]

If only we hadn't lost all that territory :|

[Lion of War]

If only we hadn't lost all that territory :|

Yeah bro.Today's Iran's border are only a fraction of what they once where.

Safavid Empire
http://img208.imageshack.us/img208/7540/safavidempire1501e28093pd8.png

This quote goes very well.


"Many Iranians consider their natural sphere of influence to extend beyond Iran's present borders. After all, Iran was once much larger. Portuguese forces seized islands and ports in the 16th and 17th centuries. In the 19th century, the Russian Empire (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_Empire) wrested from Tehran (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tehran)'s control what is today Armenia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armenia), Republic of Azerbaijan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_Azerbaijan), and part of Georgia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgia_%28country%29). Iranian elementary school texts teach about the Iranian roots not only of cities like Baku (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baku), but also cities further north like Derbent (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derbent) in southern Russia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russia). The Shah (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shah) lost much of his claim to western Afghanistan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afghanistan) following the Anglo-Iranian war of 1856-1857. Only in 1970 did a UN (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UN) sponsored consultation end Iranian claims to suzerainty over the Persian Gulf (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persian_Gulf) island nation of Bahrain (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bahrain). In centuries past, Iranian rule once stretched westward into modern Iraq (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraq) and beyond. When the western world complains of Iranian interference beyond its borders, the Iranian government often convinced itself that it is merely exerting its influence in lands that were once its own. Simultaneously, Iran's losses at the hands of outside powers have contributed to a sense of grievance that continues to the present day

-Patrick Clawson (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_Clawson) of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_Institute_for_Near_East_Policy)





http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_Iran

[Hollis]

Problem with that area, was boundries kept being moved. Israel once covered Demascus. I don't think Syria is so willing to surrender that area. Or Italy (Rome) or Egypt or even the Ottoman empire. Europe has a similar problem too.

"For of all sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these: 'It might have been!'"

[Benny]

In 1497, European colonialists landed in the region for the first time, headed by Vasco da Gama (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasco_da_Gama). In 1506, the Portuguese (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portugal), led by Alfonso d'Albuquerque (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfonso_d%27Albuquerque) invaded the area with 7 warships, under the pretext of protecting their interests from Egypt (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egypt) and Venice (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venice).




"Colonialism" in the 15th century context sounds strange.

Makes as much sense as saying that we were liberating the people of Asia from Persian colonialist opression.

Benny

[Pars]

"Colonialism" in the 15th century context sounds strange.

Makes as much sense as saying that we were liberating the people of Asia from Persian colonialist opression.

Benny

I don't get it. Why does colonialism in the 15th century sound strange?

[Benny]

Sounds strange because it is a XX century term, with all its negative modern age ideological meaning, applied to a XV century reality.

I mean, it's like saying that the sophisticated Persian Empire didn't respect the minorities civil rights or it's citizens freedom to vote or choose its own religion, no respect for human dignity, hanged homos******s or stoned woman to death (I'm sure you'd agree that, in modern societies, these are some of the signs of a medieval barbarian society).

Benny