"دليل الخليج. مجلد I. القسم التاريخي. الأجزاء Iأ و Iب. ج.ج. لوريمر ١٩١٥" [‎٣‎٧] (١٧٨٢/١٨٠)

m
37
Decline of Portuguese power in the Gulf, 1628-53.
The Portug'iiese ; though fallen from their high estate in ihe East,
continued for a time to be a military danger to the Eng-lish.
Captain Swanley, who in 1628-29 went as Commodore of a fleet of Captain ^
five of the Company's ships to the Persian Gulf, to advance English trade craise^l^S-
and to land a Mughal Ambassador to Persia at Bandar 'Abbas, was 29,
commissioned to attack in the course of his voyage any Portuguese vessel
or fleet which he might discover; but it is not known whether he found
any opportunity of taking action on this part of his instructions.
In 1630 the Viceroy of Goa, having received reinforcements from Renewed
activity of
Europe, attempted to prevent an English fleet from approaching Surat; tlic Portu-
but the result of the actions which ensued, by sea and on land, was guese, 16.i0-
unfavourable to the Portuguese ; and the Viceroy then transferred his
attention to the Persian Gulf. A Portuguese envoy, with instructions
from the King of Spain authorising him to resort to bribery, was at
this time sent, or had already proceeded, to Shiraz, where he succeeded in
gaining the ear of the Persian Governor of Ears ; and, through the latter,
a request for the rendition of Hormuz to the Portuguese was preferred to
the Shah and certain privileges for Portuguese trade at Kung were either
secured for the first time or confirmed. At one moment it was feared
that Portuguese influence in Persia was about to eclipse that of the
English j but the agents of the East India Company were still able to
obtain from the Slmh an order for 200 Persian troops to proceed to
Bandar 'Abbas to defend the English Eactory and shipping there against
Portuguese attack; and ultimately, in 1631, the Portuguese were dis
appointed by the Persians and fell back on designs of seizing Hormuz by
force. These, however, they were unable to put into execution, though
to facilitate operations they established a post* at or near Ras-al-Khaimah
on the Arabian Coast,
In 1632 and 1633 the Persians were anxious to take the offensive Hostility ^
against the Portuguese at Masqat, and the Governor of Shiraz extorted p ers i alls and
a promise of naval assistance from the English, who feared that, if they the
. _ , i j i guese, loo-i-
did not comply, the Khan might have recourse to the Dutch; the gg
projected expedition, however, never took shape. In 1631 the Portuguese
repaired the fortifications of Masqat. In 1638, when Mandelslo
visited Bandar 'Abbas, the Portuguese language was still spoken, more
or less, by all the native inhabitants; but Portuguese and Spaniards
* Viz., at *' Julfar."—See footnote on page 22 ante.