"دليل الخليج. مجلد I. القسم التاريخي. الأجزاء Iأ و Iب. ج.ج. لوريمر ١٩١٥" [‎١‎٤] (١٧٨٢/١٥٧)

14
and Span- were now decidedly upon the wane. In 1604, when Peixeiva voyaged up
lards, 1000 ^ Persian Gulf, the Portuguese were in bad odour along the whole
Persian coast on account of the raids committed by their vessels, and
their merchant ships could not obtain supplies there ; Nakhilu and Ri<>
were places particularly hostile to them. They still, however, retained
some of their authority ; and native boats running from Rishehr to Eig
sometimes took Portuguese passes. In 1612 and 1615 their fleets were
defeated by the English in encounters off Surat, and their inferiority at
sea began to be suspected by the Mughal government. In the Persian
Gulf, likewise, their naval credit began to decline. About 1602 they
were dislodged from Bahrain by the Shah of Persia ; and about 1608 their
settlement on Hormuz was blockaded by the Shah's forces and was
reduced to considerable straits.
In 1613 the Khan of Lar tried to recover Bandar* 'Abbae, which
the Portuguese had apparently seized and fortified in the previous year
as a precaution against a blockade of Hormuz from the mainland. A
force proceeded to attack the Laris, but the ship carrying the Portuguese
commander took fire and blew up; his successor in the command,
however, continued the operations and in the end defeated the enemy.
Ultimately the Shah apologised to the "Viceroy of Portuguese India for
the action of the Khan of Lar, which he asserted to have been unautho-
rised. The Portuguese retained Bandar 'Abbas only until 1615, when
they were expelled by the Persians after a siege of some duration.
In March 1616 the Portuguese, helped by a neighbouring tribe,
attacked and took Sohar on the Batinah Coast of'Oman. Their object
was to destroy a port which competed with Masqat and Hormuz and
injuriously affected the Portuguese revenue from customs. Muhammad,
the ruler of Sohar, was killed in ac-tion ; aud his brother, having been
taken prisoner, was put to death. The Portuguese further violated the
tei rns of the capitulation by falling on the garrison as tley evacuated
the place.
^ hile fighting proceeded between the Persians and th« Portuguese in
the Gulf, embassies continued to be interchanged betweei the courts of
Isfahan and Madrid. In 1613 Danish Baig, a Persian ambassador to
• Bandar Abbas takes its name from Shab 'Abbas I, by whom it vas founded about
tlnu time, probably as a check upon Hormuz. To Knropeans. in th? 17th and 18th
centuries, it was generally known as " Gombroon," " Gammeron." "Comoran," etc.;
this name, according to Hamilton (see his New Account of the East Indies, 1,92),
ret applied tu it in derision by the Portuguese, being taken from a word in their
» n o aa g e meaning a shrimp. A different conjecture connecti it with Gumiuk, thf
Persian word for " cuetoros."