Simon Mattacks
speaker
2,982 appearances
18 recordings
3 series
first heard Dec 2024
last heard yesterday
Simon Mattacks’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.
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Appearances
Abbas the Great, the Safavid Shah of Iran, also wanted to expel the Portuguese from the region.
In 1602, Safavid forces captured the island of Bahrain, forcing the Portuguese to retreat.
Twenty years later, the Safavids, with help from the English, launched an attack on Hormuz.
Now, it probably seems clear why the Safavids wanted control.
Economic and military benefits aside, there was also the fact that the Strait of Hormuz was right on the edge of their empire.
But what about the English?
Why did they get involved?
There were a couple of reasons.
Firstly, the English saw the Portuguese as rivals.
Here was an opportunity to weaken Portugal's commercial dominance of the Persian Gulf.
Secondly, there were benefits from an Anglo-Persian alliance.
The Safavids promised the English not only to share the spoils at Hormuz, but to give them access to the lucrative Persian silk trade.
At this time in history, European powers such as England, the Netherlands, Spain, and Portugal were becoming increasingly ambitious and opportunistic.
England had recently established the East India Company with the aims of trading around the Indian Ocean.
As for Hormuz, Portugal had clearly prospered in this region.
The English were likely keen to see what they could get.
In 1622, Anglo-Persian forces successfully conquered Hormuz, ending more than a century of Portuguese occupation.
Over the years, Portugal would make several unsuccessful attempts to recapture Hormuz.
Nonetheless, the Portuguese remained a considerable presence in the region.
But they weren't the only ones.
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