TEHRAN – A book authored by Iranian archaeologist Esmail Yaghmaei has recently gone out of print to turn the spotlight on a Portuguese fort, which was constructed on Iran’s Qeshm Island in the 16th century.

Furthermore, the 300-page book, entitled “Colonial Stronghold”, features archaeological excavations conducted in/around the fortress, Mehr reported on Sunday.

The stronghold was built upon the orders of Portuguese commander Alfonso de Albuquerque when his forces seized the islands in the early sixteenth century.

The Portuguese also left other military structues on the Iranian islands of Hormuz and Larak and in the port of Kong as legacies of their colonialism in the Persian Gulf.

The Persian–Portuguese war took place from 1507 to 1622 and involved the Portuguese Empire and the Kingdom of Ormus, its vassal, on one side, and the Safavid Persia (Iran) with the help of the Kingdom of England on the other side.

In 1622 when the Persians retook Hormuz and other occupied lands, the Portuguese Empire was one of the largest and most powerful empires in the world.

AFM