Hormuz Island in the Persian Gulf was liberated from over a century of Portuguese occupation

Compiled By: Syed Ali Shahbaz
On April 22, 1622 AD, the strategically located Hormuz Island in the Strait of the same name at the entry of the Persian Gulf was liberated from over a century of Portuguese occupation by a joint Iranian-English fleet. The victory entirely changed the balance of power and trade to the benefit of the Safavid Empire and the English East India Company. The Iranians first besieged Qeshm Island – the largest in the Persian Gulf and also under Portuguese occupation. Shah Abbas the Great dispatched his famous general Imam Quli Khan, the son of Allahverdi Khan, to negotiate with the English, and after the liberation of Qeshm, the joint Iranian-English fleet sailed to Hormuz and the Safavids captured the town by sinking the Portuguese fleet. Twenty years earlier, Shah Abbas I had liberated Bahrain from Portuguese occupation.

The Second Treaty of Istanbul
On 11th of the Islamic month of Jamadi as-Sani in 1149 AH, as per the Second Treaty of Istanbul between the Ottoman Turkish Empire and the Safavid Persian Empire, the 6-year war came to its end, with Iraq and the Caucasus restored to Iranian control. The military commander, Nader Qoli, who was dissatisfied by the loss of territory to the Ottomans by Shah Tahmasp II as per the clauses of a treaty signed 4 years earlier, revived the might of Iran with his victories, deposed Abbas III to end the Safavid Dynasty, crowned himself as Nader Shah, and forced the Ottomans to hand over to Iran both Tiblisi the capital of Georgia, and Yerevan the capital of Armenia, as per the terms of the new treaty.