“International Sea-Trade Routes:Makran and the Arabian Sea at the Dawn of the Portuguese Arrival” January 21, 2008

Valeria Fiorani Piacentini
21/01/2008
al-Maidan Cultural center

“International Sea-Trade Routes:Makran and the Arabian Sea at the Dawn of the Portuguese Arrival”

Professor Valeria Piacentini Fiorani teaches the history and institutions of Muslim countries at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Milano, . She is also the direction of the Athenaeum Centre “CRiSSMA” (Research Centre on the Southern System and Wider Mediterranean). She has published more than 85 papers, articles, and presentations on a wide variety of topics including Italian Historical Studies on Islamic Civilizations in the last twenty years. She has extensive fieldwork experience, having worked in , , , , , and the .





International Sea-Trade Routes.



Hormuz, Makran and the Arabian Sea at the Dawn of the Portuguese Arrival.





Salghur Shāh (879 - 910 AH/1475 – 1505 AD) ensured the maritime and naval supremacy of Hormuz for more than a century. With this, he ensured its survival in the changing balance of force both on the Asian continent and on the seas, where the Portuguese presence loomed.



When, in 1507, Affonso d’Albuquerque’s fleet arrived at the island of Hormuz , the royal family consisted of no more than infants and blinded members. However, the kingdom of Hormuz would still play a crucial role, reflecting the vitality of its polity, the loyalty of its various political forces, and the centrality of the sea, and the social forces revolving and acting/interacting around it.



Within this broader context, Makran plays a role with both its “Green Belt” and its seaboard. Marriage alliances with the ruler of Kej, provided security towards the troublesome regions of inner Makran (inhabited by ruthless “Balus” and “Kurd” tribes), shelter from pirates’ attacks (the Jats), food and vegetables supplies to convoys coming and going from the Indian Ocean.

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