58/69 Its fame almost rivaled that of Venice from the end of the thirteenth to the seventeenth century. It was owned by the Portuguese during 1507-1622, when it was taken by Shah Abbas, with the aid of the English East India Company. It was next to Goa the richest of Portuguese possessions. See _Voyage of Pyrard de Laval_ (Hakluyt Society's publications, London, 1888), ii, p. 238, notes 1 and 2. |