Page 24 - The Pirate Coast (By Sir Charles Belgrave)

In 1616, an English vessel from Surat, the James, managed to
elude the Portuguese navy and reached Jask on the Persian coast.
The captain of the James travelled inland to the court of the Shah,
and obtained a firman from him, which was followed a year or
two later by the establishment at Jask of the first English factory
in Persia.
The Portuguese strongly resented the intrusion of the English
in India, Persia and the Gulf, where they had established a mono­
poly of trade for over a century, and in the Spice Islands in the
Far East the Dutch were equally resentful of their new rivals. The
Dutch and Portuguese regarded the English as sea poachers, prey­
ing on the rich commerce which was in their hands.
In 1619 the King of Portugal despatched a large naval expedition
to the Gulf to strengthen the garrison of Hormuz and to suppress
the activities of the English ‘corsairs’. It was commanded by
Captain-Major Ruy Freire de Andrada, a gallant and distinguished
soldier. Ruy Freire reached Hormuz in June 1620 and on Dec­
ember 28th he attacked the English fleet oft'Jask, suffering a heavy
defeat. In Europe, Portugal and England were at peace, yet in
Eastern waters they were fighting. There had been times when
European forces in distant parts of the world were unaware
whether their governments at home were on friendly terms or at
war. But at this time, in the Gulf, both the Portuguese and the
English knew that their countries were at peace.
Back in Hormuz, Ruy Freire began to make preparations for a
possible attack by the Persians. He had orders from his King to
build a fort on Kishm island, about twelve miles distant from
Hormuz, where there were fresh water wells. As Kishm be­
longed to Persia, this was an unwise move, certain to cause
retaliation. The capture of Kishm and the building of the fort
took many months during which Ruy Freire was besieged by the
Persians for eight months. Meanwhile the Portuguese navy,
which was still in control of the sea, harried the Persian coast,
sacking ports and villages and slaughtering men, women and
children, earning the intense hatred of the Persians. The object
of this operation was to prevent the Persians sending reinforce­
ments to oppose the Portuguese in Kishm. This was the situation
when the Persians applied to the English for help against the
Portuguese.
At the end of 1621, when the Khan of Shiraz made his request
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