Forts and Cannon of Oman.

[Ibrahiim al Balooshi]

Once upon a time....Fanciful stories abound and tradition dictates the marvelous and fanciful tales from the sea...great monsters lunge across the sea charts swallowing ships and seamen alike... Hardened sailors with tales of mermaids perhaps enhanced by over indulgence in grog ...The average daily intake of beer alone in the English Navy was 7 pints per man per day.. When Sohar was sacked and burned the defenders either ran away or died there and then ..."It is said that" ...an old man was spared as he knew the way to Hormuz".. The alternative is just as fanciful though it may well be true...and has been "embellished like a sea shanty" to make it believable..
What appears today as a crumpled ruined old shell was in those days a thriving fortified factory or store feeding Persia and Iraq and linked through trade across the entire region...or at least it was before the arrival of the foreign battle fleets...Under siege over the years decline started as the defenders moved equipment out leaving only essential personnel and provisions .... Whereas rumour suggested that Hormuz was the Jewel in the Crown which it may have been strategically it was far from dripping with gold, diamonds, slaves, spices, and silver moreover it was fast descending into a cannon ball riddled hell hole..In the end it was perhaps a tactic on behalf of the Portuguese to advertise the benefits of Hormuz since the imagined wealth of the Fortified Island would be good for morale and personal gain in booty ~ for the winner takes all.