United Arab Emirates

Arabia and Persian Gulf. List of Portuguese colonial forts and possessions

Written by Marco Ramerini. English text revision by Dietrich Köster. YEMEN: Soko (Socotra): Fortaleza de São Miguel Portuguese: Apr./May 1507 fort – 1511 abandoned and dismantled Source: Pereira da Costa “Socotra e o domínio português no Oriente” Kamaran:  Kamaran is an island in west Yemen. In the 16th Century, portuguese established there an outpost. Source: wikipedia Written by Zé MIguel Silva ...

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Portuguese Fort at Bidyah in the United Arab Emirates

Trench F, Portuguese Fort, Bidyah, United Arab Emirates (photo © by Michele Ziolkowski)

Written by Marco Ramerini, Photos and Information by Michele Ziolkowski The town of Bidyah in the United Arab Emirates, is found midway along the coast between Fujairah and Dibba. According to the Portuguese souces, the Portuguese had in the area a fort called Libidia. A team consisting of Australian and local archaeologists excavated the area in 1999. The site of ...

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The Portuguese forts of Quelba and Corfacão (Khor Fakkan)

Portuguese forts of Quelba and Corfacão from Prof. Rui Carita Lyvro de Plantaforma das Fortalezas da Índia

The city of Khor Fakkan (Corfação) is located along the east coast of the United Arab Emirates (25°20’N – 56°22’E). Here, the Portuguese, around 1620, built a triangular fortress with triangular bastions and a round tower in the center. In the log book of the Dutch vessel the Meerkat (1666) we read: “Gorfacan is a place on a small bay, which has about ...

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The Portuguese forts of Mada and Libedia

Portuguese forts of Mada and Libedia from Prof. Rui Carita Lyvro de Plantaforma das Fortalezas da Índia

The two fortresses of Mada and Libedia were located along the eastern coast of the present United Arab Emirates. Libedia has been identified in the present town of Bidyah (25 ° 26’N – 56 ° 21’E) along the coast midway between Fujairah and Dibba. The two forts were square or rectangular shape with bastions at each corner. For the image ...

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The Portuguese fort of Doba

Portuguese fort of Doba from Prof. Rui Carita Lyvro de Plantaforma das Fortalezas da Índia

The fortress of Doba, probably the present town of Diba al Hisn (25 ° 36’N – 56 ° 17’E) today in the emirate of Al-Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates, was a square fortress with round bastions and a tower in the center. The Portuguese controlled the city from 1624 to 1648. For the image thanks to Prof. Nuno Varela Rubim and ...

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The Portuguese on the Persian Gulf and on the Arabian Peninsula

Written by Marco Ramerini. English text revision by Dietrich Köster The Portuguese decided shortly after their arrival in the Eastern Seas to prevent the Arabs’ trade by the conquest of Ormuz. For its strategical position, dominating the entrance to the Persian Gulf, Ormuz was one of the two strategical strongholds on the trade routes between the Arab world and Asia ...

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