Renaissance · Middle East · War

1602

Safavid Shah Abbas Recaptures Bahrain

1602

Shah Abbas I, having spent a decade rebuilding Persia's military with the help of English adventurers, wrested the island of Bahrain from the Portuguese after nearly a century of European occupation. Persian galleys swept the garrison aside. The Safavid Empire was reclaiming its coastline and reasserting its sovereignty over the warm waters of the Gulf.