Bandar-e-Abbās

Lying on the northern shore of Hormuz Bay opposite the islands of Qeshm, Lārak, and Hormuz, Bandar-e-Abbās is a historical port city and capital of Homozgan province. Situated on the Strait of Hormuz, it is the main maritime outlet for much of Southern Iran.
The earliest record of Bandar-e -Abbās is during the reign of Darius the Great (between 522 and 486 BCE). During Alexander’s conquest of the Persian Empire, it was known as Hormirzad. By the 16th century, Bandar e-Abbās came to be referred as Gamrūn(derived from Persian gumruk meaning customhouse). The Portuguese captured it in 1514 for its strategic value in protecting their commerce in the Persian Gulf and India and renamed it as Comorao. In 1614, Comorão was conquered by Shah Abbas I from the Portuguese and renamed as Bandar-e Abbās (“Port of Abbās”). Backed by the English navy, Abbās developed the city (known to the English-speaking world as Gombraun) into a major port. From about 1793 Bandar-e Abbās was under lease to the rulers of Muscat, but in 1868 Iran canceled the contract and resumed direct control. Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi paid particular attention to Bandar-e-Abbās as a strategic port and during his time the government invested huge amounts of capital in the infrastructure. In modern times, it serves as major shipping port, known mostly for imports as well as for certain exports like Kerman rugs, petroleum products and agricultural produce. This apart it has a cotton mill, oil and gas refineries and fish cannery and is predominantly inhabited by Arabs and African Blacks. Bandar-e-Abbās shares a long history of trade with India especially with the port of Surat thus fostering deep ties between the two nations.