Iranian Ports of the Persian Gulf in the Middle Centuries of Islam

Because of being situated on the coastlines of the Persian Gulf, the southern provinces of Iran have been of great political, social and economic importance in the region throughout centuries. The seaports of these provinces in the previous centuries, especially in the 4th and 5th centuries A.H. had ranked among major centers of seafaring and sea trade for Iran and the Iranians. Mehrooban, Shiniz, Jannabeh, and Siraf are just a few important ports and harbors among many other large and small ones on the Persian Gulf. Among all these, Siraf was the most important of all because of the prominent role it played in sea trade in the area. These ports were connected to each other and to other commercial and economic centers of the southern provinces by a vast network of roads through which they were also connected with other cities and provincial centers of both Iran and its neighboring countries. The ports were also connected with one another through sea lanes which also acted as links between these ports and the open waters of the Indian Ocean. Marine trade had caused the economic boom of these ports and as a consequence the commercial growth of other cities of the southern Iranian provinces.