Activities of Christian missionaries in the Persian Gulf and Hormuz in the tenth century (15th century AD)

Undoubtedly, the Persian Gulf and its various regions have been one of the most important regions of attraction missionaries for European Christian priests since the beginning of the Age of Exploration. The Persian Gulf has always been one of the major frontiers that the Christian missionaries of Europe thus penetrated into the Islamic society of Iran. The motivations accompanying these missionaries to Iran and the Persian Gulf, taking into account the political and social developments of the new Ages of Europe, and the essence of the propaganda centered on Christianity, are very important. The Persian Gulf is protected by the writings of Christian propagandists, including Augustine's priests and workmanship is among the centers that promise Christianity to overcome the Islamic world. Although they were aware of political and propaganda missions in their activities, they unwittingly paid special attention to the Persian Gulf and some islands and ports in their reports. The explanation of the motives of Christian missionaries to come to Iran and their special attention to the Persian Gulf region as well as its position in the writings of European missionaries in the Safavid era will be the main purpose of this article. Also, their focus on the Persian Gulf region (despite the prime-lordship of the Portuguese and consequently the Augustinian priests) as the geography of Iran and not Arabic is one of the purposes of this article. The timeframe chosen is that the relations between the Safavid government and the European Union took many dimensions in this time, and therefore the presence of European Christian priests in Iran became more colorful. The most important and most successful period of mission of Christian missionaries in Iran was during this period. In the history of the developments, this period is of great value.
This paper is based on first-hand resources, including Safavid travel documents and records, as well as new researches that are compiled by a library method and presented in an analytical-descriptive format.