Manal Almreitib (PH.D.)
At the beginning of the sixteenth century, the Arabian Gulf suffered from
ferocious Portuguese military attacks. The Portuguese first arrived in the
Arabian Gulf in 1507, almost immediately launching a blistering attack on the
region’s most prominent cities, and ports seized the Qalhat, Muscat and Sohar and other Omani cities. The Portuguese quickly gained dominance over the
Hormuz Strait, the gateway to the Arabian Gulf, building a castle there to act as
the central base for their presence of the Portuguese in the region.
