History
The Greeks knew of Bushehr by Mezambria during the battles of Nearchus. A French excavating team however in 1913 determined the origin of Bushehr to date back to the Elamite Empire. A city there, known as Lyan, contained a templethat was designed to protect the compound from naval attacks. Its remains can still be seen today 10 kilometers south of the present city of Bushehr.
A key turning point in the history of Bor event of significance is known to have taken place in this region until the arrival of the European colonialists in the 16th century.
The Portuguese, invaded the city of Bushehr in 1506 and remained there until Shah Abbas Safavi successfully defeated and liberated the Persian Gulf region of their presence. By 1734, Bushehr had once again risen to prominence due to Nadir Shah of the Afsharid dynasty, and his military policies in The Persian Gulf.
Bushehr was selected by Nadir to be the central base of Nadir's Naval fleet in the Persian Gulf. He thus changed the name of the city to Bandar e Nadiriyeh (Nadir's Port). He hired an Englishman by the name of John Elton to help build his fleet. Dutch accounts report his naval fleet to have amounted to 8000-10000 personnel as well as several ship construction installations.
After Nadir's death, the Dutch continued to have good commercial relations in Bushehr, until the British made their debut in Bushehr in 1763 by a contract they signed with Karim Khan of the Zand dynasty. By then, the city of Bushehr had become Iran's major port city in the Persian Gulf. By the Qajar era, Britain, Norway, Russia, Italy, France, Germany, and the Ottomans had diplomatic and commercial offices there, with Britain steadily gaining a foothold in the area. Close to 100 British ships are reported to have docked at the port city every year during the Qajar era.
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