Ormus

The Kingdom of Ormus (also known as Hormoz or Hormuz; هرمز; Ormuz) was located in the eastern side of the Persian Gulf and extended as far as Bahrain in the west at its zenith. The Kingdom was established in 11th century initially as a dependency of the Kerman Seljuk Sultanate, and later as an autonomous tributary of the Salghurids and the Ilkhanate of Iran. In its last phase Ormus became a client state of the Portuguese Empire in the East. Most of its territory was eventually annexed by the Safavid Empire in the 17th century. The monarchy received its name from the fortified port city which served as its capital. It was one of the most important ports in the Middle East at the time as it controlled seaway trading routes through the Persian Gulf to China, India, and East Africa. This port was originally located on the southern coast of Iran to the east of the Strait of Hormuz, near the modern city of Minab, and was later relocated to the island of Jarun which came to be known as Hormuz Island, which is located near the modern city of Bandar-e Abbas. Popular etymology derives "Hormuz", being the Middle Persian pronunciation of the Persian deity Ahuramazda. Alternatively, it has been suggested that the name derives from Hur-Muz 'Place of Dates'. Yet another possibility is that it comes from Όρμος, the Greek word for 'cove, bay'. The name of the actual urban settlement that acted as the capital of the Old Hormoz Kingdom was also given as Naband. The original city of Hormoz was situated on the mainland in the province of Mogostan (Mughistan) near modern-day Minab in Hormozgan. At the time of the Ilkhanid competition with the Chaghataids, the old city of Hormoz, also known as Nabands and Dewankhana, was abandoned by its inhabitants. Instead, in 1301, the inhabitants, led by the king Baha ud-Din Ayaz and his wife Bibi Maryam, moved to the neighbouring island of Jerun. "It was during the reign of Mir Bahrudin Ayaz Seyfin, fifteenth king of Hormoz, that the Seljuks raided the kingdom of Kerman and from there to that of Hormoz.