This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. No cleanup reason has been specified. Please help improve this article if you can; the talk page may contain suggestions. (February 2010)

The Kingdom of Ormus (also known as Ohrmuzd, Hormuz, and Ohrmazd; Portuguese Ormuz) was a 10th to 17th century kingdom located within the Persian Gulf and extending as far as the Strait of Hormuz. The Kingdom was established by Arab princes in the 10th century who in 1262 came under the suzerainty of Persia,^[1] before becoming a client state of the Portuguese Empire.

The kingdom 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 India and East Africa. This port was probably located on Hormuz Island^{[citation needed]}, which is located near the modern city of Bandar-e Abbas.

The name of the port, the island, and the kingdom is Iranian and ultimately derives from that of the Zoroastrian deity, Ahura Mazda, which becomes Ohrmazd in Pahlavi, Hirmiz in Manichaean Middle Persian, and Hormoz in New-Persian.

The Strait of Hormuz (Arabic: مضيق هرمز‎ - Madīq Hurmuz, Persian: تنگه هرمز - Tangeh-ye Hormoz,) is a narrow, strategically important waterway between the Gulf of Oman in the southeast and the Persian Gulf in the southwest. On the north coast is Iran and on the south coast is the United Arab Emirates and Musandam, an exclave of Oman.

History[link]

The city-state of Ormus dates back to the 13th century when it controlled the slave market from Africa and Arabia^{[citation needed]} to Khorasan in Persia. At its zenith in 13th to 14th century, Ormus (or Ormuz) was a powerful naval state with a large and active trading fleet and a powerful navy. Petrashevsky reports the size of the fleet to be up to 500 fighting ships^{[citation needed]}. These ships were not armed with cannons.

The fleet of Chinese admiral Zheng He reached Ormus for the first time around 1414.

In September 1507, the Portuguese Afonso de Albuquerque landed on the island. Portugal occupied Ormuz from 1515 to 1622. It was during the Portuguese occupation of the island that the Mandaeans first came to western attention. The Mandaeans were fleeing persecution in the vilayet of Baghdad (which, at the time, included Basra) and Khuzestan in Iran. When the Portuguese first encountered them, they mistakenly identified them as "St. John Christians," analogous to the St. Thomas Christians of India. The Mandaeans, for their part, were all too willing to take advantage of the confusion, offering to accept papal authority and Portuguese suzerainty if the Portuguese would invade the Ottoman Empire and liberate their coreligionists. The Portuguese were attracted by the prospect of what appeared to be a large Christian community under Muslim rule. It was not until after the Portuguese had committed themselves to the conquest of Basra that they came to realize that the Mandaeans were not what they claimed to be.

As vassals of the Portuguese state, the Kingdom of Ormus jointly participated in the 1521 invasion of Bahrain that ended Jabrid rule of the Persian Gulf archipelago. The Jabrid ruler was nominally a vassal of Ormus, but the Jabrid King, Muqrin ibn Zamil had refused to pay the tribute Ormus demanded, prompting the invasion under the command of the Portuguese conqueror, António Correia.^[2] In the fighting for Bahrain, most of the combat was carried out by Portuguese troops, while the Ormusi admiral, Reis Xarafo, looked on.^[3] The Portuguese ruled Bahrain through a series of Ormusi governors. However, the Sunni Ormusi were not popular with Bahrain's Shia population which suffered religious disadvantages,^[4] prompting rebellion. In one case, the Ormusi governor was crucified by rebels,^[5] and Portuguese rule came to an end in 1602 after the Ormusi governor, who was a relative of the Ormusi king,^[6] started executing members of Bahrain's leading families.^[7]

After the Portuguese made several abortive attempts to seize control of Basra, the Safavid ruler Abbas I of Persia conquered the kingdom with the help of the English, and expelled the Portuguese from the rest of the Persian Gulf, with the exception of Muscat. The Portuguese returned to the Persian Gulf in the following year as allies of Afrasiyab, the Pasha of Basra, against the Persians. Afrasiyab was formerly an Ottoman vassal but had been effectively independent since 1612. They never returned to Ormus.

In the mid-17th century it was captured by the Imam of Muscat, but was subsequently recaptured by Persians. Today, it is part of the Iranian province of Hormozgan.

Accounts of Ormus society[link]

Situated between the Persian Gulf and the Indian Ocean, Ormus was a "by-word for wealth and luxury",^[8] perhaps best captured in the Arab saying: ‘If all the world were a golden ring, Ormus would be the jewel in it’.^[8] The city was also known for its licentiousness according to accounts by Portuguese visitors; Duarte Barbosa, one of the first Portuguese to travel to Ormuz in the late 14th century found:

This theme is also strong in Henry James Coleridge’s account of Ormus in his life of the Navarrese missionary, St Francis Xavier, who visited Ormus on his way to Japan:

Depiction in literature[link]

The following text was written by John Speed in 1626:

Note that some of this text is missing due to printing faults.

This text is likely derived from a caption on Ortelius' 1567 map of Asia, which was derived from Gastaldi's map of six years prior:

[The Kingdom of Ormus has as a distinctive feature a king who is a tributary to the king of Lusitania. It comprises all the Arab coasts from the mouth of the Euphrates to Cape Razalqati, the part of the Persian Empire bordering on the Bazora straits and almost all islands in the Persian Gulf. Its capital is the city of Ormus on the isle of Gerus, a famous market town.]

Line 20 of Andrew Marvell's poem 'Bermudas' reads:

Ormus is also mentioned in a famous passage from John Milton's epic poem Paradise Lost (Book II, lines 1-5):

See also[link]

• List of Sunni Muslim dynasties

References[link]

v t e Portuguese Overseas Empire North Africa 15th century 1415–1640  Ceuta 1458–1550  Alcácer Ceguer (El Qsar es Seghir) 1471–1550  Arzila (Asilah) 1471–1662  Tangier 1485–1550  Mazagan (El Jadida) 1487– middle 16th century  Ouadane 1488–1541  Safim (Safi) 1489  Graciosa 16th century 1505–1769  Santa Cruz do Cabo  de Gué (Agadir) 1506–1525  Mogador (Essaouira) 1506–1525  Aguz (Souira Guedima) 1506–1769  Mazagan (El Jadida) 1513–1541  Azamor (Azemmour) 1515  São João da Mamora (Mehdya) 1577–1589  Arzila (Asilah) Sub-Saharan Africa 15th century 1455–1633  Anguim 1462–1975  Cape Verde 1470–1975  São Tomé1 1474–1778  Annobón 1478–1778  Fernando Poo (Bioko) 1482–1637  Elmina (São Jorge  da Mina) 1482–1642  Portuguese Gold Coast 1508–1547 (1600)  Madagascar2 1498–1540  Mascarene Islands 16th century 1500–1630  Malindi 1500–1975  Príncipe1 1501–1975  Portuguese E. Africa  (Mozambique) 1502–1659  Saint Helena 1503–1698  Zanzibar 1505–1512  Quíloa (Kilwa) 1506–1511  Socotra 1557–1578  Accra 1575–1975  Portuguese W. Africa  (Angola) 1588–1974  Cacheu3 1593–1698  Mombassa (Mombasa) 17th century 1645–1888  Ziguinchor 1680–1961  São João Baptista de Ajudá 1687–1974  Bissau3 18th century 1728–1729  Mombassa (Mombasa) 1753–1975  São Tomé and Príncipe 19th century 1879–1974  Portuguese Guinea 1885–1975  Portuguese Congo   1 Part of São Tomé and Príncipe from 1753.   2 A Factory (Anosy region) and small temporary coastal bases.   3 Part of Portuguese Guinea from 1879. Southwest Asia 16th century 1506–1615  Gamru (Bandar-Abbas) 1507–1643  Sohar 1515–1622  Hormuz (Ormus) 1515–1648  Quriyat 1515–?   Qalhat 1515–1650  Muscat 1515?–?   Barka 1515–1633? Julfar (Ras al-Khaimah) 1521–1602  Bahrain (Muharraq and Manama) 1521–1529?  Qatif 1521?–1551? Tarut Island 1550–1551  Qatif 1588–1648  Matrah 17th century 1620–?   Khor Fakkan 1621?–?   As Sib 1621–1622  Qeshm 1623–?   Khasab 1623–?   Libedia 1624–?   Kalba 1624–?   Madha 1624–1648  Dibba Al-Hisn 1624?–?   Bandar-e Kong Indian subcontinent 15th century 1498–1545  Laccadive Islands       (Lakshadweep) 16th century Portuguese India · 1500–1663  Cochim (Kochi) · 1501–1663  Cannanore (Kannur) · 1502–1658, 1659-1661  Quilon (Coulão/Kollam) · 1502–1661  Pallipuram (Cochin de Cima) · 1507–1657  Negapatam (Nagapatnam) · 1510–1962  Goa · 1512–1525, 1750  Calicut (Kozhikode) · 1518–1619  Portuguese Paliacate trading outpost (Pulicat) · 1521–1740  Chaul · 1523–1662  Mylapore · 1528–1666  Chittagong · 1531–1571  Chaul · 1531–1571  Chalé · 1534–1601  Salsette Island · 1534–1661  Bombay (Mumbai) · 1535  Ponnani · 1535–1739  Baçaím (Vasai-Virar) · 1536–1662  Cranganore (Kodungallur) · 1540–1612  Surat · 1548–1658  Tuticorin (Thoothukudi) 16th century (continued) Portuguese India (continued) · 1559–1962  Daman and Diu · 1568–1659  Mangalore · 1579–1632  Hugli · 1598–1610  Masulipatnam (Machilipatnam) 1518–1521  Maldives 1518–1658  Portuguese Ceylon (Sri Lanka) 1558–1573  Maldives 17th century Portuguese India · 1687–1749  Mylapore 18th century Portuguese India · 1779–1954  Dadra and Nagar Haveli East Asia and Oceania 16th century 1511–1641  Portuguese Malacca 1512–1621  Maluku · 1522–1575  Ternate · 1576–1605  Ambon · 1578–1650  Tidore 1512–1665  Makassar 1553–1999  Macau 1571–1639  Decima (Dejima, Nagasaki) 17th century 1642–1975  Portuguese Timor (East Timor)1 19th century Macau · 1864–1999  Coloane · 1849–1999  Portas do Cerco · 1851–1999  Taipa · 1890–1999  Ilha Verde 20th century Macau · 1938–1941  Lapa and Montanha (Hengqin) 1  1975 is the year of East Timor's Declaration of Independence and subsequent invasion by Indonesia. In 2002, East Timor's independence was recognized by Portugal & the world. North America and the North Atlantic Ocean 15th century 1420 Madeira 1432 Azores 16th century 1500–1579?  Terra Nova (Newfoundland) 1500–1579?  Labrador 1516–1579?  Nova Scotia Central and South America 16th century 1500–1822  Brazil 1536–1620  Barbados 17th century 1680–1777  Nova Colónia do Sacramento 19th century 1808–1822  Cisplatina (Uruguay) 1809–1817  Portuguese Guiana 1822  Upper Peru (Bolivia) Portuguese colonization of the Americas - Theory of Portuguese discovery of Australia - Portuguese colonialism in Indonesia

Coordinates: 27°06′N 56°27′E / 27.1°N 56.45°E / 27.1; 56.45

Dave Kane
Born	(1948-01-26) January 26, 1948 (age 64) Pawtucket, Rhode Island
Occupation	radio personality, comedian, author

Dave Kane, born (1948-01-26) January 26, 1948 (age 64), is an American radio talk show host, comedian, performance artist, and author. Kane was born in Pawtucket, Rhode Island and currently still makes his home in the Ocean State.

Nicknamed "The Pitbull of comedy" in the 1980s during his time as a stand-up comedian, Kane is known for his passionate, sometimes confrontational style of talk radio, urging people to stand up for what they believe in and to take action in the face of injustice. One of Kane's oft-spoken phrases is the well known quote, often attributed to Irish philosopher Edmund Burke, "All that is necessary for evil to exist is for good people to do nothing."

In addition to his strong viewpoints about current local and national issues, his radio show, dubbed "Kane and Company", also features Kane's self-deprecating style of humor liberally peppered throughout. Conflict between Kane and his callers is commonplace, with some of the more vociferous people attaining the level of "Prisoner." This is a title Kane reserves for the most antagonistic callers who consistently claim to hate his show, but who feel compelled to keep listening and/or calling back to argue.

Radio career[link]

Dave Kane has been involved in the field of radio for over 40 years, beginning in 1962, when he was 14 years old. His first radio-related job was at Pawtucket's WPAW where he acted as an intern for radio legend Chuck Stevens (a recent inductee into the Rhode Island Radio Hall of Fame). Kane's first paying radio job at the now defunct WKFD in North Kingstown lasted for just one day.

His involvement in talk radio began in the early 1970s when he worked as a producer for WJAR radio and filled in for the other hosts. From that point forward, Kane has carved a successful niche in Rhode Island talk radio, spending time at various stations throughout the state, including WPRO and WHJJ, the two of largest and most powerful AM stations in the state. In 2009 Kane & WNRI: Woonsocket, Rhode Island parted ways.

"Father Misgivings"[link]

Aside from being involved in talk radio, Kane's second major source of livelihood is his work as a performance artist. Kane is well-known regionally for creating the character of Father Misgivings, an Irish Catholic priest. In this one man play, which Kane describes as featuring "blessings, Blarney, belly laughs and Bingo," the character of Father Misgivings tells stories and relates his views about the idiosyncrasies of growing up and living life as a Roman Catholic. Kane performs the show many times each year, usually in the form of a dinner theater, in venues throughout New England.

The Station Nightclub Fire[link]

Kane's son, Nicholas O'Neill, at age 18, was the youngest victim of The Station nightclub fire of 2003 in which 100 people lost their lives. In the wake of this tragedy, Kane became a strong proponent of fire safety awareness and the enforcement of strict laws for the administration of fire safety inspections on public buildings. Kane was publicly opposed to Rhode Island Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch's handling of the criminal trials of those involved in negligence leading to the fire.

[edit] 41 Signs of Hope

In 2006, Kane authored his first published book, 41 Signs of Hope. In the book, Kane shares anecdotes of synchronistic, and at times, seemingly supernatural occurrences revolving around the number 41, which Kane and his family contend are communications from the spirit of his son Nicholas.

References[link]

• 41 Signs of Hope site
• Boston Globe Article May 17, 2006
• All Access article March 30, 2009 "Kane Exits WNRI"