HORMUZ, an island in approximately 27° 4' N., 56° 28' E., in the Strait of Ormuz, 14 m. from the coast of Persia, and I r m. E.S.E. of Bandar Abbas. It has a perimeter of about 16 m. with a greatest length of 44 m. and is composed of jagged hills of varie gated hues of reddish purple and white of an average of 30o f t. in height, with one peak rising to 600 f t. The principal geological formations are rock-salt, red ochre and a greenish clay; a white encrustation of salt covers large areas. The barrenness of Hormuz is relieved only by a few Kunar trees and some small patches of barley or melons. Gazelle are the only wild fauna. The only per manently inhabited place on the island is the village of Hormuz, close southward of the site of the older city and comprising some 30o mat huts. It has a population which may rise to I,000 males when the salt and oxide mines are being worked, but which falls to less than half in the summer when numbers migrate to the mainland, especially to Minab, for the date harvest or to escape the excessive heat. Persians predominate, but there are also Baluchis and Arabs. The water supply is from rain collected in pools or cisterns and is brackish and often very scanty even for so small a population.
Hormuz island is under the jurisdiction of the governor of the Gulf ports—but until recent years the revenues were farmed from the Persian Government for a fixed sum. The resources of the island are red oxide for export, and salt for local use ; copper and iron ore are also present but are not worked. Red oxide (Hormuz red) has been an important article of export from Hormuz for centuries, and, since 1922, has been mined and exported under a concession granted to a Persian merchant. Shipments of this commodity, during the period 1921-27, averaged annually: 2,666 tons to the United Kingdom, 583 tons to the United States, 448 tons to India, and 5,000 tons were sent to Germany during 1926-7. For the better handling of the mineral a truck line has been con structed for some hundreds of yards along the shore.
Of the old and famous city which stood upon the promontory on the northern shore, scarcely anything of definite shape stands at the present day, except the old Portuguese fort, and much even of that has been undermined and washed away by the action of the sea; but traces of buildings of massive foundations, con structed of stone quarried in the island, and a great number of ruined water cisterns remain.
The name Hormuz referred originally to a town on the main land situated probably on Khor Minab, near the present day Minab in 27° 9' N., 57° 5' E. The earliest mention of this name occurs, it seems, in the voyage of Nearchus (325 B.c.) when that admiral anchored Alexander's fleet on the shore of Harmozia at the mouth of the Anamis (R. Minab) in Kirman, "in a country pleasant and agreeable and abounding in everything except olives." The foundation of the city which eventually arose here is ascribed to Ardashir Papakan, founder of the Sassanian dynasty, but it was only after the Arab conquest that it attained great prominence. It was situated one parasang (about 4 miles) from the sea on a river which ships ascended to the town. Idrisi, Istakhri and Muqaddasi describe the place as the chief market of Kirman. Indigo is mentioned as the most important product, and Yaqut states that this Hormuz had attracted all the trade of India. After about the year A.D. I Doc) Hormuz was under a dynasty of Arab rulers, and subsequent to 1262 it came under the rule of the Ilkhani of Persia. Marco Polo twice visited the place, in 1272 and I 293, and describes the business of the port, particularly noting the export of horses. It cannot be certainly ascertained what brought about the transference of the mart from the mainland to the island. Abul Fida says the town was destroyed by the "Tartars," but the Mongol invasion hardly touched the coast of Kirman.
Be that as it may, the new settlement was established by Qutb ud Din, on the island then known as Jerun or Zerun, and in spite of the unfavourable natural conditions, there arose a thriving centre of the world's commerce, from the 14th to the I 6th cen turies. The new Hormuz gradually superseded Qais (q.v.) as the most important emporium trade of the Persian gulf. Friar Odoric gives the earliest notice of the city which he describes as strongly fortified and abounding in costly wares. It was visited in the lapse of time by a number of other travellers from all of whom we infer that it was a fine city rising out of the sea and serving as a mart for all the products of India, which were distributed hence over all Persia. The princes of Hormuz at one time or another appear to have held sway over other islands of the Gulf and even over the shores of Oman. Nikitin, the Russian (c. 1470) conveys a similar impression of its importance and calls it "a vast em porium of all the World." The appearance of the Portuguese in the Indian seas decided the fate of Hormuz. In 1507 the city was attacked by a Portuguese fleet under Albuquerque and partially subdued but it was not until 1514 that, having captured Goa and Malacca, Albuquerque re turned and completed his conquest, and built a castle. For about a century, Hormuz remained practically in the dominion of Por tugal, though the hereditary ruler, paying from his revenues a yearly tribute to Portugal (in lieu of which the latter eventually took the whole of the customs revenues) continued to be the instrument of government.
The rise of the English trade and factories, in the Indian seas, in the early part of the 17th century, led to constant broils and friction with the Portuguese ; while the success of the East India Company in establishing trade relations with Persia only served to embitter the situation. Moreover Shah Abbas I. resented the Portuguese occupation of such a position as Hormuz within his dominions and was strongly desirous of obtaining the aid of English ships in attacking it. During 162o–I the fleets of Portugal and of the East India Company more than once came into action in Indian waters, and in the latter year, the council of the com pany at Surat resolved on what was practically maritime war with the Portuguese flag, agreeing, though reluctantly, to lend the aid of their ships to the land forces of Persia, in an attack on the Portuguese. The combined forces first assaulted and destroyed the Portuguese fort on Qishm island and then turned their atten tion to Hormuz itself. The siege was opened on Feb. 18, 1622, and continued until May 1, when the Portuguese, after a gallant defence, surrendered. Hormuz never recovered from the blow.
The Persians transferred their establishments and material to Gombrun on the mainland, where Shah Abbas founded a port under the name of Bandar Abbas (q.v.), and in a few years Hormuz city was little more than a ruin.