The Persian embassy to Europe (1609–1615) was dispatched by the Persian Shah Abbas I in 1609 to obtain an alliance with Europe against the Ottoman Empire. The embassy was led by the Englishman Robert Shirley.
Fresco detail of Robert Shirley visiting Pope Paul V, Sala dei Corazzieri, Palazzo del Quirinale, Rome. Painted in 1615–1616.
Abbas I as a new Caesar being honoured by the Trumpets of Fame, together with the Persian embassy, in Allégorie de l'Occasion, by Frans II Francken, 1628.
Robert Shirley and his Circassian wife Teresia, c. 1624–1627. Robert Shirley modernized the Persian army, and led the 1609–1615 embassy to Europe.
The Capture of Hormuz was a combined Anglo-Persian expedition that successfully captured the Portuguese garrison at Hormuz Island after a ten-week siege, thus opening up Persian trade with England in the Persian Gulf. Before the capture of Hormuz, the Portuguese had held the Castle of Hormuz for more than a century, since 1507 when Afonso de Albuquerque established it in the capture of Hormuz, giving them full control of the trade between India and Europe through the Persian Gulf. According to Stephen Neill, the capture of Hormuz entirely changed the balance of power and trade.
The city and fortress of Hormuz, 17th century engraving.
William Baffin died of wounds in the operations leading to the capture of Hormuz.
The Portuguese castle, Kishm Island