Forts and Cannon of Oman.

[fernando]

In 1635 Antonio Bocarro finished his atlas "Livro das Plantas de todas as fortalezas, cidades e povoaçoens do Estado da Índia Oriental" (Book of plants of all fortresses, cities and settlements of Oriental India, a survey ordered by Filipe IV of Spain (then Flipe III of Portugal).
Bocarro refers the dificulties he went through to achieve such work, to which he attributes determined imperfections. Among them the difficulty that, due to his position, prevented him from examining in deep detail each of the fortresses or serttlements he described. For such reason he was forced to require information that was coming in, which he filtered with all thoroughness, so that the King could give them full credit. However he could not guarantee the perfection that concerned the plants (drawings) that accompanied the texts, due to lack of proportion of the houses and fortressess, proliferation of vegetation symbols and specialy lack of scale and cardinal orientation, due to absence in India of personal familiar with such arts.
Although he had not named the author of the drawings, historians conclude that it was Pedro Barreto de Resende, as the very one assumed in a codice now in the Fench National Library.
As the Bocarro's work is the original manuscript i accessed in the Library of Evora, the texts are so unclear that read them would be a challenge for experts ... which is a pity, particularly the description of Sohar, in the context. But interestingly we can read in loose parts that he mentions the bugios, six pieces gross artillery, twent to thirty barrels of gun powder, the exterior square albarran tower, the four ramparts with bombards, and (i guess) the curtains and redouts for defense against sea progress.

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