Forts and Cannon of Oman.

fernando · 23rd August 2016, 02:05 PM

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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fernando · 23rd August 2016, 05:19 PM

As we read chronicles, we find that piracy or corso was a well spread activity in those days, to the extent that it was considered by Kings as legitimate; it would be natural that some Portuguese did not resist such sport.
Piracy or robbery abounded in the Persian Gulf by the time. Actually one of the Portuguese daily occupations was escorting lower defence boats or guard the coast against Noutaques. According to Gaspar Correia these Noutaques go in very light terradas of sail and rowing and the rowers themselves are archers, who carry bow and arrows in their backs; and rowing, when reaching their target, they drop the oars and stand up with the bows, with which they shoot two or three arrows at a time, one between each finger, with three sided heads which, once reaching the spot, the shafts drop off, and they are rather dextrous and accurate in their aiming.
Head Captain Martinho Afonso de Sousa also mentioned that their boats were equiped with falconets and arquebuses. Father Manuel de Almeida confirmed that their boats are very fast and narrates an episode in which the Noutaques captured a Portuguese boat near Muscate, having demanded for a ransom. The Portuguese Captain delivered the ransom and the captives were rescued; but when the Captain and others chased them, their boats were so fast that managed to escape.
Attached an illustration of Noutaques in the Codice Casanatence.

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Ibrahiim al Balooshi · 25th August 2016, 10:58 AM

One famous Portuguese Ship Esmerelda was sunk off Oman ...Quote"Oman's Ministry of Heritage & Culture (MHC) in cooperation with Blue Water Recoveries Ltd (BWR) of West Sussex, UK announce the discovery and archaeological excavation of a Portuguese East Indiaman that was part of Vasco da Gama's 1502-1503 Armada to India. The ship, which sank in a storm in May 1503 off the coast of Al Hallaniyah island in Oman's Dhofar region, is the earliest ship from Europe's Age of Discovery ever to be found and scientfically investigated by a team of archaeologists and other experts". Unquote. The ship sank in a storm off the Kuria Muria islands.. Please see http://esmeraldashipwreck.com/history/

fernando · 25th August 2016, 02:23 PM

Besides other qualities, Vicente Sodré was stubborn (contumaceus, per Gaspar Correia) and stupid. So many times the Curia Muria Baduijs (Beduins) warned him that a violent storm was about to come, that he wouldn't give a dam about it ... that is, he assumed that the locals wanted him to go away, as this island was often frequented by ships of Ormuz, that they didn't want that those thought they were making friends with the Portuguese. To aggravate the situation, he declined suggestion from his staff that they should send all crews to stay at the caravels, which were in sheltered spots, with the reasons that, if the naus were wrecked, they could always sail to India in the Caravels. Too late they realized that the locals were speaking the truth, when they saw them dismantling their houses that were by the shore and went to put them up further inland, behind natural shelter.
The first ship to wreck was Vicente's brother Bras which, after the sea waves broke its four moorings, was tossed to the beach, almost in dry land, and there it stood, the crew being able to escape by climbing its masts and shrouds. Vicente was not so lucky; after the Esmeralda was tossed in the same manner, was back into the stormy waters pushed by the back sweep, and the ship and whole crew were swallen by the sea.
The nau of Pero D'Ataíde was also lucky, as having been tossed to a place with a ditch, it got stuck in there, preventing it to be thrown by back sweep into the storm.
After the weather calmed down, the ships equipment was salvaged, the anchors transfered to the remaining nau ship and the artillery to the caravels, and what left ashore of the ships was set fire, all these works with the help of the locals, whom showed regret for having not being credited. ... and they sailed to India, Pero D'Ataide elected the new Captain General.

Ibrahiim al Balooshi · 7th September 2016, 12:33 PM

A massive resource is at http://www.colonialvoyage.com/portug...re-war-dutch/#

Ibrahiim al Balooshi · 15th September 2016, 07:56 PM

Jabrin Fort. I have driven past the turnoff for Jabrin Fort hundreds of times..There must be something preventing me from stopping off to investigate...It requires, I believe, a letter giving permission to visit, however, as I have never been closer than about 1 kilometer I simply don't know...but I will soon!!

The tour books say something like:
Quote"The small town of JABRIN (also spelled Jabreen, Jibreen, Gabrin, Gibrin and so on) is best known for its superb fort – if you only visit one fort while you’re in Oman, this is probably the one to choose. The fort dates mainly from around 1670, one of several built during the Ya’aruba building boom of the later seventeenth century, constructed at the behest of the future imam Bil’arab bin Sultan (reigned 1680–92), who lies buried here in a crypt beneath the fort. Further alterations were made to the castle during the eighteenth century by imam Muhammad bin Nasr al Ghafiri (reigned 1725–27), and the whole thing was restored between 1979 and 1983.

The fort is located around 5km south of Jabrin town, a picture-perfect structure nestled amid palm trees. The fort’s main building is surrounded by high walls and a gravel courtyard, home to a small mosque; you can also see the deep falaj, which formerly provided the castle with water (and which flows right through the building), to the rear. The interior is absorbingly labyrinthine, with dozens of little rooms packed in around a pair of courtyards. Essentially, the building divides into two halves, which, for the sake of clarity, are described below as the northern and southern wings, although you won’t find this terminology used in the fort itself ".Unquote.
Read more: http://www.roughguides.com/destinati...#ixzz4KLpOhbRZ

What no one will tell you is about Cannons.. Were they ever situated here ..and if they were did they engage? Jibreen is a fabulous restoration completed by an Italian Doctor completing it in 1983. to the highest standards. In particular the ceilings have received his fabulous artistic restoration treatment...Jabreen was once the Capital of the interior taking over temporarily from Nizwa. Oman was at war with itself therefor think of the interior being in a long fight with the coastal region. There are a couple of cannons at the main doorway but I suspect they have been placed there as a cosmetic detail. To be fair Cannon do get moved around and it could be that redistribution may have occurred after it was renovated. In addition many cannon were centralized for an ongoing exhibition. There appears to be no external wall on these interior Forts which may point to them not having cannon ...The Forts on the coast are different where external walls are common.
Below can be imagined the irregular warriors who manned these great bastions although these are actually photographs..one of the oldest form of photo invented; the daguerreotype. Circa 1837.

Ibrahiim al Balooshi · 6th December 2018, 08:14 AM

https://www.scribd.com/document/1133...man-in-english

This reference had vanished and is now fully available as per the detail of the old ICOMAN format showing many forts and equipments of Oman...

Ibrahiim al Balooshi · 6th December 2018, 08:15 AM

https://www.scribd.com/document/1133...man-in-english

This reference above had vanished but is now fully available as per the detail of the old ICOMAN format showing many forts and equipments of Oman...

Ibrahiim al Balooshi · 6th December 2018, 08:16 AM

https://www.scribd.com/document/1133...man-in-english

This reference above had vanished but is now fully available as per the detail of the old ICOMAN format showing many forts and weapons of Oman...

23rd August 2016, 02:05 PM	#1
fernando (deceased) Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Portugal Posts: 9,694	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. . Attached Images Last edited by fernando; 24th August 2016 at 02:39 PM.

23rd August 2016, 05:19 PM	#2
fernando (deceased) Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Portugal Posts: 9,694	As we read chronicles, we find that piracy or corso was a well spread activity in those days, to the extent that it was considered by Kings as legitimate; it would be natural that some Portuguese did not resist such sport. Piracy or robbery abounded in the Persian Gulf by the time. Actually one of the Portuguese daily occupations was escorting lower defence boats or guard the coast against Noutaques. According to Gaspar Correia these Noutaques go in very light terradas of sail and rowing and the rowers themselves are archers, who carry bow and arrows in their backs; and rowing, when reaching their target, they drop the oars and stand up with the bows, with which they shoot two or three arrows at a time, one between each finger, with three sided heads which, once reaching the spot, the shafts drop off, and they are rather dextrous and accurate in their aiming. Head Captain Martinho Afonso de Sousa also mentioned that their boats were equiped with falconets and arquebuses. Father Manuel de Almeida confirmed that their boats are very fast and narrates an episode in which the Noutaques captured a Portuguese boat near Muscate, having demanded for a ransom. The Portuguese Captain delivered the ransom and the captives were rescued; but when the Captain and others chased them, their boats were so fast that managed to escape. Attached an illustration of Noutaques in the Codice Casanatence. . Attached Images Last edited by fernando; 23rd August 2016 at 07:17 PM.

25th August 2016, 10:58 AM	#3
Ibrahiim al Balooshi Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Buraimi Oman, on the border with the UAE Posts: 4,408	One famous Portuguese Ship Esmerelda was sunk off Oman ...Quote"Oman's Ministry of Heritage & Culture (MHC) in cooperation with Blue Water Recoveries Ltd (BWR) of West Sussex, UK announce the discovery and archaeological excavation of a Portuguese East Indiaman that was part of Vasco da Gama's 1502-1503 Armada to India. The ship, which sank in a storm in May 1503 off the coast of Al Hallaniyah island in Oman's Dhofar region, is the earliest ship from Europe's Age of Discovery ever to be found and scientfically investigated by a team of archaeologists and other experts". Unquote. The ship sank in a storm off the Kuria Muria islands.. Please see http://esmeraldashipwreck.com/history/ Attached Images

25th August 2016, 02:23 PM	#4
fernando (deceased) Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Portugal Posts: 9,694	Besides other qualities, Vicente Sodré was stubborn (contumaceus, per Gaspar Correia) and stupid. So many times the Curia Muria Baduijs (Beduins) warned him that a violent storm was about to come, that he wouldn't give a dam about it ... that is, he assumed that the locals wanted him to go away, as this island was often frequented by ships of Ormuz, that they didn't want that those thought they were making friends with the Portuguese. To aggravate the situation, he declined suggestion from his staff that they should send all crews to stay at the caravels, which were in sheltered spots, with the reasons that, if the naus were wrecked, they could always sail to India in the Caravels. Too late they realized that the locals were speaking the truth, when they saw them dismantling their houses that were by the shore and went to put them up further inland, behind natural shelter. The first ship to wreck was Vicente's brother Bras which, after the sea waves broke its four moorings, was tossed to the beach, almost in dry land, and there it stood, the crew being able to escape by climbing its masts and shrouds. Vicente was not so lucky; after the Esmeralda was tossed in the same manner, was back into the stormy waters pushed by the back sweep, and the ship and whole crew were swallen by the sea. The nau of Pero D'Ataíde was also lucky, as having been tossed to a place with a ditch, it got stuck in there, preventing it to be thrown by back sweep into the storm. After the weather calmed down, the ships equipment was salvaged, the anchors transfered to the remaining nau ship and the artillery to the caravels, and what left ashore of the ships was set fire, all these works with the help of the locals, whom showed regret for having not being credited. ... and they sailed to India, Pero D'Ataide elected the new Captain General. Last edited by fernando; 25th August 2016 at 02:33 PM.

15th September 2016, 07:56 PM	#6
Ibrahiim al Balooshi Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Buraimi Oman, on the border with the UAE Posts: 4,408	Jabrin Fort. I have driven past the turnoff for Jabrin Fort hundreds of times..There must be something preventing me from stopping off to investigate...It requires, I believe, a letter giving permission to visit, however, as I have never been closer than about 1 kilometer I simply don't know...but I will soon!! The tour books say something like: Quote"The small town of JABRIN (also spelled Jabreen, Jibreen, Gabrin, Gibrin and so on) is best known for its superb fort – if you only visit one fort while you’re in Oman, this is probably the one to choose. The fort dates mainly from around 1670, one of several built during the Ya’aruba building boom of the later seventeenth century, constructed at the behest of the future imam Bil’arab bin Sultan (reigned 1680–92), who lies buried here in a crypt beneath the fort. Further alterations were made to the castle during the eighteenth century by imam Muhammad bin Nasr al Ghafiri (reigned 1725–27), and the whole thing was restored between 1979 and 1983. The fort is located around 5km south of Jabrin town, a picture-perfect structure nestled amid palm trees. The fort’s main building is surrounded by high walls and a gravel courtyard, home to a small mosque; you can also see the deep falaj, which formerly provided the castle with water (and which flows right through the building), to the rear. The interior is absorbingly labyrinthine, with dozens of little rooms packed in around a pair of courtyards. Essentially, the building divides into two halves, which, for the sake of clarity, are described below as the northern and southern wings, although you won’t find this terminology used in the fort itself ".Unquote. Read more: http://www.roughguides.com/destinati...#ixzz4KLpOhbRZ What no one will tell you is about Cannons.. Were they ever situated here ..and if they were did they engage? Jibreen is a fabulous restoration completed by an Italian Doctor completing it in 1983. to the highest standards. In particular the ceilings have received his fabulous artistic restoration treatment...Jabreen was once the Capital of the interior taking over temporarily from Nizwa. Oman was at war with itself therefor think of the interior being in a long fight with the coastal region. There are a couple of cannons at the main doorway but I suspect they have been placed there as a cosmetic detail. To be fair Cannon do get moved around and it could be that redistribution may have occurred after it was renovated. In addition many cannon were centralized for an ongoing exhibition. There appears to be no external wall on these interior Forts which may point to them not having cannon ...The Forts on the coast are different where external walls are common. Below can be imagined the irregular warriors who manned these great bastions although these are actually photographs..one of the oldest form of photo invented; the daguerreotype. Circa 1837. Attached Images Last edited by Ibrahiim al Balooshi; 16th September 2016 at 04:54 PM.

7th September 2016, 12:33 PM	#5
Ibrahiim al Balooshi Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Buraimi Oman, on the border with the UAE Posts: 4,408	A massive resource is at http://www.colonialvoyage.com/portug...re-war-dutch/#

6th December 2018, 08:14 AM	#7
Ibrahiim al Balooshi Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Buraimi Oman, on the border with the UAE Posts: 4,408	https://www.scribd.com/document/1133...man-in-english This reference had vanished and is now fully available as per the detail of the old ICOMAN format showing many forts and equipments of Oman...

6th December 2018, 08:15 AM	#8
Ibrahiim al Balooshi Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Buraimi Oman, on the border with the UAE Posts: 4,408	https://www.scribd.com/document/1133...man-in-english This reference above had vanished but is now fully available as per the detail of the old ICOMAN format showing many forts and equipments of Oman...

6th December 2018, 08:16 AM	#9
Ibrahiim al Balooshi Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Buraimi Oman, on the border with the UAE Posts: 4,408	https://www.scribd.com/document/1133...man-in-english This reference above had vanished but is now fully available as per the detail of the old ICOMAN format showing many forts and weapons of Oman...