Abstract:
The main objective of this writing will be to explain the motivations of Christian missionaries for coming to Iran and their special attention to the Persian Gulf region, as well as its position in the writings of European missionaries during the Safavid era. Additionally, their attention to the Persian Gulf region (despite the initial dominance of the Portuguese and consequently the Augustinian priests) as part of Iranian geography rather than Arabic is among the goals of this article. The selected time period is due to the fact that the relations of the Safavid government with Europe took on various dimensions during these times, and therefore the presence of European Christian priests in Iran became more prominent. It can be said that the most important and successful period of Christian missionary activity in Iran occurred during this period, which holds great value in the history of the transformations of this era. This writing is based on primary sources, primarily travelogues and documents remaining from the Safavid era, as well as new research collected through library methods and presented in an analytical-descriptive format.
Machine summary:
The weakness of political sovereignty in these regions at the beginning of the Safavid era, until the rise of Shah Abbas Safavi, provided this opportunity for Portuguese colonizers, and especially the Augustinian order, to pursue the aforementioned goals through the establishment of churches, hospitals, and by keeping pace with the military forces and commercial ships of the Europeans.
In fact, it must be said that the Portuguese and Augustinian missionaries brought the first serious information regarding the situation of Iran during the Safavid era to Europe, at the forefront of which were their reports on the situation of the Persian Gulf, strategic military position, geographical region, and the economic situation of the Persian Gulf (in this regard, see: "Historical Documents of Iran-Portugal Relations," which provides a detailed list of books and sources written during the period of Portuguese supremacy).
C. Political-religious presence of the Portuguese and Augustinian priests in the Persian Gulf and Hormuz Franciscans were among the first Christian sects to arrive in Hormuz in 1510 AD / 916 AH and established the first church and hospital in this region (Documents of Historical Relations between Iran and Portugal, 393).
The preaching of Christianity in Hormuz and the Persian Gulf was not something solely in the hands of Augustinian Christian priests; rather, in this regard, Portuguese political statesmen in Lisbon, the Viceroy of Portugal in India, the governor of Portugal in Hormuz and other Portuguese political agents also followed closely behind the Christian missionaries, such that the dawn of the colonial era in Iran was formed through the intertwining of European political, economic, and military power and the ecclesiastical institution of Rome.
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