علی رسولی

The evolution of the Persian Gulf in the period between the sixteenth century to the twentieth centrury, according to the Safavid period until the Pahlavi period, is of such impotance that its contemporary developments cannot be analyzed and assessed without studying and identifying it. One of the main issues in the Persian Gulf developments in the prtiod between the Safavid period until the Pahlavi period is the issue of Persian Gulf ports and their competition with each other. The Port of Basra in the period under discussion, was not only considered as one of the important commercial poles and centers in the Persian Gulf , but was also the cause of challenges and tensions between Iran, Ottoman and other tribes present in the Persian Gulf. The present study investigates the political and economic developments of port of Basra and their impact on the Persian Gulf during the period concerned. This study is designed upon the basis of the original question, that what was the role of the port of Basra in the political and economic developments of the Safavid period until the end of the first world war? The hypothesis of this study is that, the Port of Basra because of its commercial and political situation, achieved a central role in the Persian Gulf maritime trade and commerce and was influential upon the political and economic developments of the Persian Gulf during the period under study.In this study, it has been tried to answer this original question according to this hypothesis Keywords:The Port of Basra, Persian Gulf, Safavids, Pahlavi period, Political developments, Economic developments.