A Study of the Hormuz Route to the Southeast of Iran Based on Islamic Middle Age Sources and Artifacts

Given the frequent references of authors to the commercial and political significance of Jiroft and its desirable features in various Islamic periods, different routes must have branched from this city for the departure and arrival of tradesmen’s caravans. The Jiroft-Hormuz route was probably one of the most important of such routes. Unfortunately, in spite of the significance and fame that it enjoyed during its own time, it has not received much attention from the historians, researchers, and archeologists of Islamic periods. In the past, Jiroft was considered to be one of the major trade centers of Iran connecting the Southeast of the country to its central and southern regions. It was also connected to the Persian Gulf through its famous waterfront, Hormuz. The caravan route of Jiroft to the Port of Hormuz was one of the important routes of the early to middle Islamic centuries, and the distribution of several cultural elements along this route demonstrates its significance and splendor in the state of Kerman. The main reason for the importance of this route was its supreme commercial value as it connected Jiroft as an important urban center, which was linked to the Southeast of Iran, to Hormuz, which was an important commercial port at that time. The present study aimed to examine the route connecting Jiroft to the Port of Hormuz up to Maghun district and determine its true value. In doing so, while employing a historical approach, the authors explored a number of historical and geographical sources, archeological reports, and the findings of methodical archeological studies in Jiroft, Cheshmeh Shah, and Kalatak Boluk. The findings of this study indicate that the Jiroft-Hormuz route passed through Cheshmeh Shah, Boluk, and Faryab, which were culturally linked with each other, and then reached the Port of Hormuz. The studies carried out on the pottery found in archeological investigations revealed that the mentioned regions enjoyed prosperity during the Islamic middle periods, particularly in the Seljuk era, but lost their affluence in later periods.