Bushehr or Bushire is a city on the southwestern coast of

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

, on the

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a mediterranean sea in Western Asia. The bod ...

. It is the chief seaport of the country and the administrative centre of Bushehr Province.

History

Bushire was used as a base by the British Royal Navy in the late 18th century. In the 19th century, Bushehr became an important commercial port. It was occupied by British forces in 1856, during the

Anglo-Persian War The Anglo-Persian War or the Anglo-Iranian War () lasted between 1 November 1856 and 4 April 1857, and was fought between the United Kingdom and Iran, which was ruled by the Qajar dynasty. The war had the British oppose an attempt by Iran to ...

of 1856–1857. Bushehr surrendered to the British on 9 December 1856. It was occupied again by the British in 1915, the second time due to German intrigue, most notably by

Wilhelm Wassmuss Wilhelm Wassmuss (1880 – November 29, 1931; German spelling: Waßmuß) was a German diplomat and spy and part of Niedermayer–Hentig Expedition, known as "Wassmuss of Persia". According to British versions of history, he "attempted to fome ...

and Rais Ali Delvari.

Postage stamps

Bushire has long been of interest to stamp collectors, since, during their 1915 occupation, the British issued postage stamps. The occupation lasted from 8 August to 16 October, when it was terminated by agreement with the Persian government. The first stamps issued were overprints on Persian stamps of 1911 reading BUSHIRE / Under British / Occupation., issued on 15 August. The same overprint was applied in September, to the series of Persian stamps issued in 1915. All of these overprints are uncommon, the cheapest costing US$25 and the rarer varieties ranging up to US$6,000. As might be expected, forgeries have appeared.

Sources

* Stanley Gibbons: various catalogues
AskPhil – Glossary of Stamp Collecting Terms

* Rossiter, Stuart & John Flower. ''The Stamp Atlas''. London: Macdonald, 1986, p.331.

History

Postage stamps

Sources

See also