At the beginning of the 16th century, the Peninsula of Qatar along with the rest of the Western Arabian Gulf came under the hegemony of the Portuguese. Establishing their hold over the Strait of Hormuz, the most important strategic point in the Gulf, the Portuguese conquered Qatar in 1515. While the invading Portuguese forces confined their naval activities in and around Hormuz, the Portuguese commercial empire exported gold, silver, silks, musk, cloves, pearls and seed pearls, amber, horses etc, through various ports in the Gulf including Qatar. Apparently, to preserve their commercial interest in Qatar, the Portuguese naval squadron attacked the coastal villages of Qatar in January 1625. However, the Portuguese misrule and atrocities came to an end when the Imam of Muscat drove them out of the Gulf by force in 1652.