Siraf, the most important Abbassid port

Map of Abbasid Empire:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siraf

Siraf, a legendary ancient port, was located on the north shore of what is now the Iranian coast on the Persian Gulf. Its ruins are approximately 220 km from Bushire and 380 km west of Bandar Abbas. The Persian Gulf was used as a boat route between the Arabian Peninsula and India. ... Discovered there in past archaeological excavations are ivory objects from east Africa, pieces of stone from India, and lapis from Afghanistan.

It is not possible to state how important Siraf may have been during the Sassanid period. However, the remains of a Sassanid fort have been discovered under the primarily Abbasid ruins of Siraf.

Abbasid ruins of Siraf

What is more certain from an historical perspective is that Siraf developed as an important port during the Abbasid period. In the extant sources from the early Abbasid period, the first mention one finds of Siraf is in a manuscript by Ibn al-Faqih from the early ninth century. According to Ibn al-Faqih, merchants in Siraf were sending ships to India, although he does not specify how many ships were owned by Sirafi merchants at this time. One such merchant was Abu Zaid (ca. 877-915), who kept a log of where his ships went to trade goods.