Persian Gulf naming dispute Strait of Hormuz as "Basora Fretum" (Strait of Basra). Among all this confusion, the old name gradually reasserted itself in the 17th century, but Turkey still uses the name "Gulf of Basra" in Turkish today. Following British attempts to control the seaway in the late 1830s, the "Times Journal", published in London in 1840, referred to the Persian Gulf as the "Britain Sea", but this name was never used in any other context. The matter remains very contentious as the competing naming conventions are supported by certain governments in internal literature, but also in dealings with other states and international
Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf, Oman and Central Arabia Gulf States and Saudi Arabia" from the 17th to early 20th century. Beginning in the 20th century, the British Empire sought to strengthen its connections to British-controlled India which in turn resulted in a greater interest in the Persian Gulf region, culminating in the visit of the Viceroy of India Lord Curzon to the Gulf in 1903. To ensure that British agents in the region were adequately informed and prepared to strengthen their influence in the region, a light-weight and easily accessible handbook was needed. In November 1903, the British authorities commissioned John Gordon Lorimer, a member of the Indian