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When a pirate almost caused East India Company to be booted out of India
I am not a fan of alternative history, or what-if history - imagining scenarios of what could have happened. But there are some watershed moments, that will pause you to think - If only this had happened; or not!.... and today we are going to see one such moment, one that would leave you thinking if this could have altered the course of history of India.
In this episode of Masala History, we are going to look at a sensational history of how Aurangazeb almost threw British out of India and made them launch the world's first global manhunt.
In August 1695, a convoy of about 25 ships left modern day city of Mocha in Yemen along the Red Sea coast to Surat in India. The convoy's jewel was a ship called Ganj-i-Sawai - a trading ship - in British literature, this name is anglicised to Gunsway. The name Ganj-i-Sawai means Exceeding treasure. The ship was also heavily armed with 62 mounted guns, cannons and 500 armed guard. It was perhaps the largest ship in the world at that time, carrying also a lot of treasure in form of gold, jewellery, monies, fabric, ivory and the like. And it was owned by none other than the Emperor Aurangazeb himself.
When Pirate Henry Every heard of the convoy moving towards India, he formed a quick alliance with 5 other pirate captains and headed in their direction to loot them. On September 7th 1695, Every's ship Fancy overtook the ship when it was about 8 days away from Surat. The pirates overpowered Gunsway, tortured the passengers, harassed them and ended up recovering treasures worth anywhere from 325,000 to 600,000 pounds.
Upon hearing the news Aurangazeb was enraged and immediately shut down all 5 major setups of the East India Company in India. He imprisoned the company's officers and threatened to execute them. He cut off British's presence in India effectively and demanded action from the King of England to bring Every to justice.
(Listen to the podcast for the rest of the story here. You can also read the narrative at the Facebook page fb.me/masalahistorybysiva).
#history #indianhistory #moghulempire #aurangazeb #henryevery #pirates
#piratehistory #gunsway #eastindiacompany #britishindia
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By Sivakumar Sethuraman
5
11 ratings
I am not a fan of alternative history, or what-if history - imagining scenarios of what could have happened. But there are some watershed moments, that will pause you to think - If only this had happened; or not!.... and today we are going to see one such moment, one that would leave you thinking if this could have altered the course of history of India.
In this episode of Masala History, we are going to look at a sensational history of how Aurangazeb almost threw British out of India and made them launch the world's first global manhunt.
In August 1695, a convoy of about 25 ships left modern day city of Mocha in Yemen along the Red Sea coast to Surat in India. The convoy's jewel was a ship called Ganj-i-Sawai - a trading ship - in British literature, this name is anglicised to Gunsway. The name Ganj-i-Sawai means Exceeding treasure. The ship was also heavily armed with 62 mounted guns, cannons and 500 armed guard. It was perhaps the largest ship in the world at that time, carrying also a lot of treasure in form of gold, jewellery, monies, fabric, ivory and the like. And it was owned by none other than the Emperor Aurangazeb himself.
When Pirate Henry Every heard of the convoy moving towards India, he formed a quick alliance with 5 other pirate captains and headed in their direction to loot them. On September 7th 1695, Every's ship Fancy overtook the ship when it was about 8 days away from Surat. The pirates overpowered Gunsway, tortured the passengers, harassed them and ended up recovering treasures worth anywhere from 325,000 to 600,000 pounds.
Upon hearing the news Aurangazeb was enraged and immediately shut down all 5 major setups of the East India Company in India. He imprisoned the company's officers and threatened to execute them. He cut off British's presence in India effectively and demanded action from the King of England to bring Every to justice.
(Listen to the podcast for the rest of the story here. You can also read the narrative at the Facebook page fb.me/masalahistorybysiva).
#history #indianhistory #moghulempire #aurangazeb #henryevery #pirates
#piratehistory #gunsway #eastindiacompany #britishindia