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Capture of the Grand Mughal Fleet
| Capture of the Grand Mughal Fleet | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Golden Age of Piracy | |||||||
 Every's fleet captures the Ganj-i-sawai | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
  Pirates |
 Mughal Empire | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
|
Henry Every Thomas Tew † Richard Want Joseph Faro Thomas Wake William May |
Muhammad Ibrahim (POW) | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
|
6-ship convoy (1 Frigate (Fancy) 1 Sloop-of-war (Amity) 2 Brigantine (Dolphin and Pearl) 1 Barque Susannah 1 Portsmouth Adventure) |
25-ship convoy (including the Ganj-i-Sawai and Fateh Muhammed) | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| Several members of the crew killed in conflict |
25 ships captured several crew members captured and killed | ||||||
On 7 September 1695, English pirate Henry Every captured the 25-ship convoy of Imperial Mughal vessels making the annual pilgrimage to Mecca, including the treasure-laden ghanjah dhow Ganj-i-Sawai and its escort, Fateh Muhammed. Joining forces with several pirate vessels, Every found himself in command of a small squadron, and they were able to capture up to £600,000 in precious metals and jewels,[1] equivalent to around £115 million in 2025.[2] This caused considerable damage to England's fragile relations with the Mughals, and a combined bounty of £1,000—an immense sum at the time—was offered by the Privy Council and the East India Company for his capture, leading to the first global manhunt in recorded history.[3][a]
On August 1695, Every, captaining the 46-gun, 5th rate frigate Fancy, reached the Mandab Strait, where he teamed up with five other pirate ships, including Thomas Tew's 8-gun, 46-man sloop-of-war Amity, Richard Want in a Brigantine named Dolphin, Joseph Faro in Portsmouth Adventure, Thomas Wake in Susannah, and William Maze in Pearl.
Although a Mughal convoy of 25 ships bound for India had eluded the pirate fleet during the night, the following day they encountered Ganj-i-Sawai and her escort Fateh Muhammed, which carried 94 guns herself and was even larger in size than the Ganj-i-Sawai but didn’t have as many crewmen, with both stragglers passing the straits en route to Surat.
- ^ Burgess 2009a, p. 138
- ^ UK Retail Price Index inflation figures are based on data from Clark, Gregory (2017). "The Annual RPI and Average Earnings for Britain, 1209 to Present (New Series)". MeasuringWorth. Retrieved 7 May 2024.
- ^ Burgess 2009a, p. 144
- ^ a b Davis 1962, pp. 136–137
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
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