Henry Avery’s raid of the Mughal shipGanj-i-Sawaiearned him the equivalent of about $125 million in today’s money — and led to the first international manhunt.
Public DomainAn 18th - one C depiction of Henry Avery and his shipFancy .
BeforeCalico Jackand legends of theJolly Rogerbegan to shape the image of plagiarization , there was Henry Avery , “ The King of the Pirates . ”
Also known as Henry Every , Avery was a tardy seventeenth - century English seaman . His early sprightliness as a British Navy officer and slave trader had given him the skills he needed to successfully captain a ship — and after a job for the English turned sour in 1694 , Avery turned to plagiarisation , leading a serial of successful raids in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans .
Public DomainAn 18th-century depiction of Henry Avery and his shipFancy.
However , his biggest winner came with the pillaging of the Mughal shipGanj - i - Sawai . He and his manpower sailed off with the equivalent of as much as $ 125 million in today ’s money , making their tone-beginning the most lucrative stickup in pirate story .
later , Henry Avery vanished without a trace , becoming one of the very few buccaneers who escaped with their loot without being stop or kill . His secret disappearance continues to get historiographer to this day , further fueling his repute asone of chronicle ’s most influential pirates .
Captain Avery’s Early Life And Career In The Royal Navy
Rijksmuseum / Wikimedia CommonsHenry Avery may have fought in the Battle of Beachy Head in 1690 , when a Gallic fleet defeated a combine force of English and Dutch ship .
Henry Avery was born sometime between 1653 and 1659 near Plymouth , England . Otherwise , very small is known about his early life .
In his youth , Avery trained as a skimmer and then joined the Royal Navy , working on various Naval ships . During the Nine Years ’ War — a conflict fought between England and Louis XIV of France — Avery reportedly served as a midshipman on the HMSRupert . By 1690 , Avery was kick upstairs to petty officeholder and was likely present for a fistful of key battles during the warfare .
Rijksmuseum/Wikimedia CommonsHenry Avery may have fought in the Battle of Beachy Head in 1690, when a French fleet defeated a combined force of English and Dutch ships.
before long after , however , Avery exit the Royal Navy and set his sights on the hard worker trade .
utilise by the regulator of the Bahamas , Avery sailed up and down the Guinea glide , illicitly carry enslave people . While there is little phonograph recording of this part of his life , he rise a report for being a particularly cruel slave trader , allegedly tricking other striver traders by hoisting friendly flag — and then kidnapping them as well .
Wikimedia CommonsCaptain Avery set off on a piracy vocation along the coast of Africa , where he ’d condemned countless mass to slavery after leaving the Royal Navy .
Wikimedia CommonsCaptain Avery set off on a piracy career along the coast of Africa, where he’d condemned countless people to slavery after leaving the Royal Navy.
In 1693 , Avery joined the Spanish Expedition Shipping voyage , an English patch to plunder Gallic vessels in the Caribbean . His experience with the Navy take in him the rubric of first mate during the venture .
That yr , four warships involved in the sashay were set to sail to La Coruña , Spain . But everything seemed to go incorrect with the missionary work . The crew terminate up strand at larboard for month on closing without pay due to a serial publication of missteps and bureaucratic issues .
In May 1694 , Avery capitalise on the crew ’s discontentedness and rallied them to present a mutiny , seize their ship , Charles II , and renaming it theFancy . In a unanimous vote , Avery became the ship ’s new police chief , thereby set up his buccaneering calling .
Wikimedia CommonsA woodcut of pirate Henry Avery from Captain Charles Johnson’sA General History of the Robberies and Murders of the Most Notorious Pyrates(1724).
Henry Avery Takes Up A Life Of Piracy
Wikimedia CommonsA wood engraving of pirate Henry Avery from Captain Charles Johnson’sA General History of the Robberies and Murders of the Most Notorious Pyrates(1724 ) .
With Henry Avery as their police captain , the unsatisfied crew of theFancyyearned for wealth .
Only a class originally , the infamous pirate ship Thomas Tew had supposedly led a successful raid in the Red Sea and made away with rich people the men of theFancycould only dream of . This story inspired the crew to navigate to the Indian Ocean .
Public DomainA royal proclamation calling for the capture of Henry Avery in 1696.
Avery ’s crew devote its first human action of plagiarization in the Cape Verde islands , rob three English merchant ship that were heading to Barbados . From there , Avery sailed down the Guinea slide , which was by then very conversant terrain for him .
In the Bight of Benin , Avery purportedly had theFancyrazeed , making it one of the fastest ships in the Atlantic Ocean . The ship carry on on its journey , stopping at South Africa , Madagascar , and the Comoros Islands and picking up several new gang extremity along the way . By 1695 , Avery commanded a crowd of 150 men .
While in the Comoros Islands , Avery wrote aletterto England ’s ship maitre d' at orotund , falsely declaring that he had never raided English ships and had no aim of doing so . Many of these captains worked for the East India Company , whose vast and sinewy fleet could easily demolish theFancy , and Avery probably skip to placate them .
Wikimedia CommonsAlthough some writers have suggested that Henry Avery was cheated out of his treasure and died a pauper, his true fate remains unknown.
“ To all English . commandant lett this Satisfye that I was drive here att this split second in y’e Ship fancy homo of Warr formerly the Charles of y’e Spanish Expedition who diverge from Croniae [ Corunna ] y’e 7th of May . Being and am now in A Ship of 46 guns 150 Men & adhere to Seek our chance I have Never as Yett Wronged any English or Dutch nor never Intend whilst I am Commander . ”
Despite this attempt at diplomacy , the Crown remained staunch in its pursuit of Henry Avery . And it only became more compulsive to get him when Avery successfully pulled off the most profitable raid in pirate history .
Conducting The Most Lucrative Piracy Raid In History
Public DomainA imperial proclamation calling for the seizure of Henry Avery in 1696 .
In the summertime of 1695 , Henry Avery and his crew sailed to the Red Sea to await an incoming Mughal fleet .
Led by Grand Mughal Aurangzeb , the Mughal Empire was one of the wealthiest empires in the populace . Its fleet included 25 monolithic ship hold valued jewels and metals worth up to £ 600,000 — the equivalent of £ 97.1 million today , or about $ 125 million .
Scottish Records OfficeA coded letter from “Avery the Pirate.”
On a strong August Nox , the gang of theFancychased after the fleet and lash out the Mughal flagship , Ganj - i - Sawai .
Although they had teamed up with several other pirate ships , include Thomas Tew’sAmity , Avery ’s men were far outnumbered . TheGanj - i - Sawaialone had around 40 cannons and 400 soldiers onboard . Still , Avery ’s crew fought ferociously against the Mughal sailors , and after two hour , they board theGanj - i - Sawaivictorious .
While onboard , Avery and his men reportedly subjected the ship ’s passenger to extreme savagery . The pirates tortured the Mughal mankind for day for data about the location of the treasure and sexually assault the female passenger . Henry Avery himself allegedly sexually assaulted an elderly relation of Grand Mughal Aurangzeb .
“ The whole of the ship came under their ascendance and they carried aside all the atomic number 79 and silver medal , ” historian Khafi Khan subsequently write , consort toHistory . “ After having remain engage for a week , in searching for plunder , denude the men of their wearing apparel and dishonoring the sure-enough and vernal woman , they leave the ship and its passengers to their fate . Some of the cleaning lady getting an chance , throw off themselves into the ocean to lay aside their honor . ”
After raid theGanj - i - Sawai , the plagiarist eventually retreated to their ship and made off with their historical swag . It was enough treasure for each crew fellow member to dwell on for a lifetime .
And Henry Avery was the richest buccaneer in the world .
The World’s First International Manhunt
Wikimedia CommonsAlthough some writers have intimate that Henry Avery was shaft out of his treasure and died a pauper , his straight fate remains unidentified .
The East India Company assure to give the Mughals damages for the raid , and soon focused its attention on capturing Henry Avery . The British government issued a bounty for the literary pirate , which the East India Company doubled .
For the first time in chronicle , an international manhunt was underway .
Back on the high-pitched sea , Avery and the bunch of theFancywere get their elbow room to the Bahamas . There , Avery grease one’s palms Nicholas Trott , the governor of New Providence , to allow them to come ashore , promise to give him theFancyand a baseball swing of their gem .
Eventually , the East India Company trail theFancyto New Providence . But by that point , most of the crew had get off the island , dot across Europe and America .
In total , 24 of Avery ’s manpower were captured , and five were fulfill . But Henry Avery scat .
Captain Avery’s Mysterious Disappearance
To this day , no one know for sure what became of the Pirate King , though a phone number of theories have issue over the age .
Some say that Avery hitched a ride on the shipSea Flowerin 1696 and made his way to Ireland , where he exist out the residue of his liveliness in peace treaty . Others have indicate he fled to Madagascar and started a literary pirate enclave there , or that he recall to his native England and give way penniless after being cheated out of his treasure .
Then , in 2024 , two shipwreck explorers discovered a coded missive write by someone called “ Avery the Pirate ” in the Scottish archive .
Scottish Records OfficeA coded alphabetic character from “ Avery the Pirate . ”
AsThe Guardianreports , the letter of the alphabet was dated December 1700 and address to Reverend James Richardson on Orange Street , London . Richardson ’s address is so obscure that the wreck explorers believed the letter was undoubtedly authentic .
According to the adventurer , this varsity letter offers evidence that Henry Avery not only went back to England follow his legendary raid , but that he participated in King William III ’s former eighteenth - century spy ring alongside figures like Daniel Defoe , author ofRobinson Crusoe , and Thomas Tenison , the archbishop of Canterbury .
This theory has yet to be definitively proven . But regardless of what happened to the Pirate King , Henry Avery ’s legacy remains asone of story ’s most successful pirate ship .
After reading about Henry Avery , plunk into the story ofAnne Bonny , the female pirate who fiercely oppose alongside Calico Jack . Then , read the lawful story ofSamuel Bellamy , the rich buccaneer in history .
