The Pirates of Malabar, and An Englishwoman in India Two Hundred Years Ago | Page 3

century.
Of the European pirates Kidd, the most ignoble of them all, is alone

remembered, while the name of Angria is only recalled in connection
with the destruction of Gheriah by Watson and Clive. The long
half-century of amateur warfare waged by Bombay against the Angrian
power is dismissed in a few words by our Indian historians, and the
expeditions sent forth by Boone against Angrian strongholds are passed
over in silence. An account of some of them is given in Clement
Downing's curious little book "Indian Wars," valuable as the relation of
an eye-witness; but the work, published in 1737, is inaccessible to the
general reader, besides shewing many omissions and inaccuracies.
The early records of the East India Company have furnished the
foundation on which this neglected chapter of our Indian history has
been compiled. If the Company's servants appear at times in an
unfavourable light, the conditions of their service must be considered,
while the low standard of conduct prevailing in England two hundred
years ago must not be forgotten. They were traders, not administrators,
and the charter under which the Company traded was of very insecure
duration. Twice the Crown broke faith with them, and granted charters
to rival associations. As the stability of the Company became assured,
the conduct of its servants improved.
It is not intended in these pages to give an exhaustive account of all the
pirates who haunted the Indian seas, but to present some idea of the
perils that beset the Indian trade--perils that have so entirely passed
away that their existence is forgotten.
Scattered among the monotonous records of the Company's trade are
many touches of human interest. Along with the details relating to
sugar, pepper, and shipping, personal matters affecting the Company's
servants are set down; treating of their quarrels, their debts, and, too
often, of their misconduct, as ordinary incidents in the general course of
administration. At times a bright light is turned on some individual,
who relapses into obscurity and is heard of no more, while the names of
others emerge again and again, like a coloured thread woven in the
canvas; showing how much romance there was in the lives of the early
traders. One such thread I have followed in the account of Mrs. Gyfford,
from her first arrival in India till her final disappearance in the Court of

Chancery, showing the vicissitudes and dangers to which an
Englishwoman in India was exposed two hundred years ago.
To Mr. William Foster, of the India Office, I am especially indebted for
aid in directing my attention to old documents that would otherwise
have escaped notice, and who has generously placed at my disposal
some of the results of his own researches into the history of the
Company in the seventeenth century, as yet unpublished.
My thanks are also due to Sir Ernest Robinson for permitting me to use
his picture of an engagement with Mahratta ships, as a frontispiece.
J.B.

CONTENTS
CHAPTER I
RISE OF EUROPEAN PIRACY IN THE EAST
Portuguese pirates--Vincente Sodre--Dutch pirates--Royal
filibustering--Endymion Porter's venture--The Courten
Association--The Indian Red Sea fleet--John Hand--Odium excited
against the English in Surat--The Caesar attacked by French
pirates--Danish depredations--West Indian pirates--Ovington's
narrative--Interlopers and permission ships--Embargo placed on
English trade--Rovers trapped at Mungrole--John Steel--Every seizes
the Charles the Second and turns pirate--His letter to English
commanders--The Madagascar settlements--Libertatia--Fate of
Sawbridge--Capture of the Gunj Suwaie--Immense booty--Danger of
the English at Surat--Bombay threatened--Friendly behaviour of the
Surat Governor--Embargo on European trade--Every sails for
America--His reputed end--Great increase of piracy--Mutiny of the
Mocha and Josiah crews--Culliford in the Resolution--The London
seized by Imaum of Muscat.

CHAPTER II
CAPTAIN KIDD
Measures to suppress piracy--The Adventure fitted out--Warren's
squadron meets with Kidd--His suspicious behaviour--He threatens the
Sidney--Waylays the Red Sea fleet--Captures the Mary--Visits Carwar
and Calicut--His letter to the factory--Chased by Portuguese
men-of-war--Chases the Sedgwick--Chivers--Action between Dorrill
and Resolution--Kidd captures the Quedah Merchant--Dilemma of
European traders at Surat--Their agreements with the
authorities--Experience of the Benjamin--News of Kidd's piracies
reaches England--Despatch of squadron under Warren--Littleton at
Madagascar--Kidd sails for New York--Arrested and tried--His defence
and execution--Justice of his sentence--His character--Diminution of
piracy--Lowth in the Loyal Merchant--Act for suppression of
piracy--Captain Millar ...
CHAPTER III
THE RISE OF CONAJEE ANGRIA
Native piracy hereditary on the Malabar coast--Marco Polo's
account--Fryer's narrative--The Kempsant--Arab and Sanganian
pirates--Attack on the President--Loss of the Josiah--Attack on the
Phoenix--The Thomas captured--Depredations of the Gulf
pirates--Directors' views--Conajee Angria--Attacks English
ships--Destroys the Bombay--Fortifies Kennery--Becomes
independent--Captures the Governor's yacht--Attacks the Somers and
Grantham--Makes peace with Bombay--His navy--Great increase of
European and native piracy ...
CHAPTER IV
AN ACTIVE GOVERNOR
Arrival of Mr. Boone as Governor--He builds ships and improves

defences of Bombay--Desperate engagement of Morning Star with
Sanganians--Alexander Hamilton--Expedition against Vingorla--Its
failure--Hamilton made Commodore--Expedition against
Carwar--Landing force defeated--Successful skirmish--Desertion of
Goa recruits--Reinforcements--Landing force again defeated--The
Rajah makes peace--Hamilton resigns