By Manushag N. Powell, Purdue University
The presence of pirates in the Indian Ocean during the period of about 1690 to 1700, was the most popular period for the sea route known as the Pirate Round. Vessels sailing the Red Sea and Indian Ocean were often well stocked and weakly defended in the late 17th century. It was, therefore, conveniently, coincided with the point of time when Spanish gold and silver were starting to run dry in the Americas.
Venturesome Pirates
Some particularly venturesome pirates from North America and the Caribbean started pursuing new opportunities via a new sailing route. The Pirate Round started in the Western Atlantic, the Caribbean, or sometimes further up the Atlantic coastline, even New York and New England.
The pirates sailed East, and ultimately went around the Southern tip of Africa. En route, Madagascar was a key stopping point.
The Roundsman
The pirates would then head North to target ships in the Red Sea. This pattern was most popular at the end of the 17th century, but also saw a brief revival in the 1720s.
Some of the pirates who sailed this route would become famous for their deeds. The Round was popularized by the early phenomenal successes of Captain Thomas Tew, Rhode Island’s most notorious pirate, and John Avery, also known as Captain Henry Every.
In contrast, Captain Kidd was one of the last, most disastrous, of the Roundsman.
This article comes directly from content in the video series The Real History of Pirates. Watch it now, on Wondrium.
The Red Sea Region
The geopolitical situation in this Red Sea region was complex in the 17th and 18th centuries. The European nations were trying to push out Asian, Indian, and Arab shipping powers for their own trade benefits. Simultaneously, the Dutch, French, Portuguese, and increasingly, the English, were fending off challenges from each other.
In 1600, Queen Elizabeth had charted the British East India Company, or BEIC, and granted it a monopoly to trade with India. By the early 1700s, the company had established a good toehold on the subcontinent, but, was by no means a dominant authority.
The British East India Company
The British East India Company would go on to make aggressive attempts to take control of the Indian subcontinent, also using it as a base for trade with China. Sometimes, trade is much too generous a term to use as they would outright colonize parts of Southeastern Asia and Hong Kong.
But, the beginnings of those days were still decades away.
Islamophobia
Prevalent at the time, was a general belief, at least on the part of some of the pirates, that preying upon Islamic shipping was somehow more excusable than attacking European merchants.
Islamophobia remained a motivating factor for piracy well into the 18th century. Profit-minded colonial American governments often backed openly or tacitly the Red Sea ventures, which complicated diplomatic relationships between Asia and Europe.
Bigoted European Governments
However bigoted the European governments might also have been, they could not openly approve of any piracy that interfered with their nascent colonial ambitions in the East. This is all to say, that the pirates didn’t make the Round route up on their own. Theirs was the same route taken by East India ships.
In addition to this, piracy and global trade were intimately related. This was particularly, through the enslaving trade.
North American Transatlantic Slave Trade
The North American transatlantic slave trade, particularly in its less regulated incarnations, was crucial to enabling the Red Sea depredations. It was the phenomenon that ensured there would be trading outposts, supply depots, and easy passages home for successful pirates.
It’s also important to remember, that in the time of the Pirate Round, the company, as the BEIC was called, still very much dependent on the goodwill and forbearance of the mogul rulers.
A Public Relations Disaster
English piracy in the Red Sea was a public relations disaster for the East India Company. The Red Sea men were never very populous, only a handful of ships did this round at any given time.
Nonetheless, they were awful headaches for the BEIC, which wanted them hunted to extinction.
King William’s War
King William’s War, also known as the first of the French and Indian wars, was going on for most of the era. It explained why many of the English Red Sea men started out ostensibly hunting the French.
Generally speaking, war cuts down piracy substantially, by allowing more opportunities for its legal version in privateering. But, it was unsuccessful in doing so in this case. The temptations of India’s merchant men were such that the war failed to put a damper on this mode of piracy.
Thus, though the period of the Pirate Round was relatively short, but, for a lucky few evil doers, who managed to defy pirate economic norms, it was immensely profitable.
Common Questions about the Period of the Pirate Round
The Pirate Round started in the Western Atlantic, the Caribbean, or sometimes further up the Atlantic coastline, even New York and New England.
The North American transatlantic slave trade, particularly in its less regulated incarnations, was crucial to enabling the Red Sea depredations. It was the phenomenon that ensured there would be trading outposts, supply depots, and easy passages home for successful pirates.
War cuts down piracy substantially by allowing more opportunities for its legal version in privateering.
