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
Date	c. 7 September, 1695
Location	Off Perim, Strait of Mandeb
Result	Pirate victory Mughal Fleet seized; Pirates acquire £300,000-£600,000 in precious metals and jewels;
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 Man of War (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 Grand 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 2024.^[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 worldwide 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 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 Baer2005, p.103 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).

[Burgess2009a,_p.138-1] Burgess 2009a, p. 138

[inflation-UK-2] 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.

[Burgess2009a,_p.1442-3] Burgess 2009a, p. 144

[Davis1962,_pp.136–137-4] Davis 1962, pp. 136–137

[Baer2005,_p.103-5] Cite error: The named reference Baer2005, p.103 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

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