 A later (1933) interpretation of Ganj-i-Sawai. The ship is inaccurately depicted as anEast Indiaman. | |
| History | |
|---|---|
| Name | Ganj-I-Sawai |
| Owner | |
| Ordered | In 1614 by Empress Mariam-uz-Zamani[1] |
| Launched | 1616 |
| Completed | 1616 |
| Maiden voyage | 1617 |
| Out of service | 7 September 1695 |
| Fate | Seized by pirates |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Ghanjahsailing ship |
| Displacement | 1500[2] to 1600 tons[3][4] |
| Complement | 1100–1300 total, 400–500 of which were soldiers[5] |
| Armament | 40–80 guns[5]/ 800 guns[6][7] |
TheGanj-i-Sawai (Persian/Hindustani:Ganj-i-Sawai, in English "Exceeding Treasure", often anglicized asGunsway) was an armed ship belonging to theMughals. DuringAurangzeb's reign, it wascaptured on 7 September 1695 by the English pirateHenry Avery en route from present-dayMocha, Yemen toSurat, India. It was built on the order ofEmpress Mariam-uz-Zamani, great-grandmother of Aurengzeb, after the capture of her ship namedRahimi.[1]: 186–187
In August 1695,Henry Every, captaining the 46-gun, 5th ratefrigateFancy, reached theMandab Strait, where he teamed up with five other pirate ships, includingThomas Tew's 8-gun, 46-mansloop-of-warAmity,Richard Want inDolphin,Joseph Faro inPortsmouth Adventure,Thomas Wake inSusannah, andWilliam Maze inPearl. Although aMughal convoy of 25 ships bound for India had eluded the pirate fleet during the night, the following day they encounteredGanj-i-Sawai and her escortFateh Muhammed with both stragglers passing the straits en route toSurat.
Every and his men attackedFateh Muhammed, which had earlier repulsed an attack byAmity, killing Captain Tew. Perhaps intimidated byFancy's 46 guns or weakened by their earlier battle with Tew,Fateh Muhammed's crew put up little resistance, and Every's pirates sacked the ship and came away with £40,000 worth of treasure.
Every then sailed in pursuit ofGanj-i-Sawai, overtaking her about eight days out of Surat.Ganj-i-Sawai was a fearsome opponent, mounting 62 guns and carrying four to five hundred guards armed with small arms,[8] as well as six hundred other passengers. But the opening volley evened the odds, as one of theGanj-i-Sawai's cannons exploded, killing some of its gunners and causing great confusion and demoralization among the crew, while Every'sbroadside shot his enemy's mainmast by the board. The largerFancy drew alongside, and a number of her 113-man crew clambered aboard, overpowering the crew, passengers, and slaves ofGanj-i-Sawai.
The victorious pirates then subjected their captives to several days of horror,murdering prisoners at will, and usingtorture to force them to reveal the location of the ships' treasure.
The loot fromGanj-i-Sawai totaled between £325,000 and £600,000, including "some 500,000gold andsilver pieces, plus numerous jeweled baubles and miscellaneous silver cups, trinkets, and so on."[9] Several crews went home empty-handed: Tew was dead, Want and Wake's ships were too slow and never made it to the battle, Faro made it to theGanj-i-Sawai but never engaged, and Maze was present but Every took back their share of the loot afterPearl's crew tried to tradeclipped coins toFancy's men.[10] Every had been asked by the other pirate captains to carry the treasure to an agreed upon location where it would be split among the various crews, asFancy, with her 46 guns, carried the most fire power to guard it. Come nightfall, Every and his crew silently slipped away from the pirate armada, taking allGanj-i-Sawai's treasure with them.
In response to the capture ofGanj-i-Sawai, the Mughal Emperor, Aurangzeb, sent his army to five key ports for English trade in India—Bombay, Surat, Broach, Agra, and Ahmedabad—to close them. Aurangzeb effectively cut off English trade with India as he refused to reopen the ports until Henry Every was caught and executed for his crimes. TheEast India Company reconciled with the Mughal Emperor by fully compensating his losses, and filed an insurance claim for £350,000,[11] though Mughal authorities demanded this amount be doubled. The desire to see Every executed led to the first truly global manhunt in history, though he and the majority of his crew would never be caught. Six members of his crew were captured, tried, and executed, though they were not found guilty of seizingGanj-i-Sawai, but rather a different ship.[12]
