Pirates

“Why the hell did I take up with Armenian merchants! After all, I knew well of their special status in India and other eastern countries. Could the Armenians be so powerful that for their sake my Master betrayed me?” This thought could easily have flashed through Captain Kidd’s mind before he, King William III’s privateer, was executed by hanging. It happened on May 23, 1701 on the Execution Dock located in the Wapping area of London where smugglers, pirates and mutineers were usually put to death.

Sharks swim where there is lots of prey.
(English nautical proverb)
Armenians created an international trade network, which entangled ecumene during many centuries. They monopolized the trade of Persian silk and other oriental goods to Europe; their financial strength, entrepreneurial spirit and innate diplomatic skills allowed them to establish close ties with many rulers of East and West. Even colonial Britain had to reckon with the Armenian merchants. Back in 1688, an agreement was signed in London between them, the British governor, and the company of London merchants trading with the East Indies (from 1698 known as the East India Company). It affirmed the right of “the Armenian nation” on sea freight to any port in the Indian Ocean and on any vessel “from now to eternity.” But what looked perfect on paper, in fact, contained a number of pitfalls. The sea routes were controlled by the pirates. In order to avoid them, the merchants had to hire navy frigates from England, France or other countries to escort them. This necessity inflated the cost and increased the duration of transportation and the journey from India to England took from eight to nine months. The Armenians once expressly declared to the Trade Council of Venice, which was requesting exorbitant fees for an escort, that it would be more advantageous availing themselves to the will of God.

Don’t sail if you are afraid of water.
(English nautical proverb)
The treasures of the Armenian merchant ships attracted everyone. When plundering the Armenians, the Barbary and Arabian pirates justified themselves by the fact that they were Christians; Europeans, by contrast, considered Armenians to be followers of Islam, for they were subjects of the Turkish Sultan or the Persian Shah. The Portuguese, the first Europeans to round Africa, fancied themselves as masters of the Indian Ocean and attacked Armenians’ ships “openly and without shame,” according to A Chronicle of Carmelites. The situation became graver when the English and French entered into a struggle for dominating the ocean: “God have mercy on our merchants, doing business in complete absence of security,” wrote Armenian merchant Hovhannes in a letter. In 1685, after plundering two merchant vessels belonging to the Margaryan brothers, English privateers capitalized with 565,000 pounds of rubies. True, the ship owners drew an embargo on trade with the British from the Great Mughal (Europeans assigned this title to the famous rulers of Turkic dynasty, which was established by Sultan Babur and ruled in India for about 300 years). As a result, the British forced the pirates to return the loot (they gave away almost everything, except one ship and rubies amounting to 4,000 pounds). But in 1742, the treasures of Jerusalem still fell to the English pirates. At that time, their loot consisted of 28 boxes of gold and silver. The Armenian ship loaded with precious metals was sailing from Manila to India. From the end of the 16th century to the mid-17th century, the only vessels that had access to desirable Manila, where Spanish galleons transported the silver of the New World, were those under the Armenian flag. On their way to India, however, the Armenian merchants still had to cross the Strait of Malacca, swarming with all kinds of pirates. It was easier to capture Armenian vessels than the famous, well-equipped, and well-armed Manila galleons. Armenian ship owners relied on God and cannons (usually there were no more than a dozen of them on board). And this was despite the fact that the cannoneers, before being discharged from the East India Company, signed a commitment not to work for the Armenian merchant ships and the British forbade selling cannons to the Armenians. The ten cannons on board Quedagh Merchant could not save the ship from attack. One way or another, this incident brought an end to the adventures of the most popular pirate in English literature, Captain Kidd.

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