To be dubbed the "King of Pirates" is no small feat! To achieve that ye would have had to operate in multiple oceans, execute the ultimate raid, develop a notorious n' legendary reputation, as well as live to retire with all of yar earnin's! Ye would also need to set off the World's first International Man-Hunt. So that's exactly what Henry Every did.
Though actively pirate fer only a brief period o' two years in the mid 1690s, Every was able to garner the public's eye, n' is believed to have influenced more n' more people to take up a life of piracy.
Originally he was an English sailor aboard a Slave Ship, but he and the other members o' his crew rose up against the Captain at the time n' renamed their ship, the Fancy. Rather than sailing fer the New World, the Fancy raided the West African Coast n' sailed fer the Indian Ocean, assembling a small squadron of ships along the way.
The goal for Every's fleet was to tackle the 25 Ship Treasure Fleet of the Grand Mughal on its way to Mecca via the Arabian Sea. It was believed to be the richest fleet in the world, surpassing many Spanish Treasure Fleets in the Caribbean as well as numerous targets taken around this same time frame around the world.
Both fleets focused on evading and separating each other, the result was a grand chase with numerous small naval battles over the course o' several weeks. Numerous pirates n' Indian sailors died during the raids.
At the end of the raid Every's fleet rendezvoused in French Madagascar and divided the plunder. Even the ordinary sailors each made roughly $125,000 USD, with an additional hoard of gemstones n' loot.
The raid destroyed diplomatic ties between India n' England, n' Every snuck off to the Caribbean evading the English Crown. The Crown set a bounty n' offered amnesty to any o' his crew for his capture.
By 1696, Every disappeared from all records n' any stories regarding his retirement years be taken with a grain o' salt.
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