Forget the Caribbean swashbucklers—these pirates set their sights on something far bigger. In 1628, a ruthless Dutch pirate fleet led by Admiral Piet Hein pulled off the greatest heist in history, ambushing a Spanish treasure fleet loaded with silver from the Americas. In a daring attack off the coast of Cuba, they seized over 11 million silver coins, an amount so massive it funded an entire war against Spain! This wasn’t just a robbery—it was a blow that shook the Spanish Empire to its core, proving that no fleet was truly safe. Even today, this remains the largest recorded pirate haul in history, making Piet Hein the only pirate to steal an empire’s fortune in one bold strike!
00:00It was September 7, 1695, somewhere at sea near the Horn of Africa.
00:07A merchant ship laden with treasure was sailing from present-day Yemen to its home port in India.
00:13Its escort had previously been captured by pirates, and now it was their turn,
00:18as they spotted a frigate approaching them fast.
00:21From its mast pole, a red flag with a Jolly Roger on it fluttered in the wind.
00:26Once the battle was over, a British pirate named Henry Avery sailed away with one of the biggest catches ever.
00:34It all happened during the Golden Age of Piracy, from 1690 to 1730.
00:40At that time, all ships sailing across the Atlantic Ocean feared the European pirates,
00:45and you could hear, arrr, matey, in taverns on several continents.
00:49From the coast of North America all the way to South America,
00:53they would engage merchant vessels and steal their cargo.
00:57The Caribbean was a real hotspot for piracy.
01:00Do the names Blackbeard and Captain Kidd sound familiar to you?
01:04Or is it just me who read too many pirate stories?
01:07Anyway, as the 17th century drew to a close,
01:10the thirst for wealth made some pirates sail down the eastern coast of Africa and into the Indian Ocean.
01:16This is how Avery ended up so far in the east, but he was not the only European to sail in that direction.
01:24At the time, the Indian Ocean was teeming with merchant ships,
01:28as convoys transported luxury goods or pilgrims from Mecca in the Arabian Peninsula
01:33to the Mughal Empire in what is today India.
01:37The rich cargo included silk, spices, incense, and perfumes.
01:41In addition to these goods, the East India Company transported everything from cash to jewels
01:47on behalf of several European empires, such as England, Netherlands, and France.
01:53Sounds pretty much like any pirate's dream, doesn't it?
01:56The most attractive targets were ships that belonged to the Mughal Emperor,
02:00whose impressive realm covered nearly the entire Indian subcontinent.
02:05Back in the Caribbean, cloth, timber, and spirits were the most common types of cargo.
02:10It didn't seem good enough to the most ambitious pirates.
02:14They set their minds on more luxurious catch.
02:17Gold, gems, and silver they could get in the Indian Ocean.
02:21Adam Baldrige, who was a wanted man in British-ruled Jamaica because he took a man's life,
02:27was among the first to arrive.
02:29Through not-so-honest means, in 1691, he managed to establish a safe haven for pirates
02:35on St. Mary's Island, near the remote northern coast of Madagascar.
02:40250 miles off the African mainland.
02:43The place set close to major shipping routes between Europe and Asia.
02:47Talk about an ideal location.
02:49The pirates made sure to fortify the island.
02:52As you can guess, they didn't like unexpected guests and enjoyed staying there, having fun in safety.
02:59A Frenchman, Olivier Lavassure, and his English colleague, John Taylor,
03:03were among the most successful of those islanders.
03:06In 1721, they easily captured a Portuguese treasure ship.
03:11It didn't go so smoothly, though.
03:13A serious storm damaged the ship, so they had to dock at the Island of Reunion for repairs.
03:19There were important individuals aboard, such as the Viceroy of Portuguese India and the Bishop of Goa.
03:25But the loot was the pirate duo's biggest feat.
03:28Cash, diamonds, and porcelain worth hundreds of millions of US dollars in today's money.
03:34The catch was so enormous that the pirates didn't even bother to rob the rich passengers.
03:39But even this heist couldn't overshadow what Henry Ivory had achieved 26 years earlier.
03:46We don't know a lot about the life of this Englishman, except that he was born in Plymouth and that he served in the Merchant Marine.
03:52In 1694, Ivory became the first mate aboard Charles II, a privateering ship hired by the Spanish crown.
04:02Such ships were privately owned and engaged by nations during major conflicts with other nations.
04:08Ivory's ship had an important mission of tracking French smugglers in the Caribbean, but soon the tables would turn.
04:15Ivory was good with words and led a successful mutiny in 1694.
04:21After he left the unfortunate captain ashore and renamed the ship Fancy, the new captain set sail for Madagascar.
04:29There, news reached Ivory that a large fleet of 25 ships was soon to leave for its home in India.
04:35Apart from pilgrims, the fleet included several treasure ships owned by the Grand Mughal of India himself.
04:42Ivory didn't waste time and assembled an armada of six ships to go after the Mughal convoy.
04:49As soon as they spotted the fleet, the pirates started a chase.
04:53They managed to board an escort vessel, stealing gold and silver worth more than $17 million in today's money.
05:00And if that wasn't enough, Ivory and his men went after the flagship named Ganjai Savai.
05:06It was the biggest ship in all of India at the time that could protect itself better than the whole fleet combined.
05:13The pirates got lucky, as one of their volleys cut the main mast of the Indian ship in half, and there was more serious damage to it.
05:21Ivory brought his ship alongside the crippled Mughal ship, and his men boarded the vessel.
05:26Indian sailors showed some impressive resistance, even though their captain had abandoned them.
05:32Ivory's men won in the end, and they got one of the richest pirate catches ever.
05:37They filled their chests with hundreds of thousands of pounds in jewels, gold, and silver.
05:42After it, the pirates set course for the Bahamas and used their enormous wealth to convince the local ruler to let them come ashore.
05:50Their most prized possession? Their ship, the Fancy, was included in that deal.
05:55Once the news of the heist reached the Emperor of India, a huge diplomatic scandal broke out.
06:03The Grand Mughal was enraged and accused the East India Company of plotting against him, arresting several of their high-ranking officials.
06:11The company feared that the Indian leader would cancel their valuable trade agreements.
06:15So they decided to do something nice for him and bring to justice the pirates responsible for the theft.
06:22Together with British ships equipped for search at sea, they launched one of the first truly international pursuit of Ivory and his shipmates, promising a reward to whoever captured him.
06:34The pursuit was only partially successful, as they only managed to catch and trial several pirates.
06:40Most of them scattered across Europe and the Americas, keeping their share of the wealth.
06:44Ivory earned himself the nickname the King of Pirates because of his adventure in the Indian Ocean.
06:51Historians believe he escaped to Ireland with his share of the loot using a false name.
06:56George Washington.
06:58Oh, I made that up.
07:00Piracy was a risky trade, and not all European fortune-seekers were successful in the East.
07:06Take Dutch pirate Dirk Shivers, who entrapped four ships in the Indian port of Calicut.
07:12He demanded money from the local Indian authorities and the East India Company, but they offered him only half of the requested sum.
07:20Finally, they settled on a different amount.
07:23When it didn't arrive, Shivers set another ship ablaze.
07:26By this point, both the British and the Indians had had enough, and they hired ten Indian pirate ships to drive Shivers away, which they succeeded in doing.
07:36The pirate captain was forced to return for repairs to St. Mary's Island empty-handed.
07:42Oh well.
07:43The end of the 18th century, and an increased European presence in the region, brought about the end of the golden age of piracy.
07:51As the British authorities increased raids on pirate strongholds, the number of pirates decreased significantly.
07:58In 1692, a huge earthquake that was followed by a tsunami erased a well-known pirate haven from the map, Port Royale in Jamaica.
08:07But piracy in the Indian Ocean never fully disappeared.
08:11Modern pirates might not have an eye patch or a parrot on their shoulder, but they mean business just as the pirates from the past.
08:18The Strait of Malacca connects the Indian Ocean to the Pacific, and today, around 40% of world trade takes place through it.
08:27Despite this fact, piracy was alive and well here even in the 21st century.
08:33The national authorities of Malaysia and Indonesia, two countries the strait separates, were finally able to curb piracy only in 2016.
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