Piracy and sovereignty in the Indian Ocean: The British East India Company's campaign against Atlantic and angrian Maritime predation, 1717-1724

Between 1717 and 1724, the issues of Atlantic piracy, the Malagasy slave trade, and Marathan dominance of the Konkan littoral became intertwined through the lobbying efforts of the British East India Company. Just as the voyages of pirates, slavers, Royal Navy officers, and East India Company vessels bridged the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, so too did the Company’s campaign for Parliamentary and Royal Navy support against Atlantic and Angrian maritime predation. This chapter demonstrates that anti-piracy campaigns cannot be separated from the disparate objectives and initiatives that commercial and regional interests sought to advance or protect while stressing that naval officers could both advance and obstruct the initiatives that they were expected to support.