Pirates Of Madagascar ✦ Original

Madagascar’s northeast coast, particularly the island of (then known as Nosy Boraha ), sat perfectly astride the richest trade route in the world: the Indian Ocean. Here, Mughal gems, Arab dhows carrying spices, and lumbering East Indiamen—ships of the British and Dutch empires—passed by, heavy with silks, calico, and chests of silver.

Here’s a fascinating feature article on the , focusing on a little-known but incredible angle: their establishment of a proto-democratic “pirate republic” decades before the Enlightenment’s major political revolutions. pirates of madagascar