History of Aurangzib, Based on Original Sources v5.c83.s8.37
History of Aurangzib, Based on Original Sources v5.c83.s8.37
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v5.c83.s8.37
In 1696 a syndicate of English noblemen had fitted out the *Adventure*, a very strong 30-gun vessel, to act as a privateer against the French and at the same time destroy the pirates in the Indian Ocean, the cost being recovered from the profits of privateering. Its captain was William Kidd, "destined to blossom into the most redoubtable pirate who ever besmirched the honour of England." Arriving off Calicut early in 1697, he took to a life of piracy, shamelessly describing his robberies as legitimate acts of privateering authorised by the king of England. [A. Wright, 191-198.]