Indian — pirates

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"Where did you say we're going again?"
"India. I hear they let cows just wonder through their houses there. Can you imagine? I hate cows."

―Barbara Huntington and Marcella^[src]

India was a country in South Asia. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south and the Arabian Sea on the southwest, it shared land borders with China to the north. In the Indian Ocean, India is near Sri Lanka and the Maldives; its Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a maritime border with Myanmar, Thailand, and Indonesia.

The history of India included the early dawnings of Hinduism in India, and was noted for creativity in art, architecture, and writing, but the status of women declined, and untouchability became an organised belief. Within the milleniums, Christianity became established on India's southern and western coasts, and the gradually expanding rule of the East India Company turned India into a colonial economy but consolidated its sovereignty.

History

Early history

India began to be colonized in the beginning of the Modern Era by the European countries of Great Britain, France, Portugal, Denmark, and Holland. The Spanish attempted to sail to India but its explorers and Conquistadores landed up on North America. Eventually, most of India was colonized by Britian via the East India Trading Company.

East India Trading Company

"Our Company's profits are at stake! What are you shiftless fools doing out there in India-counting your own toes?"

―Benedict Huntington to an EITC agent^[src]

File:EITC Emblem-POTCO.jpg

EITC emblem

The East India Trading Company was granted a Royal Charter by Queen Elizabeth I. The Company began to set up factories, one of them being Calcutta. Mughal ruler Siraj-aud-Daula ordered the French and British to remove their fortifications. The French complied, while the British with their fort at the city of Calcutta did not. Angry at this, the Mughals threw the British out. The Company launched an immense invasion with their military forces and struck back hard, only to end up conquering all of India soon enough. The EITC began trading with the East Indies.

The Company began monopolizing in the Caribbean, led by Lord Cutler Beckett. Cutler Beckett would have probably served as a clerk in India before he rose up to power.

By the search for the Dead Man's Chest led by Lord Cutler Beckett of the East India Trading Company, India was drawn onto a map of the world created in the EITC headquarters in Port Royal,^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4] along with a smaller map in the captain's cabin of the Endeavour during Beckett's war against piracy.^[5]

Piracy

"Just before we parted company, James mentioned that he had come upon a man, half dead, floating in the sea. They pulled him out, and before he died, he told them a story similar to the ones I have heard here today. He said it happened off the coast of India. It seems these villains are everywhere."

―Don Rafael to pirates assembled at Shipwreck Cove^[src]

The Vedic civilisation has shown ancient records of Piracy. After the Dark ages, piracy was recorded many times. Arabs used piracy as an excuse to expand into India, and piracy was also used several times as an excuse for war. In 14th century South India, war exploded between the two Muslim and Hindu kingdoms, so there had been a need for fresh supplies, and the easiest way to get them was to raid the trade routes coming from Persia to Africa. During the times of Mughal rule, European pirates also saw treasure in this area and began to pillage Mughal vessels and ships transporting pilgrims heading to Mecca for their annual pilgrimage. These constant raids sparked a war between Portugal and the Mughal Empire, because Portuguese pirates captured a ship belonging to the Mughal queen. In the 18th century, the famous Maratha privateer, Kanhoji Angria, ruled the seas between Mumbai and Goa. The Marathas demanded the East India Trading Company to pay a fee if sailing through their waters.

Pirate Lords also began to expand their influence over Indian oceans, like Sumbhajee Angria, the serene and priestly Hindu who served as Pirate Lord of the Indian Ocean.^[3]^[6]^[7] Madagascar also had connection with pirate raids on India, due to the fact that both are on the Indian Ocean.^{[citation needed]} Some of the rogue pirates operated off the coast of India. One of the survivors of their attacks was saved by the crew of the pirate James, who later told the story to the Pirate Lord Don Rafael.^[8]

Notable Indians (by birth)

Behind the scenes

"What is the East India Trading Company doing in the Caribbean?"
"Well, we are east of India...just the long way around. After all, when goods don't cross borders...then armies will."

―Will Turner and Cutler Beckett^[src] (deleted scene)

The term "India" was first mentioned through the East India Trading Company in the 2003 film Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl.^[9] India would first be depicted on a map of the world in the 2006 filmPirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest.^[1] The map would also be featured in the reference books Pirates of the Caribbean: The Visual Guide,^[2] Pirates of the Caribbean: The Complete Visual Guide,^[3] and The Secret Files of the East India Trading Company.^[4] The first mention of India as a country would be in Legends of the Brethren Court: The Caribbean,^[6] prior to making its first appearance in The Turning Tide.^[7]

In Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio's screenplay for Dead Man's Chest, as Lord Cutler Beckett summons Will Turner in his office, Turner asks Beckett what the East India Trading Company is doing in the Caribbean. Beckett's response, indicating the map on the wall, "It would not be in the best interests of the Empire to be bound by matters of geography, would it?" He adds that when goods do not cross borders, armies will. With Will not being keen on Beckett's economic lesson, Beckett proceeded to the "business transaction" with Captain Jack Sparrow.^[10] The scene never made it to the final cut of the film but was retained in the deleted scene "East Of India" featured in Blu-ray releases beginning in 2011. However, the Empire was never mentioned in the deleted scene, with Beckett's response to Turner being, "Well, we are East of India. Just the long way around."^[11]