Known as "Long Ben" or "The Arch Pirate," Henry Every pulled off the single richest heist in pirate history because of Madagascar. In 1695, Every led a small fleet to the Red Sea. He captured the Ganj-i-Sawai, the flagship of the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb.
The treasure was staggering: gold and silver worth between £200,000 and £600,000 at the time (equivalent to over $200 million today). After the heist, Every vanished into the pirate haven of Île Sainte-Marie (St. Mary’s Island), just off Madagascar’s northeast coast. He bribed governors and disappeared. Every is the top of the Madagascar pirate hierarchy because he got away with it. madagascar pirates top
Unlike the chaotic image of pirates, the top leaders in Madagascar established structured societies: Known as "Long Ben" or "The Arch Pirate,"
The "top" pirates of Madagascar—Every, Tew, and Kidd—were not mere criminals but architects of a short-lived maritime republic. They exploited a geographic vacuum to challenge the largest corporations (the East India Companies) of their era. While their violent methods are indefensible, their egalitarian governance structures and multi-racial crews prefigured later democratic and anti-colonial movements. Madagascar remains a powerful symbol of pirate autonomy, its eastern coast still known locally as the "Coast of the Pirates." Not every pirate sailed the Caribbean
Not every pirate sailed the Caribbean. The most successful, wealthiest, and most brutal pirates operated out of Madagascar. Here are the top Madagascar pirates you need to know.