East India Trading Company Pirates — [verified]

The turning point in the relationship between the EIC and pirates occurred in 1695, with a man named Henry Every.

Founded in 1600, the East India Trading Company wasn't a government navy. It was a —essentially a massive corporation with its own army, currency, and legal system. Their ships carried letters of marque (government permission to seize enemy vessels), but in the remote waters of the Indian and South China Seas, those letters got... flexible. east india trading company pirates