Search
Search Results
Article
How the World Was Made: A Cherokee Creation Story
How the World Was Made is a creation story of the Cherokee nation, which, like many such tales of the Native peoples of North America, begins with a world covered by water from which dry land is formed and natural order created by beings...
Definition
Portuguese Cochin
Cochin, located on the southwest coast of India, was a Portuguese colony from 1503 to 1663. Known to the Portuguese as Cochim, it was one of several important cities on India’s Malabar Coast and a great trade centre for spices like pepper...
Article
Eyes on the East: Chronicles of the Indian Ocean Spice Trade
As the 15th century ended, Europeans were still mostly in the dark about the Eastern world. Early travelers like Marco Polo had given the West tidbits of information, but these accounts were too highly colored and fragmentary to provide a...
Image
As-Saffah Being Proclaimed Caliph
Folio from a manuscript of the Tarikhnama (Persian: "Book of History") by Muhammad Bal'ami (10th Century CE). The folio depicts As-Saffah (r. 750 - 754 CE), founder of the Abbasid Caliphate, being proclaimed caliph. Likely made in Iraq...
Image
Battle of Siffin
Illustration of the Battle of Siffin (657 CE), from a 14th-century manuscript of the Tarikh-i Bal'ami.
Definition
Captain Kidd
Captain William Kidd (c. 1645-1701) was a Scottish privateer turned pirate who, despite only ever capturing one significant prize ship, has become legendary thanks to the persistent rumour he buried a fantastic treasure that nobody has yet...
Definition
Henry Every
Henry Every (b. 1653), also known as Henry Avery, Benjamin Bridgeman, ‘Long Ben’ and (incorrectly) John Avery, was one of the most savage and successful pirates in the Golden Age of Piracy. Capturing a treasure ship of the Mughal emperor...
Definition
Golden Age of Piracy
The Golden Age of Piracy (1690-1730) refers to a period when robbery on the high seas and at colonial ports reached an unprecedented level. Although not all historians agree on the precise time frame, it is generally applied to those pirates...
Definition
Garuda
Garuda is a bird creature from Hindu mythology that has a mix of eagle and human features. He is the vehicle (vahana) of Vishnu and appears on the god's banner. Garuda represents birth and heaven, and is the enemy of all snakes. In Indian...
Definition
Portuguese Malacca
The Portuguese colonised Malacca (modern Melaka) on the southwest coast of the Malay peninsula from 1511 and kept it until 1641 when the Dutch took over. The port controlled the Malay Straits which lead from the Indian Ocean (the Andaman...