Latest / The Hidden History of Bengal: Kingdoms, Empires, and Revolution — Fexingo History / The Portuguese Pirate Queen of Bengal: Sandwip's Forgotten Ruler
Transcript
- Lucas: For anyone coming with us through these conversations about South Asia, we've covered a lot of ground — from Mughal naval power to the temple builders of the Pala dynasty. But today I want to return to something we touched on briefly in Episode 137: the Portuguese pirate queen of Sandwip, Juliana. Luna: I remember the name — she was the one who ruled an island in the Bay of Bengal, right? Lucas: Exactly. Sandwip Island, which sits off the coast of Chittagong, now in Bangladesh. In the mid-17th century, this island became the base for a remarkable figure: a Portuguese woman named Juliana, who started as a slave and ended up as the queen of a pirate kingdom. Luna: Wait, a slave became a pirate queen? How did that happen? Lucas: It's a story that reads like fiction. Juliana was captured as a child by Magh pirates from the Arakan kingdom — that's in present-day Myanmar — and sold into slavery. She ended up with a Portuguese mercenary named Domingos Carvalho, who was operating in the region. Carvalho was part of a wave of Portuguese adventurers, often called firangis, who carved out small territories in the Bay of Bengal. Luna: So they were pirates, but also colonizers? Lucas: In a way. The Portuguese had lost most of their formal power in Bengal by the early 1600s, but independent adventurers kept operating. Carvalho managed to seize control of Sandwip around the 1630s, and he made Juliana his partner. When he died, she took over. And she ruled Sandwip for about two decades, from the 1640s to the 1660s. Luna: That's a long reign for a pirate queen. How did she hold onto power? Lucas: She was shrewd. She maintained a fleet of small, fast vessels that raided shipping in the Bay of Bengal, and she allied with the Magh pirates from Arakan. Together, they posed a serious threat to Mughal trade, especially in the port of Chittagong. The Mughal emperor Aurangzeb was not amused — he ordered his governor of Bengal, Shaista Khan, to deal with the problem. Luna: Shaista Khan — we've talked about him before. He was the one who defeated the Portuguese at Sandwip in 1666, right? Lucas: That's right. Shaista Khan assembled a massive fleet — the Alamgirnama, the official history of Aurangzeb's reign, describes it as over 300 vessels. The Mughal navy, which we discussed in Episode 137, had grown quite powerful. In December 1666, they attacked Sandwip. Juliana's forces were overwhelmed. She was captured, and Sandwip fell to the Mughals. Luna: What happened to Juliana after that? Lucas: The historical record is a bit murky. Some accounts say she was taken to Dhaka and later died in obscurity. Others suggest she was allowed to retire to a Portuguese settlement. What's clear is that her kingdom was gone, and the Mughals fortified the island to prevent further piracy. Chittagong became a major Mughal naval base. Luna: It's fascinating that a woman could rise to power like that in the 17th century, even in a pirate society. Lucas: Absolutely. Juliana's story challenges a lot of assumptions about gender and power in early modern South Asia. She wasn't just a figurehead — she actively commanded raids and managed the island's defenses. Her reign also shows how porous the boundaries were between piracy, trade, and empire in the Bay of Bengal. Luna: Were there other women like her in the region? Lucas: Not many that we know of, but there are scattered references. For instance, the Arakanese chronicles mention a female pirate leader named Rani, though details are sparse. Juliana is the best-documented case because European travelers and Mughal historians both wrote about her. Luna: It makes you wonder what other stories are lost. Lucas: Exactly. And that's why shows like this are so important — they bring these hidden histories to light. If today was actually useful to you, the way these stay ad-free is listener support. You can find us at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. It's a simple way to keep these conversations going. Luna: Yeah, I think it's worth it. There's so much depth here. Lucas: Now, back to Juliana. One of the most intriguing aspects of her story is the cultural hybridity of Sandwip. The island was a melting pot: Portuguese, Bengalis, Arakanese, and even some Dutch and English traders passed through. Juliana herself likely spoke multiple languages — Portuguese, Bengali, and perhaps Arakanese. Luna: A pirate queen with a multilingual court. That's something. Lucas: Indeed. And her downfall wasn't just a military defeat — it was also a shift in regional politics. After the Mughals took Sandwip, they clamped down on piracy, but the Bay of Bengal remained a contested space for decades. The legacy of Juliana's kingdom lingered in local folklore. Luna: Is she remembered in Bangladesh today? Lucas: She's a minor figure in the historical imagination, but not widely known. There are no monuments or holidays in her honor. However, local oral traditions on Sandwip still tell stories of a powerful queen who ruled the island. It's a reminder that history lives on in unexpected ways. Luna: It's amazing how these stories survive without formal records. Lucas: Right. And that's part of what makes history so rich — the interplay between written documents and oral tradition. For Juliana, we have the Mughal histories, Portuguese accounts, and later British records. But the local stories add a layer of texture that official histories often miss. Luna: So what's the takeaway from Juliana's story? Lucas: I think it's that power in the early modern world was more fluid than we often assume. A woman, a former slave, could carve out a kingdom in the margins of empire. And that kingdom, though small, forced the Mughal Empire to mobilize a massive naval campaign. It shows how interconnected the Indian Ocean world was — and how piracy was often just another form of state-building. Luna: Hmm, that's a great way to put it. Lucas: Thanks. So next time you think about Bengal's history, remember the pirate queen of Sandwip — a small island that once held a big story.