The Mystery of the 'Malay pirates' Hanged in London Sabri Zain's Malayan Chronicles

When we think of Malay pirates, we usually imagine sea raiders in swift perahus swooping upon merchant ships plying the Straits of Melaka. But in 1814, British newspapers reported the execution of four "Malay pirates" 

At the infamous Execution Dock on the River Thames in London, thousands of miles from the tropical waters of the Malay world. As it turns out, these four men may not have been pirates at all, but ordinary sailors. Yet who were they? 

What crimes had brought them halfway around the world to a London gallows? And how had four inhabitants of the Malay Archipelago become entangled in a story of murder, mutiny, and the hangman's noose? 

This is a tale of seamen who endured brutal months at sea in cramped and often brutal conditions. Men who helped keep the ships of the British Empire moving across the world's oceans, frequently at great cost to their health, freedom, and sometimes even their lives.

Join me as we unravel the forgotten mystery of the so-called 'Malay pirates' hanged in London in 1814. Watch the full story here.