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Downton, Nicholas
Nicholas Downton (1561-6 August 1615), was a commander in the service of the English East India Company (EIC). Life and career Early years Downton was born in the village of Bushley in Worcestshire in early 1561, the son of John and Katherine Downton. On the orders of the Earl of Cumberland he took part in the action of Faial in 1594 as commander of the ''Samson'', which resulted in the destruction of the Portuguese carrack ''Las Cinco Chagas''. Although severely wounded during the action, by 1605 he had recovered and made a trading voyage in the ''Pilgrim'' to Cumaná and other Caribbean ports. Records held at the India Office indicate that Downton and the Earl of Cumberland were the principal shareholders in the venture, and since tobacco was the return cargo, it may be inferred that the ''Pilgrim'' returned home via Virginia. Far east Early in 1610 he was appointed to command the EIC's ship ''Peppercorn'', and sailed under Sir Henry Middleton in the ''Trade's Increase'' on t ...
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East India Company
The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia), and later with East Asia. The company seized control of large parts of the Indian subcontinent, colonised parts of Southeast Asia and Hong Kong. At its peak, the company was the largest corporation in the world. The EIC had its own armed forces in the form of the company's three Presidency armies, totalling about 260,000 soldiers, twice the size of the British army at the time. The operations of the company had a profound effect on the global balance of trade, almost single-handedly reversing the trend of eastward drain of Western bullion, seen since Roman times. Originally chartered as the "Governor and Company of Merchants of London Trading into the East-Indies", the company rose to account for half of the world's trade duri ...
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Careening
Careening (also known as "heaving down") is a method of gaining access to the hull of a sailing vessel without the use of a dry dock. It is used for cleaning or repairing the hull. Before ship's hulls were protected from marine growth by fastening copper sheets over the surface of the hull, fouling by this growth would seriously affect the sailing qualities of a ship, causing a large amount of drag. Practice The vessel is grounded broadside onto a steep beach and then pulled over with tackles from the mastheads to strong points on the beach. This brings one side of the hull out of the water. Careening may be assisted by moving ballast to one side of the hull. When work was complete on one side, the ship would be floated off and the process repeated on the other side. A beach favoured for careening was called a careenage. Today, only small vessels are careened, while large vessels are placed in dry dock. A related practice was a Parliamentary heel, in which the vessel was heele ...
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Cape Comorin
Kanniyakumari (; , referring to Devi Kanya Kumari), also known as Cape Comorin, is a city in Kanniyakumari district in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. It is the southern tip of the Indian subcontinent and the southernmost city in mainland India, thus referred to as 'The Land's End'. The city is situated south of Thiruvananthapuram city, and about  south of Nagercoil, the headquarters of Kanniyakumari district. Kanniyakumari is a popular tourist destination and pilgrimage centre in India. Notable tourist spots include its unique sunrise and sunset points, the Thiruvalluvar Statue and Vivekananda Rock Memorial off the coast. Lying at the tip of peninsular India, the town is bordered on the west, south and east by the Laccadive Sea. It has a coastal line of  stretched on the three sides. On the shores of the city is a temple dedicated to Goddess Kanniyakumari (the virgin Goddess), after which the town is named.https://thehinduimages.com/details-page.php?id=157918128 ...
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Swally
Suvali Beach was previously known as Suwally, Swally (anglicised version of Suvali), Swalley-Road, or Swally Beach. Suvali Beach is an urban beach along the Arabian Sea situated near the village of Suvali in the Hazira suburb of Surat in Gujarat State, India. The black sand beach lies from the centre of Surat and is the cleanest beach in India. History Suvali Beach was the gateway from where the East India Company made inroads into India. in 1612, Captain Thomas Best encountered and defeated the Portuguese at the Battle of Swally. Suvali Beach is also known as the birthplace of the modern Indian Navy See also * List of tourist attractions in Surat Surat is a principal business hub of the Indian state Gujarat, the eighth largest city and ninth largest urban agglomeration. Surat is the 2nd cleanest city of India. and fastest growing city of the world Surat is also famous for its food, ... References Beaches of Surat History of Surat {{Surat topics ...
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Portuguese East India Company
The Portuguese East India Company ( pt, Companhia do commércio da Índia or ) was a short-lived and ill-fated attempt by Philip III of Portugal, to create a chartered company to ensure the security of their interests in India, in the face of the mounting pressure and influence by their rivals; the Dutch East India Company and the English East India Company, following the personal union of the Portuguese and Spanish Crowns. Background Portuguese trade with India had been a crown monopoly since the Portuguese captain Vasco da Gama opened the sea route to India in 1497–1499. The monopoly had been managed by the Casa da Índia, the royal trading house founded around 1500, it is a first to start a joint stock company to trade in india. The Casa was responsible for the yearly India armadas. However, by 1560, the Casa's finances were in dire straits and in 1570, King Sebastian of Portugal issued a decree opening up trade to India to any private Portuguese national. As few to ...
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Surat
Surat is a city in the western Indian state of Gujarat. The word Surat literally means ''face'' in Gujarati and Hindi. Located on the banks of the river Tapti near its confluence with the Arabian Sea, it used to be a large seaport. It is now the commercial and economic center in South Gujarat, and one of the largest urban areas of western India. It has well-established diamond and textile industry, and is a major supply centre for apparels and accessories. About 90% of the world's diamonds supply are cut and polished in the city. It is the second largest city in Gujarat after Ahmedabad and the eighth largest city by population and ninth largest urban agglomeration in India. It is the administrative capital of the Surat district. The city is located south of the state capital, Gandhinagar; south of Ahmedabad; and north of Mumbai. The city centre is located on the Tapti River, close to Arabian Sea. Surat will be the world's fastest growing city from 2019 to 2035, acco ...
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Broadcloth
Broadcloth is a dense, plain woven cloth, historically made of wool. The defining characteristic of broadcloth is not its finished width but the fact that it was woven much wider (typically 50 to 75% wider than its finished width) and then heavily milled (traditionally the cloth was worked by heavy wooden trip hammers in hot soapy water) in order to shrink it to the required width. The effect of the milling process is to draw the yarns much closer together than could be achieved in the loom and allow the individual fibres of the wool to bind together in a felting process, which results in a dense, blind face cloth with a stiff drape which is highly weather-resistant, hard wearing and capable of taking a cut edge without the need for being hemmed. The manufacturing process originates from Flanders, the type of cloth was also made in Leiden and several parts of England at the end of the medieval period. The raw material was short staple wool, carded and spun into yarn and then ...
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Fowling Piece
A shotgun (also known as a scattergun, or historically as a fowling piece) is a long-barreled firearm designed to shoot a straight-walled cartridge known as a shotshell, which usually discharges numerous small pellet-like spherical sub-projectiles called shot, or sometimes a single solid projectile called a slug. Shotguns are most commonly smoothbore firearms, meaning that their gun barrels have no rifling on the inner wall, but rifled barrels for shooting slugs (slug barrels) are also available. Shotguns come in a wide variety of calibers and gauges ranging from 5.5 mm (.22 inch) to up to , though the 12-gauge (18.53 mm or 0.729 in) and 20-gauge (15.63 mm or 0.615 in) bores are by far the most common. Almost all are breechloading, and can be single-barreled, double-barreled, or in the form of a combination gun. Like rifles, shotguns also come in a range of different action types, both single-shot and repeating. For non-repeating designs, ...
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Socotra
Socotra or Soqotra (; ar, سُقُطْرَىٰ ; so, Suqadara) is an island of the Republic of Yemen in the Indian Ocean, under the ''de facto'' control of the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council, a secessionist participant in Yemen’s ongoing civil war. Lying between the Guardafui Channel and the Arabian Sea and near major shipping routes, Socotra is the largest of the four islands in the Socotra archipelago. Since 2013, the archipelago has constituted the Socotra Governorate. The island of Socotra represents around 95% of the landmass of the Socotra archipelago. It lies south of the Arabian Peninsula, but is considered to be part of Africa. The island is isolated and home to a high number of endemic species. Up to a third of its plant life is endemic. It has been described as "the most alien-looking place on Earth." The island measures in length and in width. In 2008 Socotra was recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In 2018, the United Arab Emirates invaded ...
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The Downs (ship Anchorage)
The Downs is a roadstead (area of sheltered, favourable sea) in the southern North Sea near the English Channel off the east Kent coast, between the North and the South Foreland in southern England. In 1639 the Battle of the Downs took place here, when the Dutch navy destroyed a Spanish fleet which had sought refuge in neutral English waters. From the Elizabethan era onwards, the presence of the Downs helped to make Deal one of the premier ports in England, and in the 19th century, it was equipped with its own telegraph and timeball tower to enable ships to set their marine chronometers. The anchorage has depths down to 12 fathoms (22 m). Even during southerly gales some shelter was afforded, though under this condition wrecks were not infrequent. Storms from any direction could also drive ships onto the shore or onto the sands, which—in spite of providing the sheltered water—were constantly shifting, and not always adequately marked. The Downs served in the age of sail as a ...
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Waterford
"Waterford remains the untaken city" , mapsize = 220px , pushpin_map = Ireland#Europe , pushpin_map_caption = Location within Ireland##Location within Europe , pushpin_relief = 1 , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Ireland , subdivision_type1 = Provinces of Ireland, Province , subdivision_name1 = Munster , subdivision_type2 = Regions of Ireland, Region , subdivision_name2 = Southern Region, Ireland, Southern , subdivision_type3 = Counties of Ireland, County , subdivision_name3 = County Waterford, Waterford , established_title = Founded , established_date = 914 , leader_title = Local government in the Republic of Ireland, Local authority , leader_name = Waterford City and County Council , leader_title2 = Mayor of Waterford , leader_name2 = Damien Geoghegan , leader_title3 ...
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