Asian Female Pirates
Anonymous Indian Pirate Queen: 1680s, Arabian Sea.
Qi Sao (Seventh Elder Sister-in-law): South China Sea, commanded a fleet of 20 ships.
Li (wife of Chen Acheng): early 1800s, South China Sea, was involved in at least 10 robberies at sea with her husband before she was captured and made the slave of a military officer.
Shi Xainggu (better known as Cheng I Sao, Ching Yih Saou, Ching Shih, or Zheng Yi Sao): 1801-1810, South China Sea, commanded either five or six squadrons consisting of 800 large junks, about 1,000 smaller vessels, and between 70,000 and 80,000 men and women.
Cai Quin Ma (Matron Cai Quin): died 1804, South China Sea.
T'ang Ch'en Ch'iao: alias "Golden Grace".
Lo Hon-cho (Honcho Lo): took over command on husband’s death in 1921, was a supporter of the Chinese revolution.
Wong: 1922, united her 50 ship fleet with Lo Hon-cho's 64 junks.
Lai Sho Sz'en (Lai Choi San): 1922-1939, South China Sea, commanded 12 junks, the original “Dragon Lady”.
P'en Ch'ih Ch'iko: 1936, commanded 100 pirates.
Ki Ming (this may be another name for P'en Ch'ih Ch'iko).
Huang P'ei-mei: 1937-1950s, leader of 50,000 pirates.
Linda: 1980s, Philippines.
Anonymous — 1520-1810, there were hundreds of Chinese female pirates. Whole families of pirates lived at sea, including mothers, wives, daughters, and servant girls. Some were forced, some voluntarily joined and some were born into piracy.
Female Privateers
Jeanne de Montfort ("The Flame") : 1343, English Channel plundering French ships, fighting with the English for Brittany's independence. (Some list her, Jeanne de Clisson and Jane de Belleville as pirates — especially the French.)
Jeanne de Clisson (maiden name Jeanne-Louise de Belleville, Dame de Montaigu; a.k.a. "The Lioness of Brittany"): 1343, English Channel plundering French ships.
Mary Read, alias Mark Read: 1719, Caribbean, before she became a pirate.
Flora Burn: 1741, American East Coast.
Sarah Bishop: 1778-1780, this New Yorker was forced to join the crew of a British privateer during the Revolutionary War.
Mary Anne Talbot, alias John Taylor: on a French privateer, 1793-1794.
Several black women (probably slaves) were cooks onboard the Duke, a British privateer — early 1800s, Pacific.
Anonymous female commander of French privateer La Baugourt — 1805, West Indies.
Anonymous French female privateer — 1811.
