meaning of ship's name Quedagh

[Peter Wyzlic]

Am 24.02.2011 um 17:36 schrieb Thrasher, Allen:

> I have been asked for the proper pronunciation of the name of the ship Quedagh Merchant < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quedagh_Merchant >, an Indian ship , owned by a man named Coirgi and hired by a group of Armenian merchants.  As the Wiki article elaborates, it was taken by the famous Scottish privateer William Kidd who eventually, in 1701, was hanged for piracy on account of it.  "Quedagh" means nothing in any Indian language I can think of, whether pronounced something like Kwedagh or Kyudagh; could it be Persian?  I find it hard to make anything out of Coirgi either. "Quedagh" is not in Hobson-Jobson.  Any suggestions appreciated.

Perhaps it refers to Kedah in Malaysia. The older Portuguese spelling was "Queda" or "Quedah".

Hope it helps
Peter Wyzlic

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