Quedagh Merchant (/ˈkwiːdɑː(x)/; Armenian: Քեդահյան վաճառական Qedahyan Waćařakan), also known as the Cara Merchant and the Adventure Prize, was an Armenian merchant vessel famously captured by Scottish privateer William Kidd on 30 January 1698.

The ship was originally owned by a man named Coirgi, a French corruption of "Kurji", a Khoja name common in Gujarat. After the ship's capture, Kidd attempted to return to New York to share in the treasure with the governor of that colony, then on to England to pay off his backers.

The capture of Quedagh Merchant, as well as Rouparelle, caused a scandal throughout the British Empire, hurting Britain's safe trading status along the African and Indian coasts. Although Kidd felt that both of these captures were legal in accordance with his commission, word spread quickly that Captain Kidd was a pirate. Kidd was later imprisoned and ultimately executed for alleged acts of piracy, as well as murder.

The fate of Quedagh Merchant rested in the hands of merchants hired by Captain Kidd to guard the ship and await his return to the Caribbean in three months' time. During Kidd's long imprisonment in New York and later in England, New York Governor Lord Richard Bellomont attempted to extract a confession for the location of the ship, which was left anchored in a lagoon along Santa Catalina. When word reached New York that the merchants had sold off most of the goods, burned the ship, and sailed to Holland, Lord Bellomont sent a ship to verify that it had indeed been burned. The exact location of the remains of Quedagh Merchant were a mystery until December 2007, when they were discovered off the coast of Catalina Island, Dominican Republic.

In April 1696, a group of Armenian merchants hired the 350-ton Quedagh Merchant, owned by an Indian man named Coirgi. Operating out of Surat in north-western India, the Armenians were assisted by Augun Peree Callendar, a local English East India Company representative who freelanced to help supplement his income. For the voyage, the ship was captained by John Wright, had two Dutch first mates, a French gunner, more than 90 Indian crewmen, and 30 Armenian merchants.

After several delays, the crew loaded the ship with cotton, and departed from Surat, travelled around the tip of India, and reached Bengal in late 1697. There, the Armenian merchants sold their cotton for 1,200 muslins and other cloths, 1,400 bags of brown sugar, 84 bales of raw silk, 80 chests of opium, and other items such as iron and saltpetre. For safe passage, the group applied to Francois Martin, the representative for the French East India Company. The request was granted promising him the protection of the French Crown., and the ship began its return trip around the tip of India.

On 30 January 1698, Captain Kidd, aboard his ship Adventure Galley, spotted Quedagh Merchant about 25 leagues from Cochin, and raced to catch up with it. After approximately four hours, Adventure Galley caught up with Quedagh and hoisted a French flag for its colours, and Kidd commanded the other captain to board his ship. A Frenchman came over by boat, and when he stepped aboard Adventure Galley Kidd gave the command to hoist an English flag. The Frenchman, upon seeing the flag change, reportedly replied, "Here is a good Prize."

Kidd's mission to capture any enemy and pirate ships was commissioned by several English Lords. Kidd was to seize all loot and return to England to split the treasure among himself, his crew, and the Lord investors. The Quedagh Merchant was Indian owned, flying Armenian colours, captained by an Englishman, and had a mostly Indian crew, so seemed to not fit Kidd's commission; but the fact that it had been promised safe passage by the French, an English enemy, technically made this seizure a legal capture.