Danish India

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Danish India
Dansk Ostindien
Danish East India Company (1620–1777)
Dano-Norwegian colonies (1777–1814)
Danish colonies (1814–1869)
1620–1869 →
 
→

Flag of Denmark
Danish and other European settlements in India
Capital Fort Dansborg
Languages Danish, Tamil, Hindustani, Bengali
Political structure Colonies
King of Denmark (and Norway until 1814)
 -  1588-1648 Christian IV
 -  1863-1906 Christian IX
Governor
 -  1620-1621 Ove Gjedde
 -  1673-1682 Sivert Cortsen Adeler
 -  1759-1760 Christian Frederik Høyer
 -  1788-1806 Peter Anker
 -  1825-1829 Hans de Brinck-Seidelin
 -  1841-1845 Peder Hansen
Historical era Colonial period
 -  Established 1620
 -  Disestablished 1869
Currency Danish Indian rupee
Today part of  India

Danish India is a term for the former colonies of Denmark, and until 1814 Denmark–Norway, in India. Denmark held colonial possessions in India for 225 years, including the town of Tranquebar in present-day Tamil Nadu state, Serampore in present-day West Bengal, and the Nicobar Islands, currently part of India's union territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The Danish presence was of little significance to the other European powers as they presented neither a military nor a mercantile threat.[1] Danish ventures in India, as elsewhere, were typically under-capitalized and never able to dominate or monopolize trade routes in the same way that the companies of Portugal, Holland and Britain could.[2] At times however, they were able to carve out a valuable niche in international trade by taking advantage of wars between larger countries and offering foreign trade under a neutral flag.[3][4] For this reason their presence was tolerated.

Contents

History [edit]

Colonial India
British Indian Empire
Imperial Entities of India
Dutch India 1605–1825
Danish India 1620–1869
French India 1769–1954
Portuguese India 1505–1961
Casa da Índia 1434–1833
Portuguese East India Company 1628–1633
British India 1612–1947
East India Company 1612–1757
Company rule in India 1757–1858
British Raj 1858–1947
British rule in Burma 1824–1948
Princely states 1721–1949
Partition of India
1947

The success of Dutch and English traders in the seventeenth century spice trade provided the impetus for Danish involvement on the Indian sub-continent. Christian IV, the King of Denmark-Norway, issued a charter in 1616 granting the Danish East India Company a monopoly on trade between Denmark and Asia for twelve years. The first expedition set sail in 1618 with the intention of establishing a settlement on the Coromandel coast where neither the French, English or the Portuguese had a strong presence.[5] On November 20, 1620 the Danes signed a treaty with Raghunath, the Nayak of Tanjore (now Thanjavur in Tamil Nadu) granting them the village of Tranquebar (or Tarangamabadi)[6] and the right to construct a fort (Fort Dansborg) and levy taxes.[7]

The early years of the colony where arduous, with poor administration and investment, coupled with the loss of almost two thirds of all the trading vessels dispatched from Denmark.[8] The ships that did return made a profit on their cargo, but total returns fell well short of the costs of the entire venture.[9] Moreover the geographical location of the colony was vulnerable to high tidal waves which repeatedly destroyed what people built - roads, houses, administrative buildings, markets etc.[10] Although the intention had been to create an alternative to the English and Dutch traders, the dire financial state of the company and the redirection of national resources towards the Thirty Years War led the colony to abandon efforts to trade directly for themselves, and instead to become neutral third party carriers for goods in the Bay of Bengal. By 1625 a factory had been established at Masulipatnam, the most important emporium in the region, and lesser trading offices were established at Pipli and Balasore. Despite this, by 1627 the colony was in such a poor financial state that they had just three ships left in their possession and was unable to pay the agreed-upon tribute to the Nayak, increasing local tensions. The Danish presence was also unwanted by English and Dutch traders who believed them to be operating under the protection of their navies without bearing any of the costs. Despite this they could not crush Danish trade due to diplomatic implications related to their respective nations' involvement in the European wars.[11]

In 1638 an effort was made in Copenhagen by the major stockholders of the company to have it be dissolved, however the proposal was rejected by Christian IV who would continue to resist such efforts until his death in 1648.[12]

Abandonment and isolation (1640-1669) [edit]

  • 1639 - Two ships sail from Denmark for Tranquebar, Christianshavn and Solen. These were to be the last ships from Denmark for the next 29 years.
  • 1640 - Danes attempt to sell Fort Danesborg to the Dutch for a second time.
  • 1642 - Danish colony declares war on Mogul empire and commences raiding ships in the Bay of Bengal. Within a few months they had captured one of the Mogul emperor's vessels, incorporated it into their fleet (renamed the Bengali Prize) and sold the goods in Tranquebar for a substantial profit.
  • 1643 - Willem Leyel, designated the new leader of the colony by the company directors in Copenhagen arrives aboard the Christianshavn. Holland and Sweden declare war on Denmark.
  • 1645 - Danish factory holdings fall increasingly under Dutch control. The Nayak sends small bands to raid Tranquebar.
  • 1648 - Christian IV, patron of the colony dies. East India company bankrupt.
  • 1650 - The Danish East India Company dissolved
  • 1655 - Nayak beseiges fort due to lack of tribute payments. Supported by local natives the fort withstands the attack. Eskild Andersen Kongsbakke, the last Dane in the colony, is appointed leader.
  • 1660 - Kongsbakke builds a wall around the town of Tranquebar.
  • 1667/8 - Dutch conquest of Makassar ends all independent Danish activity in the spice trade.[13]
  • 1668 - Danish Government send the frigate Færø to India, commanded by Capt. Sivardt Adelaer. It arrives May, 1669 ending 29 years of isolation. Kongsbakke officially appointed leader.

The Second Danish East India Company [edit]

The Danish also established several commercial outposts, governed from Tranquebar:

  • November 1754 - Meeting of Danish officials in Tranquebar. Decision made to colonise the Nicobar Islands for the purpose of planting pepper, cinnamon, sugarcane, coffee and cotton.
  • 1 January 1756 - The Nicobar Islands declared Danish property under the name Frederiksøerne (Frederick's Islands).
  • 1763 Balasore (already occupied 1636-1643).

In 1777 it was turned over to the government by the chartered company and became a Danish crown colony.

In 1789 the Andaman Islands became a British possession. During the Napoleonic Wars, the British attacked Danish shipping, and devastated the Danish East India Company's India trade. In May 1801 - August 1802 and 1808 - 20 September 1815 the British even occupied Dansborg and Frederiksnagore.

The Danish colonies went into decline, and the British ultimately took possession of them, making them part of British India: Serampore was sold to the British in 1839, and Tranquebar and most minor settlements in 1845 (11 October 1845 Frederiksnagore sold; 7 November 1845 other continental Danish India settlements sold); on 16 October 1868 all Danish rights to the Nicobar Islands, which since 1848 had been gradually abandoned, were sold to Britain.

See also [edit]

Fort Dansborg at Tranquebar was established in 1620.

Notes and references [edit]

  1. ^ Ravn Rasmussen, Peter (1996). "Tranquebar: The Danish East India Company 1616 -1669". University of Copenhagen. 
  2. ^ Felbæk, Ole (1990). Den danske Asienhandel 1616-1807: Værdi og Volumen. pp. 320–324. 
  3. ^ Poddar, Prem (2008). A Historical Companion to Postcolonial Literatures: Continental Europe and Its Empires. Edinburgh University Press. p. 99. ISBN 9780748623945. 
  4. ^ FeldbæK, Ole (1986). "The Danish trading companies of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, Scandinavian Economic History Review". Scandinavian Economic History Review 34 (3): 204–218. 
  5. ^ Singh, Simron Jit (2003). "The Danes in the Nicobars". Sea of Influence - a world system perspective of the Nicobar Islands. Lund University. pp. 155–196. ISBN 91-628-5854-8. 
  6. ^ Larsen, Kay (1907). Volume 1 of Dansk-Ostindiske Koloniers historie: Trankebar. Jørgensen. pp. 167–169. 
  7. ^ Bredsdorff, Asta (2009). The Trials and Travels of Willem Leyel: An Account of the Danish East India Company in Tranquebar, 1639-48. Museum Tusculanum Press. p. 13. ISBN 9788763530231. 
  8. ^ Of the 18 ships that departed from Denmark between 1622 and 1637, only 7 returned. Kay Larsen: Trankebar, op.cit., p.30-31.
  9. ^ Brdsgaard, Kjeld Erik (2001). China and Denmark: Relations Since 1674. NIAS Press. pp. 9–11. ISBN 9788787062718. 
  10. ^ Jeyaraj, Daniel (2006). "Trancquebar Colony: Indo-Danish Settlement". Bartholomus Ziegenbalg, the Father of Modern Protestant Mission: An Indian Assessment. ISPCK. pp. 10–27. ISBN 9788172149208. 
  11. ^ Lach, Donald (1993). Trade, missions, literature, Volume 3. University of Chicago Press. p. 92. ISBN 9780226467535. 
  12. ^ Feldbæk, Ole (1981). The Organization and Structure of the Danish East India, West India and Guinea Companies in the 17th and 18th Centuries. Leiden University Press. p. 140. 
  13. ^ Lach, Donald (1993). Trade, missions, literature, Volume 3. University of Chicago Press. p. 92. ISBN 9780226467535. 
  14. ^ Sharma, Suresh K. (2004). Leiden University Press. Mittal Publications. ISBN 9788170999591. 

External links [edit]

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