Cattle War
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| Cattle War | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 A view of Tranquebar | |||||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
 DØK.svg){kind=small} French India |
 Thanjavur | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
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Hans Georg Krog Castonier Hesselberg † De leyrit Porcher |
Pratap Singh Perumal Naik | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
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137-147 Initially 650 (French relief force) Total: c. 800 |
2000[1]-4000[2] Cavalry 2000 men[2] Total: 4000-6000 | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| 71 killed[2] | Unknown | ||||||||
The Cattle War (Danish: Kvægkrigen) also commonly reffered to as the Perumal War or the Perumal Naik-War (Danish: Perumalkrigen/Perumal Naik-krigen)[3] was a colonial conflict between the Danish East India Company and the Thanjavur Maratha kingdom over the Danish governor Hans Georg Krog's expansionistic foreign policy. The conflict started over the raiding of Danish cattle by the local supervisor of a small land district, Perumal Naik.[1]
Background and prelude
Established in 1620 after a treaty between Ove Gjedde and Raghunatha Nayak, Fort Dansborg was the capital and center of commerce in Danish India[4] Surrounded on land by the Kingdom of Thanjavur, it was nessecary for the governor at Tranquebar to substain good relations with the Maharaja
On June the 25th 1750, a Danish proposal from governor Bonsach on the surrounding hinterland of Dansborg was published.[5] He proposed to the Nayak of Thanjavur that four nearby districts of an area of 60 km2 should surpass to the Danish Company[6] Bonsach hoped to gain financial profit from the districts.[7] The proposal was agreed upon with the Nayak and he mortaged the areas to the authority in Dansborg.[8] In return the Nayak of Thanjavur could get the areas back at any given time.
Six years later, in January 1756, the newly appointed local supervisor, Perumal Naik, was alleged by the Danes, to have raided the newly Danish land districts.[6] Nothing much came out of those raids. Yet again on June the 17th, same year, Naik raided and stole a herd of cattles, which belonged to a Danish district.[9] In response the Danish government in Tranquerbar sent a small force of Indian sepoys to retake the lost cattles, although they were driven back. Negotiations followed, with the Thanjavurians requesting to give the cattle back.
Instead the Danish governerate retaliated with a punitive expedition to capture the nearby village of Anandamangalam[6]
The confrontation
Danish attack
On the night of June the 19th, a contingent of the Danish corpes took the village. In the next couple of days the Danes continuesly fortified the pagoda, in the newly conquerd village.[6] concurrently forces of Perumal Naik attacked the Danish fortified positions. The confrontations where followed by prolonged negotiations, which did not provail.[9] Acording to governor Krog, Anandamangalam was a rightful property of the Danish East India Company, because of a previous pledging of the village to the company in 1743, and was thus not willing to surrender to village. The governorate at Dansborg unilaterally agreed to keep the village as indemnity for the stolen cattle[6]
The Vayak of Thanjavur was astonished that the Danes used violence instead of diplomacy and promised that Thanjavur was ready for war[6]
Thanjvurian response
On the 29th of June the Nayak and Perumal Naik were gathering troops, and demanded the withdrawal of Danish troops from Anandamangalam. The Danes stayed in the village to preserve their prestige.[9] On the same day the Danes inserted c. 60 men on the nearby village of Tillali. The Danes knew that their forces were weak and therefore seeked an alliance with France. A French relief force of 650 men was sent[2], but it was intercepted by the British before it could reach Tranquebar. The following day, 30th of June, a larger force of Perumal Naik's men, and reportedly also the regular army of Tanjore, launched an attack early in the morning.[6] The outpost in Tillali was overwhelmed[1] and almost all of the Danish forces were killed, including captain Hesselberg.[1] The confrontation at Tillali was followed up by minor skirmishes at Anandamangalam resulting in Danish retreatment to Tranquebar.
Aftermath
The Danes were militarily defeated, and no longer seeked to militarily expand their territorial presence in India. The Danes tried to make other european powers in the region join their course.[9]
They pressured the French with racism, stating that a white nation should never be beaten by a black nation and thereby hoping France would send futher help. They tried similarly with the Dutch and British stating that they must not assist "these pagans," but instead should help the Danes by "continuing our rightful weapons against these inhumans"[6]
Governor Krog also tried to get help from the Kingdom of Mysore, yet that proposal too was rejected. In reality there was no danger for the Danes, and on the 6th of July the forces of the vayak drew back to Thanjavur. Krog resigned in the same year, due to his military failure[10]
References
- ^ a b c d Gregersen, Hans (2018). Trankebar [Tranquebar] (in Danish). Forlag A/S. ISBN 9788711978337.
- ^ a b c d Larsen, Kay (1935). Danmarks Kolonier [Denmarks Colonies] (PDF) (in Danish). BRUGSFORENINGS-BLADET. p. 270.
- ^ Larsen, Kay (1940). GUVERNØRER RESIDENTER, KOMMANDANTER OG CHEFER [GOVERNORS RESIDENTS, COMMANDERS AND CHIEFS] (in Danish). Copenhagen.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ Ramadurai, Charukesi. "English - www.foreningen-trankebar.dk". 123hjemmeside.dk (in Danish). Retrieved 2024-02-14.
- ^ Klem, Knud (1943). DEN DANSKE OSTINDIE- OG KINAHANDEL [The Danish east Indian and China trade] (in Danish). Elsinore: HANDELS- OG SØFARTSMUSEET PAA KRONBORG. p. 78.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Christensen, Holger. "Det danske fredmstød i Indien i 1750-erne. Baggrund og forløb" (PDF).
- ^ Jensen, Niklas (16 July 2015). THE TRANQUEBARIAN SOCIETY. Det kongelige bibliotek. p. 10.
- ^ Larsen, Kay (1910). Historisk Tidsskrift, Ottende Række [Historical Journal, Eighth row] (PDF) (in Danish). den danske historiske Forening. p. 58.
- ^ a b c d Geisler, Jens (2018-08-01). "Kvægkrigen på Coromandelkysten 1756 -". milhist.dk (in Danish). Retrieved 2024-02-13.
- ^ Gaeffke, Peter; Strandberg, Elisabeth (April 1989). "The Moḍī Documents from Tanjore in Danish Collections". Journal of the American Oriental Society. 109 (2): 323. doi:10.2307/604459. ISSN 0003-0279. JSTOR 604459.