Danish India

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Danish India
Dansk Ostindien
1620–1869
Flag of Danish India
Flag
Danish settlements in India
Danish settlements in India
Status
CapitalFort Dansborg
Common languagesDanish, Telugu, Tamil, Hindi, Bengali,
King of Denmark (and Norway until 1814) 
• 1620–1648
Christian IV
• 1863–1869
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 eraColonial period
• Established
1620
• Disestablished
1869
CurrencyDanish Indian Rupee
Succeeded by
Company rule in India
British Raj
Today part ofIndia

Danish India (Danish: Dansk Ostindien) was the name given to the colonies of Denmark (Denmark–Norway before 1814) in the Indian subcontinent, forming part of the Danish overseas colonies. Denmark–Norway held colonial possessions in India for more than 200 years, including the town of Tharangambadi 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 and Norwegian presence in India was of little significance to the major European powers as they presented neither a military nor a mercantile threat.[1] Dano-Norwegian ventures in India, as elsewhere, were typically undercapitalised and never able to dominate or monopolise trade routes in the same way that British, French, and Portuguese ventures could.[2][3]

Treaty signed between Christian IV of Denmark and Boshouwer (on behalf of Adahasin) in 1618. According to Adahasin, Boshouwer was not authorised to sign such a treaty on his behalf, hence it was null and void. Subsequently, the Danes demanded that the king honor the contract. The king failed to do so, and hence a new treaty was signed, granting Trincomalee to the Danish.[4]

Despite these disadvantages, the Danish-Norway concerns managed to cling to their colonial holdings and, at times, to carve out a valuable niche in international trade by exploiting wars between larger countries and offering foreign trade under a neutral flag.[5][6] For this reason their presence was tolerated for many years until the rise of British imperial power led to the sale of all Danish holdings in India to Britain during the nineteenth century.

History