Cauvery Basin: The Danish port of 17th century at Tarangambadi

Tarangambadi is an old Danish port established in 1620 in the fan of the cauvery's delta. King Christian IV of Denmark wanted a share in the profitable network of trade that other countries like England, Portugal, and Holland were reaping such rewards from. The Danes made a treaty with the local ruler Ragunath Nayak to colonise what they came to call Tranquebar and made it the headquarters of the Danish East India Company. King Christian's resources though were small and despite the fledgling colony setting up two routes trading in pepper and cloves their profits were also small. In the early 1640's the new king Fredrick III was more worried about war in Europe and so trade with Denmark stopped and the colony was all but forgotten for thirty years.
In 1669 trade was resumed and reinforcements were sent along with Lutheran missionaries. It is largely during this period, the late seventeenth to eighteenth centuries, that the now somewhat decayed baroque town gate with its Danish coat of arms and once grand houses and churches along King Street were built. After the Napoleonic wars Denmark's finances were in bad shape so they sold the colony to the British East India Company.

When I went the town was largely deserted except for a few fishermen mending their nets and children who tried to sell me old Danish coins. The New Jerusalem Church built in 1718 was still in use and is thought to be the first Lutheran mission in India, but is more famous for the missionary Bartholomaus Zigenbalg who translated the bible into Tamil and in doing so brought the printed word to India. On the north side of a large square is the once imposing colonnaded Governor's bungalow where he lived but most extraordinary was the still impressive Dansborg Fort. This example of Scandinavian military architecture seemed the perfect icon for this rare outpost of Danish culture in the Indian Ocean.