The Danish East India Company[1] (
Danish: Ostindisk Kompagni[2]) refers to two separate Danish-Norwegian
chartered companies. The first company operated between 1616 and 1650. The second company existed between 1670 and 1729, however, in 1730 it was re-founded as the Asiatic Company (
Danish: Asiatisk Kompagni).
First company
The first Danish East India Company was chartered in 1616 under
King Christian IV and focused on trade with
India.
The first expedition, under Admiral
Gjedde, took two years to reach
Ceylon, losing more than half their crew. The island had been claimed by
Portugal by the time they arrived but on 10May 1620, a treaty was concluded with the
Kingdom of Kandy and the foundation laid of a settlement at
Trincomalee on the island's east coast.[3] They occupied the colossal
Koneswaram temple in May 1620 to begin fortification of the peninsula before being
expelled by the Portuguese.[4] After landing on the Indian mainland, a treaty was concluded with the ruler of the
Tanjore Kingdom,
Raghunatha Nayak, who gave the Danes possession of the town of
Tranquebar, and permission to trade in the kingdom by treaty of 19November 1620.[3] In Tranquebar they established
Dansborg and installed Captain Crappe as the first governor (opperhoved) of
Danish India.[5] The treaty was renewed on 30July 1621, and afterwards renewed and confirmed on the 10May 1676, by
Shivaji the founder of the
Maratha Empire.[3]
During their heyday, the Danish East India Company and
Swedish East India Company imported more tea than the
British East India Company, smuggling 90% of it into
England, where it could be sold at a huge profit. Between 1624-36, Danish trade extended to
Surat,
Bengal,
Java, and
Borneo, with
factories in
Masulipatam, Surat,
Balasore and at Java, but subsequent European wars in which Denmark participated ruined the Company, and trade in India ceased entirely between 1643–69, during which time all previous acquisitions were lost except Tranquebar, which held out until aid from Denmark arrived in 1669.[3]
Second company, and the Asiatic Company
In 1670, a second Danish East India Company was established, before it too was dissolved in 1729. In 1730, it was refounded as the Asiatic Company and opened trade with
Qing China at
Canton. The first expedition went badly, with Den gyldne Løve lost with its cargo of silver off
Ballyheigue,
Ireland, on the outbound journey. Local landowners held the silver at their estate and pursued a salvage claim, but a gang of locals overpowered the Danish guard and made off with the hoard, causing a diplomatic row between Denmark-Norway and
Britain.[6] With the royal licence conferred in 1732, the new company was granted a 40-year monopoly on all Danish trade east of the
Cape of Good Hope. Before 1750, it sent 27 ships; 22 survived the journey to return to Copenhagen.[6] In 1772, the company lost its monopoly and in 1779, Danish India became a
crown colony.
During the
Napoleonic Wars, in 1801 and again in
1807, the British
Royal Navy attacked Copenhagen. As a consequence of the last attack (in which the entire Dano-Norwegian navy was captured), Denmark (one of few Western European countries not occupied by
Napoleon), ceded the island of
Heligoland (part of the Duchy of
Holstein-Gottorp) to
Britain. In the east, when news of Anglo-Danish hostilities reached India, the British immediately seized seven Danish merchant ships on 28 January 1808 that were in the Hoogli.[7] Denmark finally sold its remaining settlements in mainland India in 1845 and the
Danish Gold Coast in 1850, both to the British.
Christianshavn (8 November 1639, Willem Leyel left
Denmark for
Tranquebar as commander of this ship)[8]
Flyvende Ulv (Departure from
Copenhagen 1682 with Axel Juhl, who was appointed governor of
Tranquebar later the same year. Departure from
Copenhagen 1685 with Wollf Heinrich v. Calnein, governor of
Tranquebar 1687)[9]
Cron Printz Christian (Cron Printzen) and Den gyldne Løve (1730–31, the Tønder expedition that opened trade with China - Den gyldne Løve was shipwrecked in Ireland)
Holsten (I), renamed from Det Store Bælt, declared unseaworthy and condemned at Mauritius in 1807[15]
Holsten (II) purchased in 1806 from the French at Mauritius and renamed to replace Holsten (I).[16] Seized by the British (
HMS Modeste (1793),
HMS Terpsichore (1785) and HMS Dasher) on the
Hooghly in January 1808.[17] Six other Danish ships were seized at the same time
^Jensen, Uno Barner (1997). Danish East India, Trade Coins and the Coins of Tranquebar: 1620 - 1845. Barner Jensen.
ISBN9788798368236., pp. 11-12; Furber, Holden (1986). Imperi rivali nei mercati d'Oriente, 1600-1800. Il Mulino.
ISBN9788815011985., note n° 66, p. 326: "
Senarat of Kandy sent to Trincomalee 60 Sinhala men in order to help the Danes in the construction of their fort. During their permanence in Trincomalee, the Danesh coined also some "Larins", on which were recorded the words 'Don Erich Grubbe', of these coins, today do not remain trace, if not in the diary of Ove Giedde."