Template:Infobox military conflict The Attack in Hooghly (Danish; Angrebet i Hooghly) was a Danish attack on two Bengali ships during the Dano-Mughal War in 1671. The Danes succeeded in blowing up the Bengali ships, and violence continued off the coasts of Kalingapatnam and Balasore.
Background
In 1642 the Danish East India Company declared war on the Mughal Empire.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Because of the Dano-Swedish Wars Denmark did not have the means to send any ships to Danish India, and relations were subsequently cut.Template:Sfn Relations with Denmark were reestablished in 1669 together with a new Danish East India Company.Template:Sfn At this point the war against Bengal was approved by the Danish government, yet urged the Danes in India to sue for peace if advantageous.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn
In 1672 king Christian V of Denmark (Template:Abbr 1670–1699) requested compensation for the losses of Danish vessels, though this request was never fulfilled by the Mughals.Template:Sfn This, along with other factors, made the Danes increasingly brazen, and the Danes even attacked Bengal itself in 1671.Template:Sfn
Expedition to Bengal
In 1672 a Danish force of 6500 men were brought to Hooghly.Template:Sfn 1500 of the men was lost due to the sinking of a barge on the Ganges River.Template:Sfn The Danish East India Company sold most of their goods to two local Bengali merchants; Rangsordas and Sonderdas.Template:Sfn They sold their goods to them as a compromise not to trade with others for the next couple of months.Template:Sfn At Hooghly the Danes noticed two Bengali ships, which were returning from a voyage to Ceylon.Template:Sfn The ships were driven towards land near Hooghly, and the Danes subsequently blew the Bengali vessels up.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn
Aftermath
The renewed violence continued during the following years.Template:Sfn In 1673 the Danes took a large Bengali ship of 170 cargoes near Balasore, and transported it to Tranquebar. This also happened to another ship which was carrying Maldivian cowries the same year.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn
See also
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Notes
References
Works cited
- Ostindiske sager (1668 - 1699){{#if:Andersen|, Andersen}. Danske Kancelli(1669)
- The Trials and Travels of Willem Leyel{{#if:Bredsdorff|, Bredsdorff}. Museum Tusculanum Press(2009). ISBN 9788763530231
- Generale missiven van gouverneurs-generaal en raden aan heren XVII{{#if:Coolhaas|, Coolhaas}(2007)
- The Danish East India Company's War against the Mughal Empire, 1642-1698{{#if:Wellen|, Wellen}. Royal Netherlands Institute for Southeast Asian and Caribbean Studies(2015)
- Serampore var en glemt dansk koloni – mens den var koloni{{#if:Videnskab|, Videnskab}. Videnskab.dk(2018)