Dano-Carical Conflict
| Dano-Karaikal Conflict | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Dutch boats in the nearby Negapatnam, by Jan Kip | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Danish India |
 Portuguese India Dutch India | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
|
Anders Nielsen Simon Jansen (POW) |
Unknown adigar | ||||||
| Units involved | |||||||
|
Valby |
Lis | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
|
6 soldiers 4 ships 1 sampan |
3 ships 3 sampans 2 ships | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
|
1 dead 2 wounded 1 sampan |
Many 1 sampan | ||||||
The Dano-Carical Conflict[a] (Danish: Konflikten mod Carical) was a small-scale conflict between the Danes at Tranquebar and the Portuguese at Carical (Karaikal). The conflict includes three smaller naval engagements, which eventually led to a four-hour-long imprisonment of Danish Captain Simon Jansen.
Prelude
[edit]In 1643, the Danes, who had been in possession of Tranquebar since 1620,[1] seized a sampan from the Portuguese at Carical (Karaikal). This resulted in the Portuguese wanting to restore the military balance, and this would lead to three hostile incidents between Tranquebar and Carical.[2]
Conflict
[edit]In October 1644, the Governor of Danish India, Willem Leyel, received a letter from the commander of Fort Dansborg, Anders Nielsen about a Portuguese seizure of a Danish sampan.[2][3]
First incident
[edit]According to Nielsen, the sampan, which belonged to a citizen of Tranquebar, was on its way home from Ceylon, when it was attacked by three Portuguese vessels off Carical.[3] The Portuguese carried the sampan with them and the owner of the sampan complained to Nielsen.[2][3]
Second incident
[edit]Despite having no Danish vessels to pursue the Portuguese, Nielsen set off to Carical in an Indian vessel with three white and three Indian soldiers.[2] However, the same three ships that had seized the sampan now appeared again and launched fire upon Nielsen's vessel, where he had to retreat.[2][3]
Nielsen then wrote a letter to the Carical authorities, threatening to get revenge when he could.[2][3] In response, the adrigar (a town clerk) responded that they just wanted to restore the balance from the Danish seizure of a Portuguese sampan the year before.[2][4] However, Neilsen refuted this claim as pure nonsense.[2][4]
Third incident
[edit]In February 1645, the Valby arrived at Tranquebar, and it, together with Simon Jansen, was sent to Carical to revenge the previous attacks.[5] Jansen seized two sampans lying in the roads, however, two Dutch ships lay at anchor there.[6][5] The Dutch crews boarded the Valby and Simon Jansen was brought to Carical as a prisoner.[6]
Aftermath
[edit]Jansen would stay as a prisoner for roughly four hours until the sampans he had seized got to safety.[6][5] No further hostilities would occur between the two towns, however, it was known that Carical had supported the Indian general, Tiagepule in his war on Tranquebar.[6]
See also
[edit]- Conquest of Koneswaram Temple – Colonial controntation between the Portuguese and the Danish
- Sinking of the Flensborg – Danish East Indiaman
- Sieges of Tranquebar (1655–1669) – Sieges in Tranquebar, India 1655–1669
- Roland Crappé's raids on Portuguese colonies – Danish raids in India and Sri Lanka, 1619
Notes
[edit]- ^ Alternative names include: Dano-Carical War, Dano-Karaikal Conflict, Dano-Karaikal War, Danish-Carical War, Danish-Karaikal War, Danish-Carical Conflict, and the Danish-Karaikal Conflict.
References
[edit]- ^ "Tranquebar, 1620-1845". danmarkshistorien.dk (in Danish). Retrieved 2024-06-19.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Bredsdorff 2009, p. 137.
- ^ a b c d e Bredsdorff 1999, p. 140.
- ^ a b Bredsdorff 1999, p. 141.
- ^ a b c Bredsdorff 1999, p. 145.
- ^ a b c d Bredsdorff 2009, p. 141.
Works cited
[edit]- Bredsdorff, Asta (2009). The Trials and Travels of Willem Leyel. Copenhagen: Museum Tusculanum Press. ISBN 9788763530231.
- Bredsdorff, Asta (1999). Søhistoriske Skrifter (PDF) (in Danish). Vol. XXI. Copenhagen: Handels- og Søfartsmuseet Kronborg.
- Leyel, Willem (1644). Rentekammerafdelingen: Willum Leyels arkiv (1639 - 1648) (in Danish). Danske Kancelli.
