On the edge of the Bay of Bengal in South India is a town whose name in the local language sounds as mellifluous as its meaning: Tharangambadi, or “land of the singing waves”.
But in the early 17th Century, this tongue twister of a name proved too difficult for the incoming Danes, who altered it to Tranquebar, by which it is still known to this day.
Although most people have heard of India’s French colony of Pondicherry, it’s little known that the Danes colonised part of India – especially a corner far removed from the major trading cities of Chennai, Kolkata and Mumbai.
The Danish East India company, created in 1616 under King Christian IV for trade with India and Ceylon, had its eye on the Coromandel Coast in India’s southeast for its pepper and cardamom. Full story...
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But in the early 17th Century, this tongue twister of a name proved too difficult for the incoming Danes, who altered it to Tranquebar, by which it is still known to this day.
Although most people have heard of India’s French colony of Pondicherry, it’s little known that the Danes colonised part of India – especially a corner far removed from the major trading cities of Chennai, Kolkata and Mumbai.
The Danish East India company, created in 1616 under King Christian IV for trade with India and Ceylon, had its eye on the Coromandel Coast in India’s southeast for its pepper and cardamom. Full story...
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