page_title: Danish India
section_title: Legacy
hierarchical_section_title: Danish India / Legacy
caption_attribution_description: Norsk nynorsk: Festningen Dansborg i Trankebar, no Tharangambadi, i Tamil Nadu English: Fort Dansborg in Tranquebar, now Tharangambadi, in Tamil Nadu
context_page_description: Danish India was the name given to the colonies of Denmark in India, forming part of the Danish colonial empire. Denmark–Norway held colonial possessions in India for more than 200 years, including the town of Tharangambadi in present-day Tamil Nadu state, Serampore in present-day West Bengal, and the Nicobar Islands, currently part of India's union territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The Danish and Norwegian presence in India was of little significance to the major European powers as they presented neither a military nor a mercantile threat. Dano-Norwegian ventures in India, as elsewhere, were typically undercapitalised and never able to dominate or monopolise trade routes in the same way that British, French, and Portuguese ventures could.
  Danish - Norway concerns managed to cling to their colonial holdings and, at times, to carve out a valuable niche in international trade by taking advantage of wars between larger countries and offering foreign trade under a neutral flag.
context_section_description: After the Danish - Norwegian colony of Tranquebar was ceded to the British, it lost its special trading status and had its administrative roles transferred to Nagapattinam. The town rapidly dwindled in importance, although the expansion of the British into South India led to Tranquebar becoming a hub for missionary activity for some time and a place particularly known for training native priests. By the end of the 19th century, the mission established by Ziegenbalg was functioning entirely independently and lives on today as the Tamil Evangelical Lutheran Church.
  Now primarily a fishing village, the legacy of the Dano-Norwegian colonial presence is entirely local but can be seen in the architecture of the small town that lies within the boundaries of the old (and long gone) city walls. In fact, journalist Sam Miller describes the town as the most recognisably European of the former colonial settlements.
  Although only a handful of colonial buildings can be definitely dated to the Danish era, many of the town's residential buildings are in classical styles that would not be dissimilar to those of the era and that contribute to the historic atmosphere. The remaining Danish - Norwegian buildings include a gateway inscribed with a Danish Norwegian Royal Seal, a number of colonial bungalows, two churches and principally – the Dansborg Fort, constructed in 1620. The Dansburg Fort was declared a protected monument by the Government of Tamil Nadu in 1977 and now houses a museum dedicated to the Danes Norwegian in India.
  There are no known descendants of the Danish Norwegian  settlers in or around the town. Since 2001, Danes have been active in mobilising volunteers and government agencies to purchase and restore Danish colonial buildings in Tranquebar.  St. Olav's Church, Serampore still stands.
  In 2017 a major heritage restoration project commenced in Serampore, West Bengal.
caption: Fort Dansborg at Tranquebar was established in 1620.
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