Dutch Colonization General Knowledge of Modern India
The inhabitants of Holland (present-day Netherlands) are called Dutch. After the Portuguese, the Dutch made their footsteps in India. Historically, the Dutch were well versed in the maritime trade. The United East India Company of the Netherlands was established in 1602 and was allowed by the Dutch government to trade with East India including India.
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Rise Of Dutch
In 1605, the Dutch established their first factory at Musalipatnam in Andhra Pradesh. Later they established their trading centers in other parts of India also. Dutch Surat and Dutch Bengal were established in 1616 and 1627 respectively. The Dutch conquered Ceylon from the Portuguese in 1656 AD and also captured the Portuguese forts on the Malabar Coast in 1671 AD. After conquering Nagapattinam from the Portuguese, the Dutch became very capable and found their feet in South India. He made huge profits from the economic point of view by establishing a monopoly on the trade of pepper and spices. Cotton, opium, indigo, silk and rice are the major Indian commodities traded by the Dutch.
Dutch Coins
The Dutch also tried their hand at coin minting during their stay in India. As his business grew, he established mints at Cochin, Musalipatnam, Nagapattinam, Pondicherry and Pulicat. Gold pagoda coins bearing the image of Lord Venkateswara (Lord Vishnu) were issued from the mint at Pulicat. All coins issued by the Dutch were based on samples of local coinage.
Fall Of Dutch Power
The presence of the Dutch on the Indian sub-continent lasted from 1605 AD to 1825 AD. The rise of British power in trade with the East posed a challenge to the trading interests of the Dutch resulting in bloody conflicts between the two. The British clearly won in these struggles as they had more resources. The brutal murder of some British merchants by the Dutch in Amboyna further worsened the situation. Almost all Dutch territories were annexed one after the other by the British.
Great defeat of Dutch power in Malabar Region
Dutch power in the Malabar region collapsed completely with the defeat of the Dutch East India Company at the Battle of Colachel in 1741 AD by King Marthanda Varma of Travancore in the midst of the Dutch-English conflict.
Treaties and conflicts with the British
Although the Dutch Coromandel and Dutch Bengal came under Dutch rule under the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1814 AD, they were again under British rule under the provisions of the Anglo-Dutch Treaty signed in 1824. It was made obligatory to transfer all the property and territories till 1 March 1825. By the middle of 1825, the Dutch had been deprived of all their trading areas in India. Under an agreement, the British withdrew themselves from trade with Indonesia on the basis of a mutual exchange method and in return the Dutch stopped their trade with India.
Danish Colonial Territory in India
Any person or thing related to Denmark is called Danish. Denmark maintained its colonies in India for about 225 years. The Danish settlements established in India included Trancobar (Tamil Nadu), Serampore (West Bengal) and Nicobar Islands.
Establishment of Danish trading monopoly
Marsalis de Boschauver, a Dutch adventurer, provided the impetus for Danish intervention in the Indian sub-continent. He wanted military cooperation against the Portuguese with the promise of a monopoly on all trade from the Allies. His appeal influenced King Christian IV of Denmark-Norway, who later issued a charter in 1616 that granted the Danish East India Company a twelve-year monopoly on trade between Denmark and Asia.
Danish Chartered Companies
There were two Danish chartered companies. The first company was the Danish East India Company, whose tenure lasted from 1616 AD to 1650 AD. The Danish East India Company and the Swedish East India Company together imported more tea from the British East India Company and sold most of it illegally to Britain at exorbitant profits. This company was merged in 1650 AD. The second company was active from 1670 AD to 1729 AD. It was re-established as the Asiatic Company in 1730 AD. In 1732 AD, it was granted a royal license and for the next forty years it was given a monopoly on Danish trade east of Asha Cape. Till 1750 AD, 27 ships were sent from India, out of which 22 ships successfully completed the journey and reached Copenhagen. But in 1722 AD the company lost its monopoly.
Serampore Mission Press
It is important to mention here that the establishment of Serampore Mission Press, which was a historic and epoch-making step, was done by Danish missionary in Serampore in 1799 AD. From 1801 to 1832, Serampore Mission Press printed 212,000 copies of books in 40 different languages.
The end of Danish settlements in India
During the Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815 AD), the British attacked Danish ships, destroyed the Danish East India Company's trade with India, and eventually captured Danish settlements and made them part of British India. The last Dutch settlement, Serampore, was transferred by Denmark to Britain in 1845.
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