Capture of The Bengali Prize | |||||||
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Part of the Dano-Mughal War | |||||||
![]() A large Bengali vessel, by Frans Balthazar Solvyns | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
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Commanders and leaders | |||||||
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Units involved | |||||||
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Strength | |||||||
2 ships | 1 ship | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
Unknown | 1 ship |
The Capture of The Bengali Prize (Danish : Kapre af den bengalske prise), or the Seizure of The Bengali Prize, was a Danish capture and seizure of a larger Bengali vessel in late 1642 in the Bay of Bengal. The capture is known to be the first confrontation of the Dano-Mughal War, after the formal declaration of war.
Danish India had since its creation in 1620 suffered from financial difficulties. The financial situation resulted from the loss of the Jupiter in 1640 and the Nightingale (Nattergalen) in 1626, which the Danes blamed on the Bengalis. [1] Being appalled, Governor Bernt Pessart sent a formal declaration of war in 1642. [2]
Immediately after declaring war, as early as the end of 1642, Pessart sent out two Danish privateering sloops, the Fortuna and the Valby, with cannons and crews to lookout for Bengali prizes. [3] In this way he hoped to recoup all his losses. [3]
Before the end of the year, the two Danish sloops seized a fairly large vessel from the Great Mogul, Shah Jahan. [3] The vessel was renamed Den Bengalske Prise (The Bengali Prize) [2] and escorted to Tranquebar, where it would be incorperated into the Danish East Indian fleet. [3]
This capture is the only documented Danish seizure of a Bengali vessel in 1642, likely explained by size of the vessel. [5]
At Tranquebar, The Bengali Prize was armed with guns from Fort Dansborg and served the company for a couple of years. [3] In late 1643, she participated in a voyage from Tranquebar to Masulipatnam, however, got wrecked off the coast of Emeldy by Governor Bernt Pessart. [6] [7]
Danish India was the name given to the forts and factories of Denmark in the Indian subcontinent, forming part of the Danish overseas colonies. 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 undercapitalized and never able to dominate or monopolize trade routes in the same way that British, French, and Portuguese ventures could.
The Dano-Mughal War, formally the Danish East India Company's War against the Mughal Empire, was a colonial and maritime conflict between the Mughal Empire and the Danish East India Company over trade commerce in the Bay of Bengal. Lasting from 1642 to 1698, the conflict has also been referred to by historians as the Dano-Bengali Thirty Years' War.
The Skirmish at Pipli or more formally the Destruction of the Danish factory at Pipli, was one of the two recorded land confrontations between the Danish East India Company and the Mughal Empire during the Dano-Mughal War. The Skirmish was a Mughal punitive expidition in retalition for the Danish arrest of a Persian merchant. The Skirmish ended in a Mughal victory, and the Danish factory in Pipli was destroyed and burned down.
The Loss of the St. Jacob, also referred to as the Seizure of the St. Jacob(beslaglæggelsen af St. Jacob), was a destruction and seizure of a Danish merchant ship, the St. Jacob, by local Bengali authorities. The loss and destruction of the ship and its crew, led to the Dano-Mughal War, which would last for 56 years.
The Dano-Mughal Treaty was a peace treaty between the Mughal Empire and Denmark–Norway ending the 56-year-long Dano-Mughal War.
The Siege of Dansborg alternatively the Siege of Fort Dansborg sometimes also referred to as Willem Leyel's siege of Dansborg, was a siege initiated by traveler and seafarer, Willem Leyel, against the men loyal to governor Bernt Pessart. The siege was concluded after the men at Dansborg opened the gates for Willem Leyel, surrendered, and accepted Leyel as the new governor.
The Siege of Dansborg or the Siege of Fort Dansborg, was a siege of the newly finished Danish fort of Dansborg in Trangebar in 1624. The siege was initiated by the nayak of Thanjavur, Raghunatha, because of the Danish rejection of the demands from the nayak. The Siege, laid by general Calicut, was abandoned after the arrival of Danish reinforcements from sea. The event is mostly described by Icelander, Jón Ólafsson, in his work The Life of the Icelander Jón Ólafsson, Traveller to India.
Willem Leyel or Willum Leyel was a Danish governor of Tranquebar and captain in the Royal Dano-Norwegian Navy.
The Skirmish at the Strait of Malacca was a skirmish in 1644 between the claimed governor of Tranquebar, Bernt Pessart, and the local authorities of Dutch Malacca. The confrontation led to the imprisonment or death of all of Pessart's crew and the confiscation of the vessel, Dend gode Haab. Although Pessart and his crew would later be released and cooperate with the Dutch to spy on the Spanish in Manila.
The Ambush near the Bay of Manila, alternatively the Death of Bernt Pessart, was an ambush by the Indigenous peoples of the Philippines, against a combined Dano-Dutch espionaging expeditionary force in 1645. The ambush led to the death of former governor and president of Danish India, Bernt Pessart.
The Sieges of Tranquebar or the War between Tranquebar and Thanjavur refers to the warfare between the Thanjavur Nayak kingdom and Danish Tranquebar between 1655 – 1669. The Thanjavurian sieges were repelled, mainly due to the new fortifications being built around Tranquebar, and a peace agreement was issued in 1669.
The Conflict between William Leyel and Bernt Pessart refers to the tensions and minor civil war between Willem Leyel and Bernt Pessart over the governorship of Tranquebar and the Danish East India Company. The conflict led to the escape of Bernt Pessart, and the command at Tranquebar accepted Willem Leyel as governor of Danish India.
The Capture of St. Michael or the Seizure of St. Michael, was a Danish seizure of a Bengali ship in the Bay of Bengal. The Danes captured the Bengali ship and the vessel was subsequently incorporated into the Danish Navy given the name St. Michael.
The Attack in 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.
The Battle of Balasore was an engagement between Bengali and English ships against Danish ships at Balasore. When the English failed to persuade the Danes, the Bengalis started attacking the English vessel, yet the English were rescued by the Dutch.
Roland Crappé or Roelant Crappé was a Dutch colonial official serving the Dutch and Danish East India Company. He became director general of the Ceylonese department of the Danish East India Company in 1618 and became commander in chief and governor of Tranquebar upon his seventh arrival in the Indies in 1624. During his leadership, new factories and offices were established and Danish trade went exceptionally well. He died in 1644 only a few years after his homecoming to Denmark.
Bernt Pessart, Berndt Pessart or Berent Pessart was a Dutch overhoved and self-proclaimed President of Danish India from 1636 to 1643. In his earlier years, he would serve the Dutch East India Company in Bantam, and in September 1636 he would land in Danish Tranquebar on the St. Jacob. Here he would serve the Danish East India Company until his deposure in 1643. His claim to being governor of Tranquebar, would lead to a confrontation known as the 1644 Skirmish at the Strait of Malacca with the local authorities of and end with the capture of Pessart and his crew. He again would serve the Dutch East India Company by espionage on the Spanish Philippines. He would die in June 1645 by an ambush of local natives near Manila.
The Expulsion of Danes from Balasore was a violent expulsion and ousting of the Danish East India Company from the Mughal habour and trading hub of Balasore in 1643 or 1644 by the local Mughal governor, Malik Beg.
Willem Leyel's war on Golconda, or simply the Dano-Golconda War, was a brief privateering war between Sultanate of Golkonda and the Danish East India Company led by Willem Leyel. The hostilities quickly resulted in a peace treaty and the two parties would soon reconcile.
Anders Nielsen was a Danish colonist and acting governor of Tranquebar from 1643 to 1648, in times when overhoved Willem Leyel was absent. During his service as acting governor of Tranquebar, Nielsen would defend the town from Thanjavurian General Tiagepule and support a mutiny against overhoved Leyel.