Valby Expedition of January 1644 | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Part of Dano-Mughal War | |||||||
A Bengali vessel, by Frans Balthazar Solvyns | |||||||
| |||||||
Belligerents | |||||||
Danish India | Bengal Subah | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Willem Leyel | Abdul Gany (POW) | ||||||
Units involved | |||||||
Valby [lower-alpha 1] | Unknown | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
1 ship | 1 ship 7 men 34 slaves | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
None | 7 imprisoned |
The Valby Expedition of January 1644 (Danish : Valbys ekspedition af Januar 1644), also sometimes spelled Valdebye, was a Danish privateering expedition against Bengali merchants in the Bay of Bengal in January 1644.It is one of the first expedition that penetrated Bengal. The expedition was led by the Governor of Danish India, Willem Leyel, and executed by the sloop Valby. Leyel managed to seize a Bengali vessel, which included 34 slaves and seemingly converted them to Christianity.
Because of previous cargo losses, the Danish East India Company declared war on the Mughal Empire in 1642 and began conducting a series of private ventures against Bengali merchants. [1] These expeditions would continue for a couple of years and proved useful for sustaining the Company's finances. [2]
In January 1644, after returning from a privateering venture, the Valby was sent on another expedition by Governor Willem Leyel. [3] [4] The new expedition brought a prize with a load of Bengali linen, pepper, a small amount of ambergris and some Chinese silk. [3] The captain of the vessel, Abdul Gany, and six other Moorish merchants were subsequently imprisoned. [4] Additionally, 34 slaves were on board, most of which being children. All were carefully registered by the Danes and presumably baptized with Christian names. [5] [6]
The slaves were presumably sold according to oral tradition, however, the consequences for Gany and the likely Muslim Moorish merchants are unknown. [6] Possibilities includes being sold or held to ransom. [5] [6]
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 Danish rescue mission to Pipli refers to a rescue mission by the Danish East India Company to rescue, then recently, imprisoned Danes from Mughal imprisonment at the trading station of Pipely. The mission was successful and the six imprisoned Danes were freed. The mission can also be referred to as the Mission to pipli.
The Capture of The Bengali Prize, 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.
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.
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 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.
The Tranquebar Rebellion also known as the TranquebarMutiny was a bloodless mutiny and uprising against the governor of Tranquebar, Willem Leyel, at Tranquebar in 1648. The mutineers succeeded in arresting Leyel, and he would be replaced by the leader of the rebellion, Paul Hansen Korsør.
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.
The frigate and man-of-war Flensborg, or Flensburg, was a Danish East Indiaman sent on 2 December 1629 to Tranquebar as the third cargo to India. However, it was blown up by the Portuguese off the Cape of Good Hope in 1630.
The Dano-Carical Conflict 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.
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.