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Danish Asiatic Company

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Not to be confused with Danish East Asiatic Company.
Danish Colonial Merchant Ensign of India

Danish Asiatic Company (Danish: Asiatisk Kompagni) was a Danish trading company established in 1730 to revive Danish-Norwegian trade on the Danish East Indies and China following the closure of the Danish East India Company.[1] It was granted a 40-year monopoly on Danish trade on Asia in 1732 and taken over by the Danish government in 1772. It was headquartered at Asiatisk Plads in Copenhagen. Its former premises are now used by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

History

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Cronprintz Christian seen on the front page from the ship journal from its 1730-31 voyage to China.

The Danish East India Company was dissolved in 1729. Some of Copenhagen's leading merchants responded to the dissolution of the Danish East India Company by creating two trading societies, one for the Indian trade and another one for the new and promising China trade. On 20 April 1730, the two societies were merged to form the Danish Asiatic Company. The reformed interim company opened trade with Qing China at Canton. The first expedition went badly, with Den gyldne Løve lost with its cargo of silver off Ballyheigue, Ireland, on the outbound journey. Local landowners held the silver at their estate and pursued a salvage claim, but a gang of locals overpowered the Danish guard and made off with the hoard, causing a diplomatic row between Denmark-Norway and Britain.[2] The Cron Printz Christian returned from the company's first successful expedition to Canton in 1732.

With the royal licence conferred in 1732, the new company was granted a 40-year monopoly on all Danish trade east of the Cape of Good Hope. Before 1750, it sent 27 ships; 22 survived the journey to return to Copenhagen.[2] In 1772, the company lost its monopoly and in 1779, Danish India became a crown colony.

During the Napoleonic Wars, in 1801 and again in 1807, the British Royal Navy attacked Copenhagen. As a consequence of the last attack (in which the entire Dano-Norwegian navy was captured), Denmark (one of few Western European countries not occupied by Napoleon), ceded the island of Heligoland (part of the Duchy of Holstein-Gottorp) to Britain. In the east, when news of Anglo-Danish hostilities reached India, the British immediately seized seven Danish merchant ships on 28 January 1808 that were in the Hoogli.[3] Denmark finally sold its remaining settlements in mainland India in 1845 and the Danish Gold Coast in 1850, both to the British.

Management

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Presidents

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Board of directors

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Members of the board of directors included:

Fleet

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Details of some of these armed trading ships, often built by the Royal Danish dockyards as "handelskib, chinafarer", can be found at the Royal Danish Naval Museum website[4] Two have a history record at Skibregister.[5]

Further reading

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References

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  1. ^ Glamann, Kristof (1960). "The Danish Asiatic Company, 1732–;1772". Scandinavian Economic History Review. 8 (2): 109–149. doi:10.1080/03585522.1960.10411426.
  2. ^ a b Foreningen Trankebar. "Brev fra England Archived 16 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine".
  3. ^ "No. 16982". The London Gazette. 7 February 1815. p. 219.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Royal Danish Naval Museum -List of Danish Warships
  5. ^ Royal Danish Naval Museum - Skibregister
  6. ^ a b c d e f Klem p 220
  7. ^ a b c d e Klem p 222
  8. ^ Record card for Fyen
  9. ^ a b c d Klem p 224
  10. ^ Klem p 226
  11. ^ a b Klem p 228
  12. ^ a b Klem p 232
  13. ^ a b Klem p 234
  14. ^ Record card for Den Gloende

Citations

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