Willem Leyel's war on Golconda
| Willem Leyel's war on Golconda | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Elephant hunt in Danish Tranquebar, presumably early 19th century. | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
 Danish India |
 Golconda Sultanate | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
|
Willem Leyel |
Abdullah Qutb | ||||||||
| Units involved | |||||||||
|
Christianshavn |
Unknown | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| Ukn. amount of ships | Ukn. amount of ships | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| Negligible | Some ships | ||||||||
Willem Leyel's war on Golconda (Danish: Willem Leyels krig mod Golconda), or simply the Dano-Golconda War (Danish: Dansk-Golcondanske Krig), 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.
Background
[edit]During Bernt Pessart's time as overhoved of Danish India, Masulipatnam was the centre of the cotton trade and Pessart would rather prefer residing in Masulipatnam than Tranquebar.[1] Masulipatnam was originally an unimportant fishing village located in the Sultanate of Golconda, however, in the 17th century its commercial importance began to grow, and the Danes established a factory there.[2]
Prelude
[edit]Initially, the relations with the local sultan remained stable, and he had been eager to acquire cloves from the Danish Company.[3] However, as the company's finances suffered, the relations would deteriorate. By 1638, Pessart's debts in the trading town amounted to 35,000 pagodas.[4] In 1639 Dutch, English, and Danish agents in Masulipatnam had been ordered to present the sultan with a gift of 600,000 pagodas.[5] When the Danes could not deliver this, their trading post was ransacked.[6] In 1640, the St. Jacob wrecked off Masulipatnam. It was a serious blow to the company, and led Pessart's creditors to demand his imprisonment.[7]
Because of the financial situation, Christian IV sent Captain Willem Leyel to Dansborg to investigate the company's affairs.[8] When Leyel arrived he assumed Pessart's leadership, however, the conditions in Masulipatnam was still at place.[9]
War
[edit]The disordered state of affairs with regard to trade with the Sultanate of Golconda continued,[4] and Leyel was finally forced to declare war on Golconda.[10][4] Leyel initiated a blockade of Masulipatnam,[4] the biggest trading town in the Sultanate, and launched privateering ventures to the Coromandel Coast.[10][4] These ventures eventually led to the capture and seizure of a couple of Golcondian ships.[10] As a result, Leyel and the Golcondian sultan, Abdullah Qutb Shah, would agree to a peaceful settlement.[10][4]
Aftermath
[edit]This peace settlement put an end to the lucrative market, in which the Danish officers had been involved, and it may be assumed that this settlement caused a mutiny in Tranquebar in 1648.[10]
See also
[edit]- Dano-Mughal War – Danish colonial conflict against the Mughal Empire
- Bernt Pessart – 17th century Danish governor and president of Danish India from 1636–1643
- Golconda diamonds mining and trading
- Dano-Mughal Treaty – Treaty between the Mughal Empire and Denmark-Norway
References
[edit]- ^ "B. Pessart". foreningen-trankebar.dk. Retrieved 2024-07-10.
- ^ Bredsdorff 2009, p. 14.
- ^ Wirta 2018, p. 78.
- ^ a b c d e f Sethuraman 2016, p. 474.
- ^ Bredsdorff 2009, p. 73.
- ^ Bredsdorff 2009, p. 74.
- ^ Bredsdorff 2009, p. 75.
- ^ "1639 - 55 - www.foreningen-trankebar.dk". 123hjemmeside.dk (in Danish). Retrieved 2024-04-19.
- ^ Bredsdorff 2009, p. 91.
- ^ a b c d e "Den danske tropekoloni i Trankebar". www.aerenlund.dk. Retrieved 2024-07-10.
Works cited
[edit]- Bredsdorff, Asta (2009). The Trials and Travels of Willem Leyel. Copenhagen: Museum Tusculanum Press. ISBN 9788763530231.
- Sethuraman, N. (2016). The Danish East India Company From Establishment To The Epilogue (1616 – 1729) - A Historical Perspective. Salem: Tamil Nadu History Congress Proceedings.
- Wirta, K.H. (2018). Dark horses of business : overseas entrepreneurship in seventeenthcentury Nordic trade in the Indian and Atlantic oceans. Universiteit Leiden.