Capture of Tranquebar (1801)

The Capture of Tranquebar (Overtagelsen af Trankebar) or the Surrender of Tranquebar (Overgivelsen af Trankebar) was a British takeover of the capital of Danish India, Tranquebar. The capture was quick and successful, with the Dano-Norwegian governor, Peter Anker, surrendering within the arrival of the British.

Background
During the French Revolutionary Wars in 1800 and early-1801 rising tensions between Denmark–Norway and the United Kingdom arose. The Danish colony of Tranquebar subsequently therefore received the intelligence of the rising tensions between the two nations, and Danish merchants therefore sold their ships in order for them not to end up in British hands. Governor of Tranquebar, Peter Anker, realized that a defense on a hypothetical British attack would by hopeless, and he therefore had already begun preparing for a capitulation.

Capture
In May 1801 the English Governor-General of India, Richard Wellesley, got orders from Britain to occupy the Danish colonies, and on the 12 May two English shis anchored with 200 men on the coast of Tranquebar. Concurrently a force from Madras marched to Tranquebar to besiege the city. According to Peter Anker, the British forces were too strong to stand a change against, especially considering the poor conditions the fortifications had. When the British encouraged Anker to surrender, he therefore quickly consented and sent his Instrument of Surrender to the British command.

On the same day the British occupied Fort Dansborg and hoisted the Union Jack there. The three Danish ships in the habour were followingly seized.

Aftermath
Despite the Danish instrument of surrender were favourable for the Danes, the British still accepted. According to the capitulation Danish laws were acknowledged, and all public cases would be settled by the Danes, migrants would preserve their protection and the Danish officers should have the same wages as British. Only a British inspector would be installed to keep track of the economy.

Some months after the surrender Anker received orders from Denmark to make the colony ready for an English attack, and to protect it to the utmost, yet Anker had already issued a surrender. On the 17 August 1802 Tranquebar was given back to Denmark.