Sieges of Tranquebar (1655–1669)

The Sieges of Tranquebar (Danish; Belejringerne af Trankebar) or the War between Tranquebar and Thanjavur (Danish; Krigen mellem Trankebar og Tanjore) 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.

Background
In 1643 the vessel Christianshavn would arrive in Tranquebar with proclaimed governor, Willem Leyel.   Unbeknownst to the Danes in India would be that, this was the last ship from Denmark for 26 years: Because of the Dano-Swedish Wars Denmark did not have the means to send any new ship to India, so Tranquebar could therefore not be assisted from Denmark. This led to financial difficulties and a general lack of Danish manpower. 

In 1648 a mutiny broke out in Tranquebar and Leyel was subsequently arrested.  He was succeeded by Poul Hansen Korsør, who reigned until his death on 7 September 1655. Furthermore, the first Danish East India Company was dissestablished in 1650, and the number of Danes remained only a handful.

Arriving together with the Christianshavn in 1643, Eskild Andersen (Kongsbakke) now became the new governor of Tranquebar. Andersen would try to preserve the economy by regularly sending ships to Makassar and Bantam, and wage privateering against the Mughal Empire.

Sieges
The Nayak of the Thanjavur kingdom, Vijaya Raghava, had waged war against the Gingee and Madurai and therefore needed sufficient money. The Thanjavurians took advantage of a weakened Tranquebar and in 1655 demanded to raise the early tribute paid by Tranquebar. When Tranquebar failed to fulfill this demand Raghava sent a force to besiege Tranquebar. Though, Andersen defended the attack by the help of the local Indians: The number of Danish settlers in Tranquebar was very small, and it was therefore necessary to hire Portuguese mercenaries and Indian Sepoys to defend Fort Dansborg.

In 1660 a new siege was initiated, which would last nine months. In response Andersen started to fortify the whole town. Previously Dansborg had been the only fortified place, and the Inhabitants of Tranquebar would usually seek shelter in the fort. This was now changed, and all of Tranquebar was fortified. Andersen made the locals build a Curtain wall around the city, with four additional towers.

In May 1669 the 29-year-isolation was over with the arrival of the frigate Farø at Tranquebar. Færø arrived with soldiers and goods under the command of Henrik Eggers. As a result of Færø 's arrival peace was concluded with Vijaya Raghava.

Aftermath
As a result of the peace the nayak ceded the villages of Poreiar, Tillali and Erikutanchery, which greatly enlargened Tranquebar. Meanwhile, Færø would be sent to Java to reestablish trade connections with the local sultan.