| Tharangambadi | |
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| Country |  India |
| State | Tamil Nadu |
| District(s) | Nagapattinam |
| Population | 20,841 (2001[update]) |
| Time zone | IST (UTC+5:30) |
Coordinates: 11°02′N 79°50′E / 11.03°N 79.84°E
Tharangambadi (or Tranquebar) is a panchayat town in Nagapattinam district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It was a Danish colony in India from 1620-1845. It is spelled Trankebar or Tranquebar in Danish, which came from the native Tamil, Tarangambadi, meaning "place of the singing waves".
It is located in Nagapattinam district, about 100 km south of Pondicherry, near the mouth of a distributary of Kaveri river.
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Geography
Tharangambadi is located at 11°02′N 79°50′E / 11.03°N 79.84°E.[1]
History
It was founded by the Danish East India Company in 1620 when the main fort in Trankebar city, known as Fort Dansborg, was built by a Danish captain named Ove Gjedde as the residence of the governor and other officials for about 150 years. It is now a museum hosting a collection of artefacts from the time of Danish presence in the region. A Danish factory (commercial settlement) was opened here as early as 1620.
Tranquebar was controlled by the British in 1801 due to the Napoleonic Wars in Europe, and restored to Denmark following the Kiel Peace in 1814. It was sold, along with the other Danish settlements in India, Serampore and the Nicobars, to Great Britain in 1845.
In Danish times Tranquebar was a busy port, but it lost its importance when the railway was opened to Nagapattinam.
The first Protestant missionaries to set foot in India were two Lutherans from Germany, Bartholomäus Ziegenbalg and Heinrich Pluetschau, who began work in 1705 in the Danish settlement of Tranquebar. They translated the Bible into the local Tamil language, and afterwards into Hindustani. They made little progress at first, but gradually the mission spread to Madras, Cuddalore and Tanjore. Today bishop of Tranquebar is the official title of a bishop in the Tamil Evangelical Lutheran Church (TELC) in South India which was founded in 1919 as a result of the German Lutheran Leipzig Mission and Church of Sweden Mission. The seat of the Bishop, the Cathedral and its Church House ("Tranquebar House") is in Tiruchirappalli.
Moravian Brethren missionaries from Herrnhut, Saxony established the Brethren's Garden at Porayar near Tranquebar as a missionary center for a number of years. The Italian Catholic, Father Constanzo Beschi, who worked from 1711 to 1740, found himself in conflict with the Lutheran pioneers at Tranquebar, against whom he wrote several polemical works.
The churches as well as the fort and the city gates are being restored for tourism.
Demographics
As of 2001[update] India census[2], Tharangambadi had a population of 20,841. Males constitute 48% of the population and females 52%. Tharangambadi has an average literacy rate of 74%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 79%, and female literacy is 69%. In Tharangambadi, 10% of the population is under 6 years of age.
Gallery
 Danish and other colonial settlements in India |
 Tranquebar, about 1600. |
 Bartholomäus Ziegenbalg monument in Tranquebar |
See also
References
- ^ "Yahoo maps location of Tharangambadi". Yahoo maps. http://maps.yahoo.com/#mvt=m&lat=11.02779&lon=79.84306&zoom=13&q1=Tharangambadi%252C%2520Nagapattinam%252C%2520Tamil%2520Nadu. Retrieved on 2008-12-21.
- ^ "Census of India 2001: Data from the 2001 Census, including cities, villages and towns (Provisional)". Census Commission of India. Archived from the original on 2004-06-16. http://web.archive.org/web/20040616075334/http://www.censusindia.net/results/town.php?stad=A&state5=999. Retrieved on 2008-11-01.
Sources, references and external links
- WorldStatesmen- India
- Photos of Tranquebar
- National Institute of Oceanography: Mahabalipuram and Poompuhar
- trankebar.net
- Tranquebar: The Danish East India Company 1616-1669
- Coins of Danish India
- "Conversations in Tarangambadi: Caring for the Self in Early Eighteenth Century South India" von Eugene F. Irschick
- This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica, Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
- This article incorporates text from the public-domain Catholic Encyclopedia of 1913. passim
- 'Sepoy Mutiny'-article by Maggy G. Menachery in St. Thomas Christian Encyclopaedia of India, 1982 & passim
- Tranquebar at colonialvoyage.com
- Danish Colonial Remains at colonialvoyage.com
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