Friendly relationship between Danish king and South Indian (Thanjavur) King in early 17th century
Day before yesterday's The Hindu newspaper (May 2, 2015) carried this article, The Indo-Danish connect, http://www.thehindu.com/features/magazine/the-indodanish-connect/article7164265.ece, which I shared with a Danish-American correspondent of mine. Thought it may be of interest to others too.
A few short extracts & comments:
[In response to what must have been a request from king Christian IV of Denmark, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_IV_of_Denmark, in the year 1620:] A letter by Raghunatha Nayak on a gold-foil asserts: “We order the creation of a port named Tharangampadi here and allow the export of pepper to that country (Denmark) as it is rare there.”
[Ravi: I had not really noted this part of South Indian history. The colony was known as Tranquebar in European history but is now known as Tharangambadi (its old Tamil name). Its wiki page, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tharangambadi, states, "It was a Danish colony from 1620 to 1845, and in Danish it is still known as Trankebar."
About the Hindu Tamil King Raghunatha Nayak, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raghunatha_Nayak: "Raghunatha Nayak was the third ruler of Thanjavur, southern India, from the Nayak dynasty. He ruled from 1600 to 1634 and is considered to be the greatest of the Thanjavur Nayak kings. His reign is noted for the attainments of Thanjavur in literature, art and Carnatic music." ... "Raghunatha's biographies note his generosity towards Brahmins. Raghunatha constructed a number of agraharas and gave costly gifts to poor Brahmins and the disabled. A 1604 inscription from Narattampoondi records Raghunatha's gift of the village of Kailasapuram for the upkeep of the Srirangam temple. He also gave lavish gifts to the Madhva pontiff, Vijayindra Tirtha, and the Sri Mutt in Kumbakonam."
About construction of agraharas (agraharam) mentioned above, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agraharam: "An Agraharam (Tamil: அக்கிறஹாரம்; Telugu: అగ్రహారం; Kannada: ಅಗ್ರಹಾರ; Malayalam: അഗ്രഹാരം) or Agrahara is the name given to the Brahmin quarter of a heterogenous village or to any village inhabited by Brahmins."]
...
[Danish archive letter states:] “Ragnato Naiche died early on 25 November 1626 and cremated the same day with 119 of his wives. His eldest son Rambadra succeeded him to the throne, and came with 100 men to the fortification of Dansburg (in Tranquebar)...”
[Ravi: Ragnato Naiche is Raghunatha Nayak. Ghastly that 119 wives of the South Indian (Tanjore/Thanjavur) king were cremated with him! An aside: 119 wives! This Hindu Tamil king of early 17th century seems to have fancied himself to be a real macho-type guy :-).]
...
[Addresee term used by King Christian IV of Denmark in letter to King Raghunatha Nayak of Thanjavur (Tanjore), dated April 11, 1631:] “The mighty, royal Prince Ramabadro Naico, King of Tanjore, our specially good friend!”
[Ravi: Very interesting that that Danish king in 1631 had a peer-to-peer kind of relationship with the Thanjavur/Tanjore king!]
...
An earlier extract about what the Portuguese did with the captured Danes (their enemy/competitor then): "Two of the heads were displayed on stakes to warn the enemies." [Ravi: So early 17th century Portuguese were as barbaric towards their European competitors/enemies, the Danes, as the parties involved in the Syrian conflict today! Barbarism in human history seems to transcend religion. Barbarism seems to be more related to warmongering humans than the religion they profess to follow.]
A few short extracts & comments:
[In response to what must have been a request from king Christian IV of Denmark, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_IV_of_Denmark, in the year 1620:] A letter by Raghunatha Nayak on a gold-foil asserts: “We order the creation of a port named Tharangampadi here and allow the export of pepper to that country (Denmark) as it is rare there.”
[Ravi: I had not really noted this part of South Indian history. The colony was known as Tranquebar in European history but is now known as Tharangambadi (its old Tamil name). Its wiki page, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tharangambadi, states, "It was a Danish colony from 1620 to 1845, and in Danish it is still known as Trankebar."
About the Hindu Tamil King Raghunatha Nayak, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raghunatha_Nayak: "Raghunatha Nayak was the third ruler of Thanjavur, southern India, from the Nayak dynasty. He ruled from 1600 to 1634 and is considered to be the greatest of the Thanjavur Nayak kings. His reign is noted for the attainments of Thanjavur in literature, art and Carnatic music." ... "Raghunatha's biographies note his generosity towards Brahmins. Raghunatha constructed a number of agraharas and gave costly gifts to poor Brahmins and the disabled. A 1604 inscription from Narattampoondi records Raghunatha's gift of the village of Kailasapuram for the upkeep of the Srirangam temple. He also gave lavish gifts to the Madhva pontiff, Vijayindra Tirtha, and the Sri Mutt in Kumbakonam."
About construction of agraharas (agraharam) mentioned above, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agraharam: "An Agraharam (Tamil: அக்கிறஹாரம்; Telugu: అగ్రహారం; Kannada: ಅಗ್ರಹಾರ; Malayalam: അഗ്രഹാരം) or Agrahara is the name given to the Brahmin quarter of a heterogenous village or to any village inhabited by Brahmins."]
...
[Danish archive letter states:] “Ragnato Naiche died early on 25 November 1626 and cremated the same day with 119 of his wives. His eldest son Rambadra succeeded him to the throne, and came with 100 men to the fortification of Dansburg (in Tranquebar)...”
[Ravi: Ragnato Naiche is Raghunatha Nayak. Ghastly that 119 wives of the South Indian (Tanjore/Thanjavur) king were cremated with him! An aside: 119 wives! This Hindu Tamil king of early 17th century seems to have fancied himself to be a real macho-type guy :-).]
...
[Addresee term used by King Christian IV of Denmark in letter to King Raghunatha Nayak of Thanjavur (Tanjore), dated April 11, 1631:] “The mighty, royal Prince Ramabadro Naico, King of Tanjore, our specially good friend!”
[Ravi: Very interesting that that Danish king in 1631 had a peer-to-peer kind of relationship with the Thanjavur/Tanjore king!]
...
An earlier extract about what the Portuguese did with the captured Danes (their enemy/competitor then): "Two of the heads were displayed on stakes to warn the enemies." [Ravi: So early 17th century Portuguese were as barbaric towards their European competitors/enemies, the Danes, as the parties involved in the Syrian conflict today! Barbarism in human history seems to transcend religion. Barbarism seems to be more related to warmongering humans than the religion they profess to follow.]
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