A rare Indian colony of the Danish empire. A place that fostered the modern printing press and Protestant Christianity in the subcontinent. A tourist haunt that was ravaged by the tsunami in 2004. This is Tranquebar, known as Tharangampadi, a charming coastal town in present-day Tamil Nadu.
Beyond Tranquebar is a collection of twenty-four essays by scholars who bring to relief the many dimensions of this town. The book takes us to seventeenth-century Denmark, as the kingdom strives to find a place in the thriving colonial enterprise. It moves east to Maratha-ruled Tanjore where gifts can shift the balance of power. It takes us to a place where ideas, textiles and furniture arrive and depart, from as far away as Serampore in Bengal and Copenhagen in Denmark—going beyond geography to contribute to literacy and education in India and alter tastes in distant Europe.
This volume examines the place from the perspectives of a diverse range of academic disciplines—social anthropology, art history, sociology of religion, ethnography and history. It enquires into the lives of natives and foreigners, i.e. Danish, German and British, as they grapple(d) across borders both physical and cultural, in the past and the present.
This collectionis unique in that it centres on activities which radiated from this important south Indian place, instead of seeing this place as an appendix to the national history of Denmark or to the Christian mission activities from Germany. Thereby, the authors and editors of this volume peg Tranquebar in its rightful place in the scholarly map.
This book will be useful for students and scholars of colonial history, South Asian studies and anthropology. They will benefit from the diverse strands of research a seemingly small place offers.
Esther Fihl is Professor, Department of Cross-Cultural Studies, University of Copenhagen, Denmark, and research leader of Tranquebar Initiative of the National Museum of Denmark.
A. R. Venkatachalapathy is Professor, Madras Institute of Development Studies, Chennai, India.
List of Figures and Maps
Acknowledgements
Publishers’ Acknowledgements
List of Abbreviations
Introduction: What Makes Tranquebar a Place? Esther Fihl
Part I Competing Histories
1. Putting Tranquebar on the Map: Cultural and Material Encounters in Transnational Heritage Development Helle Jørgensen
2. The Four Histories of the Village: Landmarks and Historical Identities Kristian Grønseth
3. Processions and Chariot Festivals: Cultural Markings in Tharangampadi and Vailankanni Peter B. Andersen
4. Between Patriotism and Regret: Public Discourses on Colonial History in Denmark Today Astrid Nonbo Andersen
Part II Negotiating Morals and Historical Identities
5. The ‘Second Tsunami’: Disputed Moralities of Economic Transactions among Fishers Esther Fihl
6. Risk and Opportunity in Post-tsunami Tharangampadi Raja Swamy
7. From ‘Untouchable’ Scavengers to Dignified ‘Tribals’: On the Making of a New Kattunayakkan Identity Caroline Lillelund
8. Dancing for Money, Men and Gods: Temple Women in Historical Perspectives Stine Simonsen Puri
Part III Cultural Otherness and Colonial Interactions
9. Shipwrecked on the Coromandel: The First Indian–Danish Contact, 1620 Esther Fihl
10. The Tranquebar Tribute: Contested Perceptions during the Reign of Rajah Serfoji II Simon Rastén
11. Personal Encounters in a Colonial Space: European Seeing and Knowing Louise Sebro
12. Retracing Bartholomaeus Ziegenbalg’s Path Will Sweetman
Part IV Circulations of Faith and Knowledge
13. Making it in Tranquebar: The Circulation of Scientific Knowledge in the Early Danish-Halle Mission Niklas Thode Jensen
14. The Life of a Tamil Convert: William Roberts Proselytising in the Wake of the Enlightenment Raja Mylvaganam
15. Producing Difference: Childhood, Parenting and Mission in Colonial South India Karen Vallgårda
16. The Bishop of Tranquebar and Shiva’s Elephant: Danish Missionaries and Indian Independence Daniel Henschen
Part V Education and Networks of Print
17. Serfoji II of Tanjore and Missionary C. S. John: Education and Innovation in the Early Nineteenth Century Indira Viswanathan Peterson
18. From Bartholomaeus Ziegenbalg to Alexander Duff: Western Education in India, 1715–1835 Rajesh Kochhar
19. ‘This Great Benefit’: Print and the Cultural Encounter in Eighteenth-century Tranquebar A. R. Venkatachalapathy
20. Translocal Networks: Tranquebar Mission Press in Eighteenth-century South Asia Heike Liebau
Part VI Translocal and Intercontinental Tracks
21. Danish Homes in Colonial Tranquebar: Intercontinental Transfers of Material Culture Martin Krieger
22. Peasant Featherbeds in ‘Royal Attire’: The Consumption of Indigo in Early Modern Denmark Mikkel Venborg Pedersen
23. Radiating from Tranquebar: Education in Serampore, 1800–1845 Erik Gøbel
24. Encountering the Nicobar Islands: Danish Strategies of Colonisation, 1755–1848 Simon Rastén
Notes on Contributors
Index