14th March
2017.
I
was on an official duty to Thirukadaiyur on 14th March 2017, and utilizing this
opportunity, visited this Danish Fort, which is about 7 km from Thirukadaiyur.
Tranquebar is the earliest Danish settlement and was once a seaport. This was
also the headquarters of the Collector for about 150 years. When the Danes came to Tharangambadi, they felt that this place would be a potential trading centre. So, Danish Admiral Ove Gjedde entered into an agreement with the Thanjavur Nayak King
Raghunatha Nayak and built this fort. The land was given for rent and allowed
them to collect taxes from the villages nearby. The treaty was signed
on a golden leaf and is still available at the Danish Royal Archives Museum in
Copenhagen. It was believed that this fort was built over a Portuguese Catholic
Church, where Fort now exists.
The
Danish fort, otherwise called Dansborg, was constructed in the year 1620. Many
parts are reconstructed several times later. Once, the sea was about 500 meters
away from the fort wall. But now the east side of the wall is in the sea. The
rampart wall is large in size, surrounded on all four sides, with bastions at
each cardinal point. The three sides of the rampart consist of Barracks, a warehouse, a bar, a Kitchen Jail, and a hanging place. In the hanging
place after the prisoner is hanged, arrangements are made to dispose of the body
into to sea through a tunnel.
On
the eastern side facing the sea, there is a two-story building with a lower story that has a warehouse, and the upper story has the Church, the Governor’s
residence, and rooms for the senior merchants. The eastern side was fitted
with canons at vantage points. The Fort was protected by the sea on the eastern
side, and a moat was constructed around the fort. There is no moat now, and the
same was completely destroyed.
During the British Period, the fort was not used since it was not an advantageous place
for them. After independence, the fort was used as an inspection bungalow by the
State Government till 1978. After this Tamil Nadu Government Archaeological Department took over the fort and renovated it three times (2001, 2011, and 2015-16).
Now, A Museum is functioning on the eastern side of the upper-story building.
LOCATION OF THE FORT: CLICK
HERE
The
eastern 2-story building, where the Governors' & Senior Merchants' lodging and the Church functioned
The remains of the fort wall are now in the sea
The tunnel where the dead bodies are discharged into the sea
Entrance
The
agreement between Thanjavur King Raghunatha
Nayak and the Danish
For
More Photographs: CLICK HERE
---OM
SHIVAYA NAMA---
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