Til de danske besøgende må jeg beklage denne og de tilhørende sider med mønter, kun er på engelsk. Siderne er omfattende, og for pladskrævende med to udgaver.

Danish East India

Tranquebar, Danish settlement 1620 - 1845
Tranquebar is the only Danish settlement in India where the Danes struck coins. You can find more about the history on the page "A little about Tranquebar" and about the coins on the page "The coins of Tranquebar" (Dansk - English).

Serampore, Danish settlement 1755 -1845.
Balasore, Danish factory between 1625 and 1628 - before 1643 and 1763 - 1845
Colachel, Danish factory 1755 - 1824
Masulipatam, Danish factory 1626 - before 1643
Oddeway Torre, Danish factory 1696 - 1722
Pipely, Danish factory 1625 - before 1643

Nicobarerne, Danish settlement sometime in the years1755 - 1868 (page about the Nicobars (in Danish))

To the map

Other colonies / settlements

Chandernagore

Ceded to the French by Aurungzeb in 1688 and enlarged in 1730. In 1739 Dupleix obtained permission to produce coins in Bengal. These coins were struck at the nawab´s mint in Murshidabad and bore the floral symbol later adopted on English Murshidabad rupees.

Cochin

The first Portuguese factory at Cochin was built by Vasco da Gama in 1503. Dates when the Portuguese mint at Cochin is recorded to have been striking coins are 1545. Go to Portuguese India

In 1663 the Dutch took Cochin, on the Malabar coast, from the Portuguese. The Dutch held Cochin from 1663 until 1776, when it was conquered by Haidar´Ali of Mysore. Cochin later passed from Mysore to the British in accordance with the Raja of Cochin as a British tributary. In 1796 the Dutch re-occupied Cochin and it subsequently came under British suzerainty again in 1809.
Go to Dutch India

To the map

Damao

The Portuguese settlements of Damao and Baccaim were situated on the west coast between Bombay and Surat. Baccaim lay less than 30 miles north of Bombay, While Damao was about 80 miles further north and some 50 miles to the south of Surat. The third Portuguese settlement along this coast was Chaul, about 20 miles to the south of Bombay. In 1611 a mint was opened at Damao. Damao was annexed by India in 1961. Go to Portuguese India

Diu

A small island at the southern tip of the Saurashtra penninsula. Occupied by the Portuguese in 1535 and acquire its own mint 1684 / 85. The mint was formally closed in 1859. Diu was annexed by India in 1961. Go to Portuguese India

To the map

Goa

The Portuguese conquest Goa in 1510 and was annexed by India in 1961. Go to Portuguese India

Karaikal

The settlement of Karaikal was founded by the French in 1638 and, like Ponducherry, was occupied by the Dutch from 1693 until 1698. The territory was formally granted to the French in 1739 by the Raja of Tanjore. Karaikal fell into British hands during their succesful campaign of 1759-60 and only reverted to France in 1817; finally passing to the British in 1837. During the period 1698 to 1759 copper coins modelled on those of the Dutch were struck at Pondicherry for use of Karaikal. Go to French India / Dutch India

Mahé

The French settlement at Mahé lay on the Malabar coast . It was occupied by the French in 1726. Mahé. along with remaining French possessions, capitulated to the British in 1761 but, unlike Pondicherry, it was not restored to the French for some while and remained in British hands until 1783. The British re-occupied Mahé in 1793, along with the rest of Malabar. In 1817 Mahé was restored to the French and remained with them until 1837.
Coins for use in Mahé were struck in the French mint at Pondicherry. Go to French India

To the map

Mazulipatam

The English settled at Mazulipatam on the east coast in 1611, but soon left this factory due to conflict with the Dutch factors, and settled at Armagon in 1626. In 1632 the English re-opened their Mazulipatam factory and a few years later they opened a second factory further south, building Fort Saint George beside Madraspatam in 1640
There were also a Danish factory from 1626 - before 1643 at Mazulipatam but they did not struck coins.
The French took Mazulipatam from the British in 1750. In 1760 Mazulipatam fell to the British. During their period of occupation the French struck rupees at Mazulipatam bearing a lotus symbol: a form of coin that was to be continued by the British from 1780 until 1795. Go to French India

To the map

Negapatam

Negapatam, on the Coromandel coast, lay some 20 miles south of the European settlement Karaikal, over 150 miles below Madras, but only 70 miles north of Jaffna on the island of ceylon. In 1657 the Dutch occupied Negapatam from the Portuguese and in 1676, when the Maratha prince Venkaji had established himself at Tanjore, the grant of Negapatam to the Dutch was confirmed. Go to Dutch India

Pondicherry

The French first arrived at Pondicherry in 1674 and consolidated their establishment, Fort Saint Louis, there in 1680.
The settlement fell to the Dutch in 1693, but was regained in 1698 and prospered from the beginning of the 18th, century.
British occupation during 1761-1763, 1778-1783, 1793-1802, 1803-1816. Go to French India, Dutch India

Pulicat
Pulicat, the first Dutch possession on the Coromandel coast, lay some 30 miles up the coast from the British settlement at Fort Sait George (Madras) and was situated at the mouth of Pulicat Lake, which used to provide a good natural harbour. In 1784 Pulicat was ceded to the British. Go to Dutch India

To the map

Tuticorin

Tuticorin, close to the tip of the Indian Penninsula, was occupied by the Dutch from the Portuguese in 1658 and later ceded to the British in 1795. Go to Dutch India

To the map

British India

The Portuguese were the first to arrive, off Calicut in May 1498. It wasn´t until 1612, after the Portuguese and Spanish power had begun to wane, that the British East India Company establish its initial settlement at Surat. By the end of the century, English traders were firmly established in Bombay, Madras, Calcutta and lesser places elswhere, and Britain was implementing its announced policy to create such civil and military institutions as may be the foundation of secure English dominations for all time. By 1757, following the successful conclusion of a war of colonial rovalry with France during which the military victories of Robert Clive, a young officer with the British East India Company, making him the most powerful man in India, the British werte firmly settled in India as not only traders but as conqueros. During the next 60 years, the British East India Company acquired domination over most of India by bribery and force, and governed it directly or through puppet princelings. In 1858 the control of the government of India was tranferred to the British Crown - until August 15, 1947.

Madras

The English settled at Mazulipatam on the coast in 1611, but soon left this factory due to conflict with the Dutch factors, and settled at Armagon in 1626. In 1632 the English re-opened their Mazulipatam factory and a few years later they opnened a second factory further south, building Fort Saint George beside Madraspatam in 1640. The settlement that grew around Fort Saint George was named Chinapatam, but this name fell into favour of the older name, Madras. Go to British India coins

To the map

Ceylon Go to coin page

Portuguese in Ceylon about 1505 - 1655

Trincomalee; about 1620 - 21 the Danes struck Larins in Ceylon.

The Dutch in Ceylon 1658 - 1796

The British in Ceylon from 1796

To the map

South India

I am only telling about the coins of India where I am collecting by my self: It will be about the coins of the Cholas of Tanjore and some few other coins from the time about 200 BC - 400 AD and you can find some of the coins in my collection on the page about South India Coins.

Karur

One of three capital cities of Southern Tamil Nadu, namely, Karur (Chera), Uraiyur (Trichy; Chola) and Madurai (Pandya).
The three capital cities were well located from the point of view of the north-south trade, being situated on a continuation of the dahshinapatha; a southern continuation of the Mauryan highway network. This was the principal route from the north to the far south, the only route by which one could reach the far south without traversing high ranges of hills.
    Numerous coins of the Satavahanas, and later of the Pallavas, passed southwards along this trade route before being lost at Karur - until recently recovered from the local riverbed.
    The bed of the River Amaravati at Karur is some 500 metres wide and it is dry for much of the year. Large numbers of coins and other artefacts have been recovered from this stretch of the river bed since about 1984. Some few coins of Tranquebar are also found at Karur. Go to page with South India coins
(From "Michael Mitchener, Coin circulation in Southernmost India, IIRNS  1995")

To the map

Some oft the litterature used for information on places and coins:
Ceylon Coins and Currency, H.W.Codrington, Colombo 1924
C. Scholten, The Coins of The Dutch Overseas Territories 1601-1948, J.Schulman, Amsterdam 1953.
Michael Mitchener, Non Islamic States & Western Colonies AD 609-1979. Hawkins Publications 1979
Michael Mitchener, Coin circulation in Southernmost India, Indian Institute of Research in Numismatic Studies, Nasik, India 1995
The Standard Guide to South Asian Coins and Paper Money since 1556 AD, Krause Publications MCMLXXXI
Uno Barner Jensen, Danish East India, Trade Coins and the Coins of Tranquebar 1620-1845, Eget Forlag 1997.

To the map

© 1998-2001, Uno Barner Jensen

This page are updated 28-10-01 by Uno Barner Jensen