| Tillali Massacre | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Cattle War | |||||||||
 Danish soldiers negotiating further territory to Tranquebar, 1750 | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
 Danish India |
 Thanjavur | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
|
Peter Hesselberg † Hans Jacob Attrup † |
Pratap Singh Perumal Naik | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
|
27 Soldiers of the corps 30 Indian sepoys Total: 55-57 |
2000[1]-4000[2] Cavalry 2000 men[2] Total: 4000-6000 | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| 55 killed[2] | 300 | ||||||||
| 45 Civilians killed | |||||||||
The Tillali Massacre (Danish: Massakren i Tillali), or the Battle of Tillali (Danish: Slaget ved Tillali) was a confrontation on 30 June 1756 during the Cattle War, between the Danish command at the village of Tillali (Thillaiyadi) and the Raja of Thanjavur, Pratap Singh. The confrontation resulted in a Thanjavurian victory and a subsequent massacre of most Danish troops. After the victory, the Thanjavurian army led a further invasion into Danish Tranquebar and besieged Fort Dansborg.
Background and prelude
editIn January 1756 a newly appointed local governor called Perumal Naik was allegedly said to have raided Danish Tranquebar's surrounding districts.[3] In June the same year, a similar incident occurred, where Naik stole a herd of cattles.[4] As commander of the Danish border, Captian Strøbel was ordered to retaliate and marched from the Danish border town of Tillali, to occupy the Thanjavurian town of Anandamangalam with 60 men.[1] The remaining force at Tillali recieved Danish and Indian reinforcements, to protect to border.[1]
Prelude
editIn reaction to the Danish mobilization of Tranquebar and fortification of Anandamangalam, the nayak of Thanjavur, Pratap Singh, sent roughly 2000 cavalry and 2000 well armed men together with Perumal Naik's army into Danish territory.[1] The combined Thanjavurian army soon reached the Tillali, where the stationed Danes were attacked.[1]
Confrontation
edit
River systems in the south of GhanaIn command of the Danish outpost in Tillali, were captain Peter Hesselberg, with his Son-in-law, Hans Jacob Attrup, as ensign.[1] In Tillali the first confrontations occurred in the local hostel and pagoda.[1] The Danish forces retreated and took coverage behind a wall, where they got reinforcements from Tillali's local bailiff.[1] Yet the large Thanjavurian army were no match for the small Danish contingent and the Danes were subsequently massacred.[1]
Massacre
editSources describing the incident differ on the death toll. Most agree that both captain, Peter Hesselberg, and ensign, Hans Attrup were killed.[1][5][6]
Additionally, acording to Hans Gregersen in his book Trankebar, two lower officers, 24 European and dozens of Indians were killed.[1] All but one, who hid in the pagoda remained unharmed.[1] A similar claim is made by Danish historian, Kay Larsen, in the brugsforeningsbladet notes that two officers, 24 European and 45 local people from Tillali died.[5] Acording to Holger Christensen's Det danske fremstoed i Indien i 1750-erne 18 men of the corps[a] died.[7] Another claim by Bering Liisberg's Danmarks søfart og søhandel claims that 54 people were either killed or wounded.[6]
Aftermath
editAfter the massacre at Tillali and the Danish retreat from Anandamangalam, all Danish districts outside Tranquebar were occupied and raided.[6] Fort Dansborg was temporarily put in a state of emergency and besieged by the Thanjavurians.[6]
See also
edit- Danish overseas colonies – 1537–1953 colonies of Denmark–Norway and Denmark
- Siege of Dansborg (1644) – Siege in Tranquebar, India 1644
- Dano-Mughal War – Danish colonial conflict against the Mughal Empire
- Assault on Osu – 1678 Attack on Osu between Akwamu and Accrans forces
Notelist
editReferences
edit- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Gregersen, Hans (2018). Trankebar [Tranquebar] (in Danish). Forlag A/S. pp. 12–13. ISBN 9788711978337. Cite error: The named reference ":2" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
- ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference
Kay Larsenwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Christensen, Holger. "Det danske fredmstød i Indien i 1750-erne. Baggrund og forløb" (PDF).
- ^ Geisler, Jens (2018-08-01). "Kvægkrigen på Coromandelkysten 1756 -". milhist.dk (in Danish). Retrieved 2024-02-13.
- ^ a b Larsen, Kay (1935). Danmarks Kolonier (PDF) (in Danish). BRUGSFORENINGS~ BLADET. p. 272.
- ^ a b c d Liisberg, Bering (2020). Danmarks søfart og søhandel (in Danish). SAGA Egmont.
- ^ Holger, Christensen (1992). Det Danske fremstød i Indian i 1750-erne (PDF) (in Danish). Copenhagen: Copenhagen University. p. 126.