Serampore: The Forgotten Danish Colony in Bengal

The Kingdom of Denmark, one of the oldest existing monarchies in the world since the 10th century AD, had a rather interesting three-century-long colonial timeline. This existed during the era when Denmark was in a multi-lingual union with Norway, thus the kingdom's name was Denmark-Norway. It is also the only colonial power that technically started its overseas expansion from India, in the year 1620—almost a decade before the construction of the Taj Mahal began. This reference is important, as a Danish factory was also established in Agra, which witnessed the construction of this giant marble marvel in the early 1630s. Apart from India, Danish factories and colonies had a foothold in Canada, Norway, Iceland, Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands, Morocco, Ghana, São Tomé & Príncipe, Sierra Leone, Iran, Yemen, China, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, and Indonesia. Greenland was a colony between 1721 and 1953; thereafter, until 2009, it was treated as an integral part of Denmark. Post-2009, Greenland has run a self-government and holds a legal right to independence through a referendum.

But this post is not about Danish colonies in general; rather, it focuses on a very special district of present-day West Bengal that once witnessed a cosmopolitan amalgamation of European colonisation. The city of Bishnupur, in today’s Bankura district, once extended closer to the outer suburbs of colonial Calcutta and encompassed a town called Srirampur or Sitarampur. It was here that the oddest of European colonists established one of their several trade factories, thereby creating a quieter Danish presence while avoiding conflicts with the rising English and the Dutch. In fact, Denmark is also unique in being the only European coloniser that began in India before expanding into Africa, the Americas, and Southeast Asia. Returning to Srirampur, which was later christened Serampore or Frederiknagore, it became the only Danish base in Bengal and the last to be added to Danish India in 1755. It was here that a remarkable episode unfolded, one that unfortunately became submerged in the margins of history.

This period coincided with the early phase of the Industrial Revolution, when many important inventions were emerging across Europe. While most pioneers benefited from European patronage, one such invention had a direct connection to Serampore. During the pre-industrial phase, the English engineer Thomas Newcomen designed an atmospheric steam engine in 1712, a precursor to the improvements James Watt would introduce in 1765. At this time, England had yet to develop a factory system or railways, even as it focused on expanding overseas trade networks and consolidating a mercantile capitalist economy. Bengal, on the other hand, was collapsing politically, and an unstable Mughal administration found itself surrounded by a growing number of European trade factories along the Hooghly River. It was in this context that a paper mill established in Serampore in the 18th century witnessed a key milestone nearly five decades after James Watt’s invention. An Indian blacksmith from the Serampore region, Golak Chandra, without any English backing or support, invented another prototype of a steam engine in the 1820s. His idea was not patented, first because he did not formally apply for a patent, and second because the English dismissed it as an 'imitative skill,' reflecting the belief that Indians could merely learn European science without originality. This notion has been strongly challenged in post-independence scholarship, and the claim that Indians merely 'mimicked' European inventions is now recognised as a manifestation of racial prejudice rooted in white superiority.

The Danes, however, were different. There is no recorded war or even a significant conflict in India involving the Danes. They functioned primarily as traders and followed Mughal rules to acquire trade centres. In many ways, Danish colonies served as safe havens for Indians seeking to escape English rule, and local populations were not displaced, unlike in many English settlements. Although Serampore (Frederiknagore) and Tranquebar (Tharangambadi, in the Mayiladuthurai district of Tamil Nadu) were official Danish colonies, the Danes never intended to expand beyond their immediate surroundings. This does not absolve them of responsibility elsewhere, as Danish colonists created severe disruption in African and Caribbean colonies, in stark contrast to their conduct in India. In the competitive race of colonisation in India, the Danes lacked the ambition to dominate, ultimately leading them to sell their colonies and trade factories to the British in 1845.

Danish India did not significantly alter the course of Indian history and is therefore often viewed as a relatively mild colonial presence. Denmark arrived with a clear commercial agenda, which it pursued for nearly three centuries but ultimately failed to sustain. This is why modern historians do not portray Danish rule in India as harshly as other colonial regimes. Today, in Serampore, several Danish-era structures survive in restored or semi-restored conditions, including St. Olav’s Church (built between 1755 and 1845, when the town was known as Frederiknagore), the Danish Government House (built between 1755 and 1860 and under restoration since 2008), and the Denmark Tavern, a former colonial guesthouse converted into a luxury hotel in 2016–17 under the Park Hotels group. A ruined Danish cemetery also survives, which was used to bury other Europeans residing in the town. The most significant surviving institutional legacy, however, is Serampore College, established in 1818 and granted a Royal Charter of Incorporation in Copenhagen in 1827. At the time, it awarded degrees equivalent to those conferred by institutions in Copenhagen and imparted education in the arts and European sciences to Indians.

Today, although Denmark is not regarded as a major colonial power in Indian history, its presence in India for nearly three centuries remains undeniable—a phase that cannot be erased, even if its overall impact was more limited than that of other European powers.

Border Roads

India shares over 15,000 kms of land border with its neighbours, the longest with Bangladesh at 4,096.7 kms and the shortest with Afghanistan at just 106 kilometres. Over 40 Indian districts in 14 states border Pakistan, China, Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar and Bangladesh, and almost all of these border areas feature unique interconnecting roads. Some pass through national parks, others overlook amusement parks, some are separated by rivers and others are simply long empty roads with border checkpoints. This post will explore some of the most intriguing examples of these roads, each with its own fascinating story. 

While the Grand Trunk Road (GT Road) connects Afghanistan and Bangladesh, it's not the only significant road in this region. This post will focus on lesser-known roads. We'll also exclude popular routes like the Attari-Wagah border road and the Dera Baba Nanak-Kartarpur connection, as they're well-documented and widely known. 

Mangla Cantonment (Jammu & Kashmir - Pakistan) 

The concept of cantonment is colonial, and while the British established several across the subcontinent, one was built post-independence in Pakistan's Jhelum district of Punjab. Bordering India's Mirpur district (or Pakistan Occupied Kashmir if you prefer), it was constructed in the early 1960s during the Mangla Dam Project (1961-1967). On the Pakistani side, the Mangla Dam Bridge spans the Jhelum River, while the Indian side features the Mirpur Road, passing by a small mosque and the historic 19th-century Mangla Fort, a significant garrison during the 1947-48 First Kashmir War. 

Munabao-Khokrapar (Rajasthan - Pakistan) 

In Rajasthan's Barmer district, Munabao connects Khokrapar village in Sindh, Pakistan. This route was crucial for thousands of refugees crossing the border during partition. Just at the border lies the abandoned Khokrapar railway station (known as Zero Point Khokropar), which reopened in 2006 after four decades of being a ghost town. Its desolate setting in the middle of a desert, surrounded by spine-chilling horror stories, makes it a perfect location for such tales. 

Tribhuvan Rajpath (Bihar - Nepal) 

In Makwanpurgadhi, a municipality less than 100 kms south of Kathmandu, a significant battle occurred on 20th January 1763. The Gorkhas, led by Prithvi Narayan Singh, clashed with the Nawab of Bengal, Mir Qasim, to reclaim Kathmandu, which Singh had isolated. While the Gorkhas ultimately emerged victorious, another crucial battle took place in the same village between 1814 and 1816. This battle led to the secession of substantial portions of the Nepali kingdom into British India. Makwanpurgadhi, part of the larger Makwanpur district, lies along the Tribhuvan Rajpath. This path extends southwards to Chitragupt Nagar and crosses the Nepali border into Bihar at Raxaul (in Purvi Champaran district). Raxaul also connects to Sugauli, another historically significant location. Upon entering Nepal from Raxaul, travellers pass through Shankaracharya Pravesh Dwar, cross the Sirsiya Bridge, and encounter a small Rajdandi Hanuman temple near the border. 

Ratna Rajmarg (Uttar Pradesh - Nepal) 

During the 1857 rebellion, with the help of Nepali king Jung Bahadur Rana, the British successfully fanned the sieges at Lucknow and Cawnpore (Kanpur). In return, they annexed four districts of the United Provinces to Nepal. The 9,000 Nepali forces marched down this route into Bahraich district, through Jaisapur-Nepalganj-Raupaidiha villages, crushing Indian forces at the Lucknow mutiny on 30th April 1857. This road gained renewed attention in 1942 during the Quit India movement, providing escape for Indian revolutionaries from British arrest. Today, at this border lies Seemant Inter College, technically in Bahraich district of Uttar Pradesh. 

Jaigaon-Phuentsholing Road (West Bengal - Bhutan) 

This route became a significant point during the 19th-century conflict between Bhutanese and English forces. The East India Company, seeking to expand into the Duars, clashed with Bhutanese troops in Phuentsholing along this path during the 1864-65 Duar Wars. These wars led to the secession of Assam and Bengal Duars, now districts from Kalimpong in West Bengal to Udalguri in Assam. Today, the border area boasts a chain of restaurants and hotel accommodations on both sides. While there's a Shri Hanuman Mandir Dharamshala in Jaigaon, West Bengal, there's also a Zangtopelri Lhakhang monastery in Phuentsholing. 

Zokhawtar - Rih Dil (Mizoram - Myanmar) 

This road became a focal point during the 19th-century conflict between Mizoram and Myanmar. The British, aiming to expand their influence, engaged in battles with the Myanmar forces in Zokhawtar. These conflicts contributed to the eventual division of the region. Today, the border area is home to a variety of restaurants and hotels. While there's a Shri Hanuman Mandir Dharamshala in Zokhawtar, Mizoram, there's also a Zangtopelri Lhakhang monastery in Rih Dil, Myanmar. 

Near the border between Khawmawi village in Chin province, Myanmar and Zokhawtar village in Champhai district, Mizoram lies a significant site for Mizo culture. Located about two kilometres from the border checkpoint, along the Yoma Lamon Road, is Rih Dil lake, a revered pilgrimage destination for the Mizo people. Mizo folklore tells of Rihi, a woman who sacrificed herself for her sister, transforming into a lake. This event became deeply ingrained in Mizo cultural heritage. Prior to Burma's separation into a separate colony in 1937, Mizos had access to this site. However, this access was recently re-evaluated, leading to a breakthrough in 2004. This allowed Mizo people to visit the lake for 72 hours without a visa.

Stilwell Road (historically also known as the Ledo Road) - Namgoi Village III, Changlang to Pangasu (Arunachal Pradesh - Myanmar)

Nestled amidst the lush greenery of the Patkai Hills, a part of the expansive Arakan Yoma mountain range, lies the historic Stilwell Road. This road, once known as Ledo Road, served as a vital link between the Changlang district of Arunachal Pradesh and Pangasu village in Myanmar. Its significance during World War II was immense, as it was constructed to connect India with China through Burma. Following the Japanese capture of Rangoon in May 1942 and the subsequent occupation of Burma, the road was built to circumvent the Japanese blockade. Named after US Army Lieutenant General Joseph Stilwell, the road saw the efforts of 15,000 American engineers and 30,000 Indian and Chinese workers. It connected Lashio in Burma to Kunming in China. Today, the road remains operational only up to the Indian frontier, with discussions underway to extend its reach into Myanmar. A bustling market straddling the border, open thrice a month, serves as a hub for trade. It also hosts the Pangsau Pass Winter Festival, a key event in the region's border trade activities, where Indian and Burmese traders showcase their goods to local communities.

The Two Tripuras

On the 15th of October 1949, the last Maharaja's Regent, Maharani Kanchanprava Devi, signed the Instrument of Accession with the Indian government, thus acceding the former Princely State of Tripura to the Union of India. Seven years later, it became a Union Territory on 1st November 1956 and eventually, on 21st January 1972, almost two decades later, it was granted full statehood. But there was another Tripura in the neighbouring East Pakistan or Bangladesh, with a slightly different spelling, which existed not as a Princely State, but as a district known during colonial times as Tippera. In 1960, the Bangladesh government renamed Tippera as Comilla, after its district headquarters, thus eliminating the naming confusion that had been existing for quite a while. 

Between the Surma, Kalni, and Barak rivers, back in the 15th century, the Kingdom of Tripura emerged under the Manikya dynasty. These rivers flow between today's northeastern Bangladesh, Sylhet in Assam, and the hills of Mizoram. Politically, they were in conflict and alliance with the adjoining Hussain Shahis of Bengal, which had its territories expanded between the borders of Bihar-Jharkhand to the west and central Bangladesh in the east. The fight was more for geographical supremacy over the plains, that was suited best for trading and commerce, and while the Manikya kings were raiding against the Hussain Shahis, a perpetual war zone was created in this Surma-Meghna basin and the Lushai-Tripura hills. 

In the 1580s, during the reign of Amar Manikya of Tripura, the Mughals under Emperor Jalaluddin Muhammad Akbar launched campaigns from Bengal that broke the kingdom's hold over the fertile plains; the kingdom lost Srihatta (Sylhet), Komolya (Comilla) and Bhulua (Noakhali), which were absorbed into the Bengal Subah, while the Manikyas were pushed back into the hill country, marking the permanent separation between the western plains that became much later Tippera/Comilla under Bengal and the eastern hills that remained the Princely State of Tripura, though the Manikya rulers later retained zamindari rights in today's Chakla Roshnabad (broadly along the Comilla-Noakhali-Sylhet belt) within those same plains under Mughal and British rule even after losing political sovereignty.

And thus, the greater Kingdom of Tripura was unofficially divided into Mughal and non-Mughal entities, thus the eastern part remaining free from Mughal colonisation. Following the Mughals, the arrival of the British continued administrating this absorption of the west portion as part of British Bengal, while the eastern stretch remained an independent Princely State. And so, continuing the mispronunciation by the British, the western portion became Tipperah (or Tippera) and the eastern region became Hill Tipperah, which gradually changed to Tripura. 

But 18th-century European cartographers oversimplified this demarcation and clubbed both the regions (and a couple of more territories) under one single unit of Tippera. This oversimplification was later resolved according to the 1793 Permanent Settlement Act, where the Manikyas still continued taking revenues from the Chakla-Roshnabad region, but under the protectorship of the East India Company. Finally, in 1803, the Princely State of Hill Tipperah was carved out, leaving the Chakla-Roshnabad strip under the Bengal Presidency. It's not clear when, but it could be assumed that when the British recognised the sovereignty of Hill Tipperah, by the 1830s, the state name slowly started to slip from Hill Tipperah to simply, Tripura, although official maps continued to label this distinction as Hill Tipperah and Tipperah even till the 20th century. But, a further truncation was yet to come. 

It's interesting to note that although these were two names of the same Tripura, it wasn't either partition or division, just a simple subject of administration by two different entities. By 1960, the reference of Tripura or Tippera was permanently wiped out from Bangladesh, and it became simply Comilla. It's interesting to note that at the time the British arrived in the northeast of India in the 19th century, Hill Tipperah or Tripura included today's Tripura state and an extension to North Lushai Hills, that was later acquired by the British East India Company in 1886. This includes today's districts of Mamit, Kolasib, Aizawl, Champhai and Serchhip of Mizoram. Till the creation of a separate Lushai Hills by the British in 1890, the various Mizo clans were distributed politically between Hill Tipperah and Chittagong districts. But one tragic incident once again changed the boundaries of Hill Tipperah, and this was towards the end of the 19th century. 

Towards the last decades of the 19th century, in around the 1870s, the British had gradually formed their grip over Assam and acquired tea estates, boosting their business and network with Burma and around. But while they were pushing their colonial agendas, they encroached on tribal areas all across the subcontinent, dominating the lumber and tea trade. Hence, when they poked their noses into the business of the Lushai people, illegally and without consent, that did irk the latter to react in a rather aggressive way. Hence, on 27th January 1871, in the tea estates of Alexandrapore (in today's Hailakandi district, southern Assam), the Lushai protested and raided the tea estate, that created a stir in the neighbourhood. The raid, looting, and kidnappings had escalated to the point that alarmed the British authorities to permanently find a solution to these constant attacks, hence removing the eastern portion of Hill Tipperah, joining it with the remaining Lushai regions of Chittagong, and making it a separate district of Lushai Hills (which is essentially today's Mizoram state) in 1890. 

Since then, the two units were governed separately. Tipperah came under the Bengal administration and Hill Tipperah, as a separate Princely State, but under the Assam government. Today, only the word Tripura survives, as a state of northeast India. These maps here are recreation of the original versions created by James Rennell (1779), Surveyor General of India (1885) and John Bartholomew (1864) respectively.