Action off Pipli River
1644 Dano-Mughal War confrontation
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The action off Pipli River took place on 21 January 1644 at the mouth of the Pipli River in Bengal between a Danish yacht and a Bengali ship.
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| Action off Pipli River | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Dano-Mughal War | |||||||
A drawing of a budgerow, by Frans Balthazar Solvyns in 1799 | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Danish India | |||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
|
Willem Leyel |
 Abdul Gany (POW) | ||||||
| Units involved | |||||||
|
Valby | Unknown | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
|
1 ship Unknown no. of men[a] |
1 ship Unknown no. of men | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| Unknown |
1 ship 19 slaves captured | ||||||
After the governor of the Danish colony of Tranquebar, Willem Leyel, resumed the Dano-Mughal War by capturing a Bengali skude (single-decked vessel) off Narsapur, another expedition to Bengal was initiated. At the mouth of the Pipli River, a Danish yacht captured a small ship, which was taken to Emeldy in Golconda, where it was sold.
Background
In 1616, the Danish East India Company was founded, and after a successful expedition to India in 1620,[2] it established the colony of Tranquebar.[3] Afterwards, the governor of Tranquebar, Roland Crappé, established multiple factories all over the East Indies, including Bengal,[4] and Danish ships were regularly sent to India.[3]
In late 1642, following continued disputes between Danish India and the Mughal Empire, the governor of Tranquebar, Bernt Pessart, declared war on the latter.[5]
Prelude
In 1643, Pessart was ousted[6] while he and his successor, Willem Leyel, overwintered in Emeldy[7] in Golconda.[8] Here, the frigate[9] Christianshavn[10] and the yacht[11] Valby were repaired,[10] and when Valby[12] was ready to sail,[13] it[12] and Christianshavn,[14] was sent to Bengal to resume the war.[12] During their expedition, they managed to capture a skude (single-decked vessel)[1] off Narsapur in December 1643.[3]
Action
In January 1644, a new expedition was initiated by Valby,[12] under which a small[1] Bengali[13] ship was captured[12] at the mouth of the Pipli River[13] on 21 January.[1]
The ship was coming down from Pipli city,[14] weighed 40 lasts[12] and had a large[1] valuable[15] cargo consisting of ambergris,[12] 21 packages of pepper,[14] Bengali textiles, and Chinese silk.[12] The Nakhuda[15] of the ship, Abdul Gany, 6 Mughal merchants, and the crew were subsequently imprisoned[12] and taken to Fort Dansborg.[16] Meanwhile, their slaves, 19 in total,[14][15][b] were baptised and sold, the majority of whom were children.[12] The Danes carefully recorded a list of all of the slaves by their baptismal name:[12]
- List of Danish slaves
- 1 slave girl baptised Maria (12–13 years old)
- 1 slave boy baptised Matthæus (9–10 years old)
- 1 slave boy baptised Juan (7–8 years old)
- 1 slave boy baptised Bartholomæus (6–7 years old)
- 1 slave woman baptised Catharine (22–23 years old)
- 1 slave boy baptised Jørgen (3 years old)
- 1 slave woman (17–18 years old)
Aftermath
Concurrent with Valby's expedition, Christianshavn had captured Den Lille Elefant among other ships[17] in February,[18] and after returning to Emeldy with the ship from the Pipli River, where the ship and most of its cargo were sold, the Danish ships left for Tranquebar.[15] Kay Larsen is inconsistent about the date of Danes' departure, placing it in both early January[15] and February 1644.[13] As such, in the account placing it in early January, the Bengali ship is captured while the Danes scouted for Bengali vessels, as they were returning to Tranquebar.[15] Nevertheless, the monsoon weather halted the Danes' voyage,[13] and the two Danish vessels only returned to Tranquebar on 11 June 1644.[17]
See also
- Attack in Hooghly – 1671 Danish attack on Bengali vessels in Hooghly
- Grounding of the Nattergalen – 1626 grounding of a Danish ship
- Grounding of the St. Jacob – 1640 grounding of a Danish ship