The Tranquebar Initiative of the National Museum of Denmark

Logo - Tranquebar InitiativetThe Tranquebar Initiative of the National Museum of Denmark is an international and interdiciplinary research initiative in which a range of researchers, cultural institutions and public authorities collaborate on research and dissemination of past and present cultural encounters  in the South Indian town of Tranquebar, which was a Danish trading colony in the period 1620-1845. My PhD project on the development of Tranquebar as a heritage town was part of the Tranquebar Initiative, and in association with this project I have written a range of scientific and popular publications and carried out other forms of dissemination. Much of this work is in English, but below you will also see my Danish work listed, followed by translations into English  in brackets.

Books and edited volumes

(2017) with Niels Brimes, Lokalsamfundet Tranquebar 1630-1750. In Indien: Tranquebar, Serampore og Nicobarerne, ed. Niels Brimnes, vol. 5 in Danmark og kolonierne, København: Gad, pp. 114-163. [Local Society in Tranquebar 1630-1750. In India: Tranquebar, Serampore and the Nicobar Islands, vol. 5 in Denmark and the Colonies].

(2017) with Niels Brimes, Tranquebar under forandring 1750-1808. [Tranquebar in Change 1750-1808]. In Indien: Tranquebar, Serampore og Nicobarerne, ed. Niels Brimnes, vol. 5 in Danmark og kolonierne, København: Gad, pp. 210-245.

 (2017) with Niels Brimes, Tranquebar i britisk Indien 1808-1845. [Tranquebar in British India 1808-1845]. In Indien: Tranquebar, Serampore og Nicobarerne, ed. Niels Brimnes, vol. 5 in Danmark og kolonierne, København: Gad, pp. 276-297.

(2017) Dansk-indiske forbindelser efter 1845. [Indo-Danish Connections after 1845]. In Indien: Tranquebar, Serampore og Nicobarerne, ed. Niels Brimnes, vol. 5 in Danmark og kolonierne, København: Gad, pp. 358-387.

  • Buy the book here.

(2014) Putting Tranquebar on the Map: Cultural and Material Encounters in Transnational Heritage Development. In: Beyond Tranquebar: Grappling Across Cultural Borders in South India, eds. E. Fihl & A. R. Venkatachalapathy. New Delhi:  Orient BlackSwan, pp. 29-49.

  • See further information and buy the book here.

(2013) Tranquebar: Whose History? Transnational Cultural Heritage in a former Danish Trading Colony in South India. New Perspectives in South Asian History, eds. Sanjoy Battacharya & Niels Brimnes. New Delhi: Orient Blackswan.

  • See further information and buy the book here.

(2012) Danish heritage tourism in Tranquebar: Colonial nostalgia or postcolonial encounter? In: Scandinavian Colonialism and the Rise of Modernity: Small Time Agents in a Global Arena, eds. M. Naum & J. M. Nordin, New York: Springer, pp. 69-86.

  • Buy the book here.

Scientific articles

(2011) Remoteness and Development: Transnational Constructions of Heritage in a former Danish Trading Colony in South India, History and Anthropology vol. 23 no. 2, pp. 169 – 186.

(2009) Whose History? Transnational Cultural Heritage in Tranquebar, Review of Development and Change vol. xiv no. 1-2, pp. 227-250.

  • This issue of the journal Review of Development and Change is a special issue on Tranquebar, which is available for free  in PDF format here.

(2008) Tranquebar – hvis historie? Om at studere kulturarv under konstruktion, in Tranquebar Initiativets Skriftserie, no. 3, pp. I-IV, 1-21. [Tranquebar – Whose history? On Studying Cultural Heritage under Construction, in the Series of Scientific Papers from the Tranquebar Initiative at the National Museum of Denmark]

  • Available for free online here.

Web gallery with photos from Present-day Tranquebar for the National Museum of Denmark on Flickr

Article for the magazine Nyt fra Nationalmuseet [News from the National Museum]

(2008) Tranquebar: Dansk-indisk kulturarv, in Nyt fra Nationalmuseet no. 119, pp. 36-37. [Tranquebar: Indo-Danish Heritage]

  • Get the article in PDF-format here.

Short background articles on the website of the Tranquebar Initiative:

(2013) Tranquebars arkitektur [The Architecture of Tranquebar]

(2013)  Bygningsbevaring i Tranquebar [Conservation of Built Heritage in Tranquebar]

(2013)  Tranquebar efter den britiske overtagelse [Tranquebar after the British Takeover]

(2013)  Religiøse grupper i Tranquebar [Religious Groups in Tranquebar]

(2013)  Danske mønter i Tranquebar [Danish Coins in Tranquebar]

Weblog articles from my fieldwork in August 2007 – March 2008:

Danish Shop, Tranquebar (2007) Tranquebar – en by i forandring [Tranquebar – a Town Undergoing Change]

(2007)  Templet og den syngende brænding [The Temple and the Singing Waves]

Several of my contributions for danmarkshistorien.dk,  a Danish educational website, are also based on my research on  Tranquebar.