II.

Danish East India Company

Chartered in 1729 by King Frederick IV of Denmark after unsuccessful attempts by Denmark to gain a share of the East India trade in 1616 and 1634, it enjoyed great prosperity in India until the advance of British power there in the late 18th century. As a consequence of the destruction of Danish naval power in the war between Great Britain and Denmark in 1801, the power of the Danish company was broken. Its principal Indian possessions, Tranquebar in Madras (now Tamil Nadu) and Serampore in Bengal, were purchased by Great Britain in 1845.