Description:
The history of contacts between India and Europe tends to be dominated by the British, but Denmark also played a role on the subcontinent in the colonial era. This book offers insight into that history via a close look at one very specific part of it: the house in which the Danish colonial governor lived in Tranquebar, on the Coromandel Coast. We meet the governors and their Indian staffs and see their interactions with traders, temple priests, and princely delegates. With the help of hundreds of illustrations from the period, the resulting book is a fascinating portrait of the vibrantly multicultural life of a small colonial outpost in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
Brief description:
Esther Fihl is an anthropologist and professor in the Department of Cross-Cultural and Regional Studies at the University of Copenhagen, where she is also the leader of the Centre for Competitive Cultural Studies.
Review Quotes: "The Governor's Residence in Tranquebar is a monumental work, which brings to us detailed essays by different authors on the historical legacy of the Danish Governor's house in Tharagampadi, otherwise known as Tranquebar. By looking at maps, architectural drawings, renovation plans by contemporary architects, photographs taken in the 19th century, and what is called Company Art, a huge corpus of materials is brought to our attention. The authors provide us with many illustrations, which make the text more lucid. The biographical details of the Governors and their support staff, whether it be women of the family, or dominant or subservient castes who help them carry out their work, is an eye opener. Their often tragic love stories, when companions die, show the intensity of their passions. The story of how [governor Peder Hansen] pursued [his wife Harriet] and won her, though she died at 29 after having borne him eight children, is told with great style."
--Susan Visvanathan "The Book Review India"