The Danes established their first settlement in India in 1620 at:

The Danes (people of Denmark) established their first settlement in India at Tranquebar (now Tharangambadi), on the Coromandel coast in present-day Tamil Nadu, in 1620.

The Danish East India Company:

• It was founded in 1616, under a charter from King Christian IV of Denmark.
• Its first expedition, led by Ove Gjedde, reached the coast of south India.
• The Danes signed a treaty with Raghunatha Nayak, the Nayak ruler of Thanjavur, who allowed them to set up a trading post at Tranquebar.
• They built Fort Dansborg at Tranquebar (1620), which still stands and houses a museum.

Missionary activity:

• In 1706, the German missionaries Bartholomaeus Ziegenbalg and Heinrich Plutschau arrived at Tranquebar, sent by the King of Denmark.
• They were the first Protestant missionaries in India.
• Ziegenbalg learnt Tamil, set up a printing press, and translated the New Testament into Tamil (1715).

Other Danish settlements:

• The Danes later set up a settlement at Serampore (Frederiksnagore) in Bengal (1755), which became famous as the centre of the Baptist missionaries.
• They also had small trading posts at other places.

End of Danish rule:

• The Danes were not a major power in India, and their trade declined.
• In 1845, they sold Tranquebar and Serampore to the British East India Company.

Other Europeans in India:

• The Portuguese came first, and set up their headquarters at Goa.
• The Dutch had settlements at Pulicat, Chinsurah, Masulipatnam and Cochin.
• The English set up factories at Surat, Madras, Bombay and Calcutta.
• The French had their headquarters at Pondicherry, and also held Mahe, Karaikal, Yanam and Chandernagore.

About Tranquebar today:

• It is a small coastal town in the Mayiladuthurai district of Tamil Nadu.
• Its name means "the village of the singing waves".

Why not the other options?

• ✗Chinsurah and Pulicat were Dutch settlements; Mahe was a French settlement.