The first Danish trading post was established here in 1620. They promptly built the imposing Fort Dansborg after receiving the land from the king. It is still the second-largest Danish fort in the world. Two hundred years later, trading opportunities for cotton and pepper from this little town on the Coromandel coast had dwindled, and the Danes sold their fort and the town to the burgeoning British East India Company in 1845. The fort is now a museum and houses artifacts and relics that showcase the Danish history of Tranquebar.
In 1706, almost a century after trade relations were first established between Denmark and India, two German missionaries were sent to Tranquebar at the behest of the Danish king, Frederick IV. They were Bartholomaus Ziegenbalg and Heinrich Plutschau, the first Protestant missionaries in India. Upon landing, they quickly went about their assignment of converting the local populace to Christianity. In the process, Ziegenbalg fell in love with the land and the language. So much so that he went to local schools and learned Tamil. He was heavily involved in translating the Bible into Tamil. In fact, Tamil was the first Indian language the Bible was entirely translated and printed into, credit to Ziegenbalg, who took it upon himself to import a printing press from Denmark. He was instrumental in printing it and distributing it among the locals.
A model of the original printing press that Ziegenbalg imported is on display at the Tranquebar museum, which was once Fort Dansborg. The Tranquebar mission also built Zion Church and New Jerusalem Church for governors and soldiers/general public respectively. The former is one of the oldest Protestant churches in India.
