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ce and extensive tweakage, incl. adding date of 1st Austrian attempt to intro to provide context for dates already given. Reversed all authors in refs to match, left foreign dates & other formatting inconstistencies alone. This edit intended to improve the encyclopedia is not an endorsement of the WMF.

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{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2020}}
[[File:Map of Nicobar and Andaman Islands-de.svg|thumb|A modern map of the Nicobar (and Andaman) islands.]]

The '''Austrian colonization of the Nicobar Islands''' ({{lang-de|Nikobaren}}, renamed to the '''Theresia Islands''' [''Theresia-Inseln'']) involved a series of three separate attempts by the [[Habsburg Monarchy]], and later the [[Austrian Empire]] to colonize and settle the [[Nicobar Islands]]. Only the first of these, launched in 1778, was successful.<ref name=":1">Steger, Philipp (2005). "The Nicobar Islands: Linking Past and Future". ''University of Vienna''. Archived from the original on 2005. Retrieved 16 December 2018.</ref> The second attempt was canceled, and the third, in 1886, was abandoned due to prior colonization by the [[Andaman and Nicobar Islands#Danish colonial period and British rule|British in 1868]].<ref name=":5" /> The Nicobar Islands had been previously colonized by the [[Andaman and Nicobar Islands#Danish colonial period and British rule|Danish in 1756]]; the Danes abandoned the islands after multiple outbreaks of [[malaria]],<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://ro.uow.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://www.google.com/&httpsredir=1&article=1013&context=kunapipi|title=Denmark in the Indian Ocean, 1616–1845|last=Stow|first=Randolph|date=1979|website=ro.uow.edu.au|access-date=22 December 2018}}</ref> but continued to lay formal claim to the islands until 1848.

== Previous colonization by the Danish ==
{{Main|Danish India|Nicobar and Andaman Islands|l1=}}
The Nicobar Islands were officially colonized by the Danish on 1 January 1756.<ref name=":0" /> [[Denmark–Norway|Denmark]] owned a significant port in India, [[Tharangambadi|Tranquebar]], and decided to colonize the islands, citing lack of native resistance, ease of access, and vicinity to Tranquebar.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2">{{Cite web|url=http://www.andamanmangroves.com/history&pop.php|title=History of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands{{!}}Population of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands{{!}}Andaman Mangroves Holidays|website=www.andamanmangroves.com|access-date=22 December 2018}}</ref> In December 1756, the Danish named the islands '''Frederick's Islands''' ({{lang-da|Frederiksøerne}}),<ref name=":2" /> after the then [[Monarchy of Denmark|King of Denmark]], [[Frederick V of Denmark|Frederick V]].

Within a few months of colonization, the island of [[Nancowry Island|Nancowry]] was settled, and the colony contracted malaria for the first time. The mosquito-borne [[tropical disease]] spread island-to-island until it eventually hit the Danish colonists so hard that the remaining settlers, including the head of the colony, sailed back to Tranquebar in March 1760.<ref name=":0" /> Another expedition was made in 1768, but within less than 9 years that colony had disappeared as well.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":3">Lowis, R. F. (1912) ''The Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Part I. Report. Part II. Tables''.</ref><ref name=":4">Temple, R. C. (1903) ''The Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Report on the Census''.</ref>

==Background to Austrian colonization==
The origins of Austrian colonization of the Nicobar Islands can be traced back to appeals to both Empress [[Maria Theresia|Maria Theresa]] and Emperor [[Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor|Joseph II]] by [[William Bolts]]. Bolts had been previously active in the [[British East India Company]] but had been convicted of trading in opium and dismissed. In 1774, he traveled to Vienna to convince the colonially inexperienced Austrians of the feasibility of trade between [[Trieste]] and the [[Far East]]. Bolts was well received by the Austrian court, and was given a ten-year [[charter]] allowing him to trade through the Austrian [[Adriatic Sea|Adriatic ports]] to Persia, India, China, and Africa.<ref>Octroi de Sa Majesté l’Imperatrice Reine Apostolique, accordé au Sieur Guillaume Bolts, à Vienne le 5 Juin 1775", Bolts, Guillaume, ''Recueil de pièces authentiques, relatives aux affaires de la ci-devant Société impériale asiatique de Trieste, gérées à Anvers'', Antwerp, 1787, pp.45–49</ref>

Bolts, who was then at the court of the [[Kingdom of Mysore|Nawab of Mysore]],<ref>Markov, Walter, "La Compagnia Asiatica di Trieste", ''Studi Storici'', vol.2, no.1, 1961, p.14.</ref> directed the ''Joseph und Theresia'' to sail to the Nicobars. In June 1778, the ship docked on the island of [[Nancowry Island|Nancowry]], and on 12 July, the Nicobarese natives signed a document that ceded all twenty-four islands to Austria.<ref name=":1" /> The Austrian flag was then raised on a nearby hill, and 6 men, with slaves, cattle, and arms, were left behind to start the new Austrian colony.<ref name=":3" /><ref>Von Pollack-Parnau, Franz, "Eine österreich-ostindische Handelskompanie, 1775–1785: Beitrag zur österreichische Wirtschaftsgeschichte unter Maria Theresia und Joseph II", ''Vierteljahrsschrift für Sozial- und Wirtschaftsgesichte,'' Beiheft 12, Stuttgart, 1927, p.45–47. Sieveking, Heinrich, "Die Kaiserliche Flagge auf den Nikobaren", ''Ostasiatische Rundschau'',num.5/6, 1940, p.111-2. ''Gazzetta Universale''(Florence), 15 Febbraio 1780; ''The Public Ledger'' (London), 13 December 1779; ''St. James's Chronicle'', 18 January 1780; ''London Chronicle'', 11 March 1780; ''Journal politique, ou Gazette des gazettes'', Octobre 1779, Seconde Quinzaine.</ref>

In 1781, the colonists complained about a lack of drinking water and food, but Vienna took no notice and left its outpost to its fate.<ref name=":4" /> The colonists managed successfully until Gottfried Stahl, their leader, died in 1783; the remaining colonists decided to abandon the islands in 1785.<ref name=":1" /> In addition to Stahl's death, the Danish decided to send a warship from Tranquebar in an attempt to forcefully remove the Austrians from Nancowry.<ref>Markov, Walter, "L'expansion autrichienne outre-mer et les intérêts portugaises 1777–81", Congresso Internacional de História dos Descobrimentos, ''Actas'', Volume V, II parte, Lisboa, 1961, pp.281–291.</ref>
[[File:Novara-expedition-report-book-cover-1865.jpg|thumb|upright=.8|SMS ''Novara'']]

== ''Novara'' expedition of 1858 ==
{{Main|Novara Expedition|l1=}}
Motivated by an urge to explore, Archduke [[Maximilian I of Mexico|Ferdinand Maximilian of Austria]] in 1857 sent the frigate [[SMS Novara (1850)|SMS ''Novara'']] on a trip of scientific circumnavigation around the globe. On board was a team of researchers from the Austrian Academy of Sciences, which also received the additional task of looking out for possible locations for a penal colony.

In February 1858, ''Novara'' reached the island of [[Car Nicobar]], the northernmost island of the chain. The Austrian team sailed around the islands of [[Nancowry Island|Nancowry]] and [[Kamorta Island|Kamorta]] but did not try to occupy them. The leader of the group, [[Ethnology|ethnologist]] [[Karl von Scherzer]], encouraged the team to explore the island for artifacts. The researchers acquired more than 400 native artifacts from Nancowry and Kamorta, after which von Scherzer began promoting the idea of recolonization;<ref name=":1" /> the Austrian government ruled against it.

If von Scherzer's idea had been accepted by the Austrian government, the colonization would have been most likely uncontested. The Danish had removed all settlements from the Nicobar Islands and relinquished sovereignty over them in 1848,<ref name=":5">{{Cite book|title=The Andaman and Nicobar Islands: Local Gazetter|last=Government Printing|year=1908|location=India}}</ref> and British colonization lay 10 years in the future.

==''Aurora'' expedition==
In 1886, the Austrian corvette SMS ''Aurora'' anchored in the harbor of Nancowry before continuing her voyage to the Far East. The Austrians then realized that the British had already settled the islands.<ref name=":1" /> In 1868, the British had officially purchased the rights to all twenty-four of the Nicobar Islands from the Danish government.<ref name=":2" /> There were no further plans for Austrian recolonization.

==See also==
*[[Danish India]]
*[[Danish East India Company]]
*[[Austrian Colonial History]]
*[[:Category:Former Austrian colonies|Former Austrian colonies]]
*[[Habsburg Monarchy]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

{{Former Austrian colonies}}

[[Category:Former Austrian colonies|Nicobar Islands]]
[[Category:History of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands]]
[[Category:Colonial history of the Habsburg Monarchy]]
[[Category:States and territories established in 1778|Austrian Nicobar Islands]]
[[Category:1778 establishments in India]]
[[Category:1785 disestablishments in India]]
[[Category:18th century in Austria]]
[[Category:18th century in India]]
[[Category:European colonisation in Asia]]

Austrian colonization of the Nicobar Islands - Revision history