Thomas Schmertz | |
|---|---|
| 2nd Governor of Dannemarksnagore | |
| In office January 1699 – 26 July 1702 | |
| Monarch | Frederick IV |
| Preceded by | Andreas Andræ |
| Succeeded by | Johan Joachim Michelsen |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Unknown Denmark–Norway |
| Died | c. October 1708 Tranquebar, Danish India |
| Spouse(s) | Elisabeth Søfrensen |
| Children | 1 |
Thomas Schmertz[lower-alpha 1] (Template:Died in) was a Danish colonial official and governor of Dannemarksnagore from January 1699 to 26 July 1702.
Schmertz started as a trading assistant of the Danish East India Company in the Danish colony of Tranquebar. In 1698, he was sent to Bengal together with Andreas Andræ, negotiating the Dano-Mughal Treaty, which ended the Dano-Mughal War, and leased Dannemarksnagore to Danish India. Here, he served as governor from 1699 until he was recalled to Tranquebar in 1702 on the basis of fraud and misconduct. Consequently, Schmertz repatriated to Denmark–Norway in 1703, but returned to Tranquebar in 1706.
Schmertz died before October 1708 in Tranquebar.
Career[edit | edit source]
Thomas Schmertz began his career in the Danish East India Company as a trading assistant in the Danish colony of Tranquebar.[1]
Time in Bengal[edit | edit source]
At the end of 1698,[1] Schmertz was sent to Bengal with Andreas Andræ to negotiate with the Mughal Empire,[1][2][3] which had been at war with Danish India since 1642.[4][5][6] Here, they managed to conclude a treaty,[1][2] establishing the Danish factory of Dannemarksnagore,[7][8][2][9][3] at the Hooghly River[10][8] in Gondalpara.[11][2] The factory was provisionally a local house, although a big fort with stone walls was erected the following year.[8] When Andræ left Dannemarksnagore in January 1699,[12] Schmertz became the opperhoved of the colony.[12][9] At that time, the colony was not properly settled[13] and was only guarded by 30 men,[8][9] although a couple of vessels regularly supplied the lodge with money and human resources from Tranquebar.[8] During 1700,[8] more warehouses and a tall curtain wall were erected in the colony,[14] and the number of Danish officials increased.[8] However, the colony had few resources,[15] which were badly distributed among the Danish officials.[8] According to Indian historian Lalit Mohan Mitra, Schmertz was incompetent and did little to further Danish trade in the colony.[9]
Subsequently, Schmertz[8][9] and two other assistants[8] were recalled to Tranquebar in 1702[8][9] by the colony's Privy Council (Script error: The function "langx" does not exist.).[1] Schmertz was accused of fraud and misconduct,[1][8] and on 26 July 1702, he resigned as governor of Dannemarksnagore[1] in favor of Johan Joachim Michelsen,[16] being deemed responsible for fraudulently using a large amount of money in the colony; however, no evidence of this was found.[1]
Consequently, Schmertz repatriated to Denmark–Norway in 1703, but returned to Tranquebar in 1706. However, he was disallowed from serving in the D.E.I.C. and subsequently went to Bengal on board the vessel Gyldenløve to gather his receivables.[1]
Schmertz died before October 1708.[1]
Personal life[edit | edit source]
Schmertz was married to Elisabeth Søfrensen, who lived by selling beverages in Tranquebar while Schmertz was in Bengal. She continued this after Schmertz's death in 1708. Together, they had a girl, who was married to the priest of the Zion Church, Jacob Clementin. Furthermore, Schmertz had a servant, Ramma, who was caught stealing cheroots in 1695, to which Schmertz was summoned at Tranquebar's courthouse on 17 January that year.[1]
See also[edit | edit source]
- Axel Juel
- Jørgen Bjørn – Governor of Tranquebar from 1702 to 1704
- Mikkel Knudsen Crone
Notes and citations[edit | edit source]
Notes[edit | edit source]
- ↑ da
Citations[edit | edit source]
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 Larsen 1940, p. 106.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Wellen 2015, p. 459.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Aslanian & Subrahmanyam 2025, p. 401.
- ↑ Wellen 2015, pp. 439, 448.
- ↑ Larsen 1908, p. 14.
- ↑ Mitra 1952, p. 10.
- ↑ Larsen 1940, pp. 38, 106, 117.
- ↑ 8.00 8.01 8.02 8.03 8.04 8.05 8.06 8.07 8.08 8.09 8.10 8.11 Larsen 1908, p. 24.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5 Mitra 1952, p. 15.
- ↑ Larsen 1940, pp. 19, 38, 106.
- ↑ Larsen 1940, p. 38.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Larsen 1940, pp. 38, 106.
- ↑ Aslanian & Subrahmanyam 2025, p. 403.
- ↑ Larsen 1940, p. 19.
- ↑ Aslanian & Subrahmanyam 2025, pp. 403–404.
- ↑ Larsen 1940, p. 91.
References[edit | edit source]
- Larsen, Kay (1940). Guvernører, residenter, kommandanter og chefer [Governors, Residents, Commanders and Chiefs] (PDF) (in dansk). Copenhagen, Denmark: Arthur Jensens Forlag – via Danskernes Historie Online.
- Larsen, Kay (1908). De dansk-ostindiske koloniers historie – De Bengalske loger & Nikobarerne [History of the Danish East Indian Colonies – The Bengali lodges & the Nicobar Islands] (in dansk). Vol. 2. Copenhagen, Denmark: Centralforlaget & Peter Hansens Forlag – via Danskernes Historie Online.
- Wellen, Kathryn (2015). "The Danish East India Company's War against the Mughal Empire, 1642-1698". Journal of Early Modern History. 19. Leiden, the Netherlands: Brill Publishers & Royal Netherlands Institute of Southeast Asian and Caribbean Studies. doi:10.1163/15700658-12342470. eISSN 1568-5209. ISSN 0022-4995 – via Academia.
- Mitra, Lalit Mohan (September 1952). The Danes in Bengal (PDF) (1st ed.). Kolkata, India: Prabartak Publishers – via Internet Archive.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: year (link) - Aslanian, Sebouh David; Subrahmanyam, Sanjay (7 April 2025). "Uneasy Partnership". Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient. 68. Brill Publishers. eISSN 1568-5209. ISSN 0022-4995 – via Academia.