The Danish India Coins

The Danes made their first appearance in India in 1618, when the Dansk Ostindisk Compagni (Danish East India Company) started operating under a royal Danish charter. They reached an agreement with the Thanjavur Nayaks, receiving the port of Tranquebar and some surrounding area on an annual payment of 4,000 rupees.

By the following year the Danish castle of Dansborg had been built. Although the Danes subsequently did establish a few other settlements, Tranquebar remained their headquarters and their only mint operated there.

Sri Krishnadevaraya Gold Pagoda - Bala Krishna type

This coin was minted probably in 1513 AD to commemorate and celebrate the conquest of the eastern Gajapati kingdom of Udayagiri or Utkala (in the present day Kalinga of Orissa state) then ruled by Pratapa Rudra Deva. It is said that following this victory, Krishnadevaraya seized the idol of Balakrishna (Lord Krishna as infant) and brought it to Vijayanagar as a war trophy. He then built the Krishna Temple at Hampi where the idol was then consecrated. The idol is now displayed in the state museum at Chennai and a huge slab installed inside the courtyard of the temple states the story of this temple and the conquest of Utkala.

Obverse: Crowned and ornamented cute Balakrishna, potbellied, seated on a dotted bordered dais with right leg folded, discus to right, conch to left, holding a lump of butter in right hand.