Tranquebar

Tarangampadi, the historical port, lies on the East Coast in Poraiyar Taluk of Nagapattinam district. The river Poraiyur locally called Uppanaru, has a confluence with the Bay of Bengal on the Southern side of the fort.

Tarangampadi fort was first constructed in 1620 CE by the Danish. The King of Denmark sent two ships to India under the leadership of Ove Gedde with the help of Roeland Crape of Holland; a treaty was signed between Thanjavur Nayak ruler, Ragunatha Nayak and Ove Gedde on 19 November 1620. This agreement was written in golden leaf. According to the agreement the port Tarangampadi was given to the Danish traders and provision was made for collecting the tax and Danish traders and provision was made for collecting the tax and construction of the fort.

A joint excavation will be conducted by the Danish Government in collaboration with ASI and TNSDA. The excavation was carried out in the northern side of the fort for 20 days in March 2008. Five trenches were laid before the fort and all the trenches were excavated up to the moat level. In this excavation a drop bridge constructed by the Danish period was identified in the entrance of the main gate. This drop bridge may be made up of with the wooden pillars and floor of the entrance was high and brick paved platform. The bridge contains three platforms and all the three are constructed with the help of bricks and mortar. Total breadth of the moat was 24 mts. In this excavation Chinese potteries and smoking pipes made in Denmark in Danish clay were recovered.