Historieskrivning

This chapter examines Henning Engelhart’s unfinished historical manuscript De Danske Ost-Indiske Etablissementers Historie, intended as a “collection of authentic documents” on the Danish East India Company from 1616 to 1777. Based on his archival work in Tranquebar (1789–1790), the work aimed to preserve and publish historical sources—many now lost—and to correct contemporary portrayals of European activities in India, notably those in Raynal’s Les deux Indes. Engelhart’s history combines extracts from earlier historians with unique material from colonial archives, making its later sections (1670–1686) especially valuable.

Although Engelhart claimed no talent for historical writing, the work reflects the antiquarian tradition of late 18th-century Danish historiography, emphasizing documentation over interpretation. It also contains thematic interventions: defending Danish conduct in India as lawful and non-expansionist, celebrating prominent figures such as Ove Giedde, and offering measured, though sometimes critical, views of non-Europeans. While never completed or printed—likely due to Engelhart’s death during the 1791 Nicobar expedition—the manuscript circulated widely in copies and remains an important source for early Danish colonial history in Asia.