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A little known fact of history: there was an Indian kingdom, Travancore, which defeated the Dutch in a naval battle in 1741 [1]. (This might be the only major n
by sn41 4y ago
A little known fact of history: there was an Indian kingdom, Travancore, which defeated the Dutch in a naval battle in 1741 [1]. (This might be the only major naval victory of an Asian kingdom over European navies until the Russo-Japanese war of 1905.) The Dutch never recovered, and did not colonize India.
The king of Travancore then used the captured Dutch commander, Eustachius De Lannoy, to modernize the armed forces [2].
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Colachel https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Colachel
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eustachius_De_Lannoy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eustachius_De_Lannoy
- bobthepanda 4y agoFun fact, the De Lannoys share their surname with the Delanos, as in Franklin Delano Roosevelt (although not the only presidents related to that family, and the original Delano is not related to the nobility)
- azepoi 4y agoDelannoy is a relatively common name from northern France, Lannoy is a commune, or more commonly a place (modern french l'aulnaie) planted with aulnes (Alders). Same meaning, different graphy, for Delaunay, as in Delaunay triangulation.
- Someone 4y agoAre you sure that was a naval battle? Reading Wikipedia (“The Mukkuvars Played a major role in defeating the Dutch East India company entering into colachal port”, “As the Dutch approached the shore, the Travancore army had made a retreat, and the locals fled the area. It was not enough for the Dutch to bombard a place and then barge in. To continue the war they required fortifications, trenches, and make-shift sheds and storerooms.”, “On 5 August, a cannonball fired by the Travancore army fell into a barrel of gunpowder inside the Dutch garrison”), it looks like a failed invasion.
- umeshunni 4y agoYeah - most sources (e.g. https://books.google.com/books?id=oNekDAAAQBAJ&pg=PT183#v=onepage&q&f=false https://books.google.com/books?id=oNekDAAAQBAJ&pg=PT183#v=on...) state it simply as a battle and the victory as a 'decisive victory' rather than a 'naval victory'.
- Aeolun 4y agoI find it interesting that there is no mention of this thing on Dutch Wikipedia. It’s just a translation of the information in the English article.
- kalimanzaro 4y agoNot the only one. The Chinese did it twice a century earlier. The naval one in the Taiwan straits. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Liaoluo_Bay https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Liaoluo_Bay
- kalimanzaro 4y agoApparently, the Cambodians too. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sino-Dutch_conflicts https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sino-Dutch_conflicts https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambodian%E2%80%93Dutch_War https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambodian%E2%80%93Dutch_War