Page 273 - Kolaj Sharodiya Review Edition

He translated The Bible into Tamil and established the Zion Church.
In addition to this, he also imported a press and the Zieganbalg House is
still in possession of this press and believe it or not, it is still functional.
Vinoth was kind enough to provide me a print in Tamil which roughly
translated to “The Zieganbalg House welcome you to Tranquebar.”
The Danes has established the first printing press in Serampore in West
Bengal, and the story here was similar as well. William Carey is credited for
the press in Serampore (also called Fredricknagore) and he to translated
the Bible to Bangla. I had recently been to Serampore, and this visit to
Tranquebar, provided some continuity. The second floor of the building,
hosts painting exhibitions from time to time, and also has a studio. They run
an exchange programme with a museum in Halle, wherein researchers
spend time in the respective towns. I secretly hoped that this eventually will
make sure there is more information available on the treasure trove that
Tranquebar is. Vinoth also told me that Zieganbalg had established a
co-educational school in Tranquebar, and that it is still functional, though
as an all boy’s school now. The school is just next to the House. There is also
a tiny chapel within the premises. I was delighted to meet Vinoth and his
team, he mentioned he is up for going to Halle next year and I sincerely
hope he does. I wished him luck and armed with my print out of a
300-year-old printing press, and a couple of really old photographs as
picture postcards, I was mighty happy! On my way out, I spotted a door
marked as the Zieganbalg Press and I did break out into a smile.
The Zieganbalg house, with the chapel
I headed out to the sea after this, thinking about all the good work that is P.C- Paromita Bose
undertaken by organisations to arrive at a cohesive narrative of history.
History is a complex territory and for years has always been written by
people in power. However, before we get into the politics of power with
regard to history, it is important to have a set of information with regard to
place and people. It was enthralling to meet the working group at the
Zieganbalg House, I am unsure about their politics but the fact that they
have undertaken a project to document the life and times of the Danes in
India is noteworthy. There is of course a lot more information available on
Tranquebar than my last visit to the town, and perhaps the work of the
people at the Zieganbalg House had a role to play in the same. Most of
Indian history that is available in the public domain concentrates on the
British in India, there is very little documentation on the Danes and even the
Armenians. I hope the knowledge with regard to other colonial histories in
the public domain increases in the times to come. The worldview might be
more unified and objective then.