HistoriCity | Belgium’s Indian footprints extends from Malabar to Bengal

From pioneering Jesuits to supplying Indian royalty with exquisite Saint Lambert glassware and chandeliers, Belgium’s Indian footprints extended from Malabar to Bengal, and from guns to linguistics. Today the relationship is encrusted with trade in diamonds between Surat and Antwerp.Much like India, it was ruled by other kingdoms before it achieved independence following the Belgian Revolution in 1830. (Representative | iStock)As an independent democracy, Belgium is nearly 200 years old. Much like India, it was ruled by other kingdoms before it achieved independence following the Belgian Revolution in 1830. Today, it comprises two main linguistic groups: those who speak Dutch and those who speak French. This is closely followed by some who speak German.While the Belgians were late entrants in the imperialist conquest of the world, their exploitation of the Central and East African nations is well known, particularly in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Ruanda Urundi (present day Rwanda and Burundi). King Leopold II’s fief-like rule over the Congo Free State saw an estimated 10 million Congolese perish (roughly half the population, as part of punishments for failing to meet quotas included beatings, mutilation (such as cutting off hands), and the destruction of villages. This prompted the world’s first major international human rights movement.From the 16th century onward, the territories that constitute present-day Belgium were successively ruled by the Spanish Habsburgs (1556-1714), the Austrian Habsburgs (1714-1794), and Revolutionary France (1794-1815). Situated at the crossroads of major European powers, the region became a frequent theatre of warfare, earning the later moniker of the Battlefield of Europe. It was under Austrian Habsburg rule in the 18th century, particularly during the period of the Austrian Netherlands, that the foundations of more sustained relations between the Indian subcontinent and the territories of present-day Belgium began to emerge.From Ostend to BankibazaarBy the mid-18th century, European imperialist ventures like the Dutch, French, English and Portuguese trading companies had established several posts, and enclaves in India, from Bombay and Malabar on the western coast to the Coromandel, all the way up to Bengal, where the Nawabs had granted permissions to the Dutch VOC, and their competitors the French, and English trading companies.The Ostend was one such enterprise. It was a chartered trading company from the Austrian Netherlands (or what comprises modern-day Belgium) and was established in 1722 to trade with the East and West Indies. It took its name from the Flemish port city of Ostend. According to historian Michael Wanner, “Flemish merchants promptly availed themselves of new opportunities and with their new masters’ patents they started penetrating the Indian Ocean and China, establishing trade contacts and new factories. Besides Coblon’s (also Cobelon, or Kovilam) base on the Coromandel Coast founded on 7th May 1719, there was also a base in Bankibazar, Bengal.”He writes of the arrival of two enterprising former English East India Company captains in Bengal in 1721,and their reception by a Bengal nawab—Jafar Khan (1695-1765 CE), who assured them that they would be able to trade there, “under the same conditions as other nations, and they were also promised to be given the opportunity to build a factory in Balasore”.Reacting to this news, the Viennese Court immediately empowered Marquis de Prie, who was a plenipotentiary of a prince in Austrian Netherlands, to select someone to negotiate similar conditions for establishing a factory with the nawab. Lieutenant General Jacques Andre Cobbe was chosen for this, arriving in Bengal in 1723. He was to negotiate for “legal exterritoriality for the Ostend colony” as well as “the right to freely profess the Catholic religion”, writes Wanner.Siege of BankibazarCobbe’s mission thus marked the beginning of a serious Austrian attempt to establish a commercial presence in Bengal through the Ostend Company. Although he secured permission to establish a settlement at Bankibazar, situated between the British settlement of Calcutta and the French settlement of Chandernagore, the company’s position remained precarious. Its growing trade threatened the established interests of the English and Dutch East India Companies, both of which sought to limit Ostend commercial activity and attempted to persuade the Nawab to restrict its operations. The Ostenders also faced tensions with local authorities over their claims to commercial privileges and religious freedom. Cobbe was killed in 1724 during fighting at Danemarnagore (Danemarksnagore near Chandannagar), after which Alexander Hume assumed a leading role and pursued the development of Bankibazar as a small but active trading settlement. Despite these difficulties, the Ostend Company’s trade in Bengal and elsewhere in Asia showed considerable promise, particularly in textiles such as chintz and other valuable commodities, and its commercial success demonstrated the potential of Austrian participation in the Asian trade.The success of the Ostend Company, however, created a serious diplomatic problem for Austria. Britain and the Dutch Republic regarded it as a dangerous competitor and pressured Emperor Charles VI to suppress the company. In response, Charles VI suspended its charter in 1727, although trading continued for some years. Under the Second Treaty of Vienna in 1731, Austria agreed to its final abolition. Thus, despite its beginnings in Bengal and the establishment of Bankibazar, the Ostend Company was ultimately sacrificed to Austria’s broader diplomatic interests in Europe.Bankibazar aside, Wanner notes that the Ostend Company also “held smaller (colonies) in Kasimbazar and Dhaka and had agents spread in a range of Bengal localities.” In 1744, Mir Jafar laid siege with over 10,000 troops after the ‘Germans’ (as Ostenders were then known locally) launched an attack on the Hoogly fort in response to the oppressive taxes laid by the Nawabs because they suspected the chief of the company Francois de Schonamille of aiding Maratha invaders. Very swiftly the company’s settlement was razed and its staff fled for their lives. In 1919, the British opened a gun factory and renamed the town to Ichapore or Ishapore, .303 rifles used by several state police forces still carry the insignia of RFI or Rifle Factory Ishapore. The fort at Kovilam eventually became the foundation of the Taj hospitality group’s resort in the famous beach town.Belgian Jesuits post-Ostend More than a century after the Ostend ships ceased sailing to India, Belgium’s relationship with the country was renewed through a very different institution: the Society of Jesus. In 1859, Peter Jan Beckx, the Belgian Superior General of the Jesuits, entrusted the Belgian Jesuit Province with establishing a college for Catholics in West Bengal. This initiative would go on to leave a lasting mark on India’s intellectual and educational landscape.St. Xavier’s College in Calcutta, now Kolkata, soon emerged as one of India’s foremost educational institutions. One of its most influential personalities was Eugène Lafont, a physicist from Mons who played a pioneering role in advancing scientific education in India. Among his students was Jagadish Chandra Bose, one of India’s great scientific pioneers. Lafont’s contribution earned him the distinction of being remembered as the Father of Science in India.Another remarkable Belgian who devoted his life to India was Camille Bulcke. Arriving in India in 1935, the Belgian Jesuit became a distinguished scholar of Hindi literature and an authority on Indian language and culture. His deep commitment to India was recognised with one of the country’s highest civilian honours, and he continues to be remembered with great admiration. In the early 20th century enterprising Jain families from Palanpur in Gujarat, set base in Antwerp. Today, while Surat remains the world’s largest diamond cutting and polishing centre, Antwerp is the biggest trade hub, India-Belgium gems and jewellery trade reportedly stood at around $3.5 billion in 2025-26.Finally, the sacrifices of over 9,000 Indian soldiers fighting for the British in Flanders (Dutch speaking region in north Belgium) during World War I form another enduring chapter in the long history of Belgium–India relations. Their courage on Flanders’ battlefields created a bond of remembrance that continues to connect India and Belgium to this day.HistoriCity is a column by author Valay Singh that narrates the story of a city that is in the news, by going back to its documented history, mythology and archaeological digs. The views expressed are personal.