Austrian colonization of the Nicobar Islands

The mosquito-borne tropical disease spread island-to-island until it eventually hit the Danish colonists so hard that the remaining settlers, including the head of the colony, sailed back to Tranquebar in March 1760.

[3][5][6] The origins of Austrian colonization of the Nicobar Islands can be traced back to appeals to both Empress Maria Theresa and Emperor Joseph II by William Bolts.

[1] In addition to Stahl's death, the Danish decided to send a warship from Tranquebar in an attempt to remove the Austrians from Nancowry forcibly.

[10] Motivated by an urge to explore, Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian of Austria in 1857 sent the frigate SMS Novara on a trip of scientific circumnavigation around the globe.

The researchers acquired more than 400 native artifacts from Nancowry and Kamorta, after which von Scherzer began promoting the idea of recolonization;[1] the Austrian government ruled against it.

The Danish had removed all settlements from the Nicobar Islands and relinquished sovereignty over them in 1848,[2] and British colonization lay 10 years in the future.