Bernt Pessart

Bernt Pessart (d June 1645) was a Danish overhoved and self-proclaimed President of Danish India from 1636 to 1643. In his early years, he served the Dutch East India Company in Bantam, and in September 1636, he became governor of Danish Tranquebar. He would serve as governor until his deposition in 1643, when he would flee to Japan. During his exile, Pessart would be confronted by the Dutch at Malacca, where he would be detained and imprisoned by Dutch authorities. His imprisonment would be taken to a court in Bantam, where the judge ruled he would again serve the Dutch by spying on the Spanish in the Philippines. He would die in June 1645 during a voyage to Manila by an ambush of local natives.