1843.] Memoir on Indian Earthquakes. 1025* 



during this same year that the Earthquaking forces were so fatally 

 active throughout. Affghanistan, as described in a former page. 



The next Earthquake in order of time, which is referrible to the 

 Aravulli tract is that of July, (day not ascertained,) 1720, experienced 

 at Delhi. It occurred in the reign of Mahommed Shah, and during 

 the troubles that prevailed while the two Seiad brothers, Abdullah 

 Khan and Hosein Ali Khan, usurped the functions of the imperial 

 Government. It is referred to only incidentally by Mr. Elphinstone 

 in his History of India, (Vol. II, p. 586), while narrating the defeat, 

 on several occasions, of the imperial troops by those of Asof Jah, the 

 founder of the sovereignty of the Nizams of the Deccan. " These 

 events," Mr. Elphinstone remarks, " threw the Seiads into consternation, 

 and though secretly agreeable to the emperor and many of the nobility, 

 filled the minds of reflecting men with dismal forebodings of the ruin of 

 the Empire. This gloom was rendered deeper among a superstitious 

 people by a violent Earthquake which occurred about this time, and 

 seemed to threaten the existence of the capital : and in these depress- 

 ing circumstances, the brothers betrayed those signs of irresolution 

 which are often the fore-runners of great calamities." There is now 

 pointed out in Delhi a mosque, one of the minars of which, (still un- 

 repaired,) is traditionally said to have been thrown down by an Earth- 

 quake which occurred in the early part of last century, possibly by 

 that now under notice. Mr. Elphinstone also mentions, that the 

 beautiful column, called the Cuttub Minar, situated about 12 miles 

 from modern Delhi, lost its upper portion from the effects of an Earth- 

 quake, but no clue to the date of this accident is given. (Elphin. Hist. 

 Vol. II, p. 9). 



An interval of upwards of a century now intervenes ere another 

 Earthquake in this tract is recorded ; and relative to those which 

 follow, the general remark may be made, that their intensity is very 

 much inferior to those just noticed. They are far too slight to have 

 even produced any effect on buildings of masonry, and have been almost 

 universally nothing more than slight undulations of the earth, accom- 

 panied by noises. They could produce neither the moral nor physical 

 effects attributed to the shocks of 1505 and 1720, and it would there- 

 fore appear, that since the last mentioned date, the disturbing forces 

 have materially decreased in violence. 



Earthquake of the 24th October, 1831. — This Earthquake was ex- 

 perienced near Delhi, and is described in the following letter published 

 in the "Gleanings of Science," (Vol. III. p. 388,): — 



To the Editor of the " Gleanings of Science." 



Near Delhi, 24th October, 1831. 

 Sir, — I beg leave to send you a short account of a smart shock of 

 Earthquake which occurred in my neighbourhood on the 24th October 

 at half-past noon. I am encamped in North latitude 28° 34' and longi- 

 tude 78° 04' 26" East from Greenwich. The wind was West from which 

 quarter it had been blowing steadily for some days, but just previous 



