A History of Agriculture in India v2.c85.s3.t1.3

v2.c85.s3.t1.3

‘On the 2nd of Ramzan, 1132 A.H. (27 June 1720), on Friday, during prayers at the mosques, a fearful earthquake was felt,’ reports Khafi Khan. He continues, ‘A noise under the earth was heard, doors and walls shook and roofs rattled. During the day and night nine shocks were felt. It was reported that parts of the fort and many houses were thrown down, and that great numbers of persons were killed in Shahjahanabad and old Delhi. The writer of these leaves went out on horseback to see and ascertain for himself.... He found houses destroyed here and there, parts of the ramparts thrown down and damaged, two gates of the city injured, the parapets of the Fatehpuri mosque damaged, and ten or twelve persons killed and wounded. It was very amazing that for a month and two days the shocks continued, and were felt four or five times in the twenty-four hours. Many persons were so alarmed that they would not sleep under a roof. After this time the force of the shocks decreased; but for four or five months the earth and the houses were found to shake occasionally, until the arrival of the blessed feet of His Majesty, when the shocks gradually ceased.’⁹ In 1739 followed another disaster, the invasion of Nadir Shah, the Persian marauder.