1837 Surat fire

Fire in British India May 2022 February 2023 Surat fire the 2019 fire 2019 Surat fire 1837 Surat fire 1837 04 24 1837 04 26 yes 5:00 pm IST on start date, to morning of end date Surat, British India (now in Gujarat, India) 21 12 03 N 72 49 26 E type:event_region:IN inline,title More than 500 4686500 1837 House fire thumb|Surat circa 1830 In April 1837, a fire broke out in the Indian city of Surat, then under British East India Company rule. It resulted in more than 500 deaths and the destruction of 9,737 houses in a 9+3/4 mi 0 on radius. It was the most destructive fire in the history of the city.https://books.google.com/books?id=xEFuAAAAMAAJ&q=+fire+1837 Gujarat State Gazetteers: Surat District Directorate of Government Printing, Stationery and Publications, Gujarat State 1962 2nd (Revised in 1962), 1st (1877) Ahmedabad 976–978 24 October 2020 24 April 2023 https://web.archive.org/web/20230424170507/https://books.google.com/books?id=xEFuAAAAMAAJ&q=+fire+1837 live Fire At the time of the fire in 1837, Surat was under the control of the British East India Company. At 5pm on 24 April, Monday, a jar of boiling pitch was spilt and some woodwork caught fire at a house of one of the leading Parsis in Machhalipith neighbourhood. The neighbours refused to allow the use of water from their wells to extinguish the fire.https://books.google.com/books?id=YP5GAAAAcAAJ&q=1837+Surat+fire&pg=RA1-PA82 The Annual Register: World Events 1837–1838 1838 82–83 en 24 October 2020 24 April 2023 https://web.archive.org/web/20230424170510/https://books.google.com/books?id=YP5GAAAAcAAJ&q=1837+Surat+fire&pg=RA1-PA82 live The fire quickly spread to the densely packed neighbouring houses, which had timber frames and wooden eaves overhanging the narrow streets. Within a few hours, the fire spread to an area of 3 mi 0 in due to heavy wind from the north. At night, the large masses of smoke lit by the fire were visible from a distance of 20 to 30 mi -1 in. At daybreak on 25 April, the fire's spread shifted due to wind from the southwest. At about 2pm, the fire was at its height. The fire declined thereafter and ended in the morning on 26 April. The fire had destroyed houses in a 9+3/4 mi 0 on radius, about three-quarters (75%) of the city.Bartlett Esquire Thomas https://books.google.com/books?id=rJ9fAAAAcAAJ&q=1837+Surat+fire&pg=PA475 The New Tablet of Memory; Or, Chronicle of Remarkable Events; with the Dates of Inventions and Discoveries in the Arts and Sciences; and Biographical Notices, Etc. [With Plates.] Thomas Kelly 1841 475 24 October 2020 24 April 2023 https://web.archive.org/web/20230424170510/https://books.google.com/books?id=rJ9fAAAAcAAJ&q=1837+Surat+fire&pg=PA475 live https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.305608/page/n103/mode/2up?view=theater gu Hiralal T. Parekh અર્વાચીન ગુજરાતનું રેખાદર્શન Overview of Modern Gujarat 1 99–106 Chapter 9 1935 Damage +Houses destroyed by fire in each neighbourhood of Surathttps://books.google.com/books?id=-rQBAAAAYAAJ&q=1837+surat+fire&pg=PA316 Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency: Gujarát Surat and Broach 1877 Printed at the Government Central Press 316–317 24 October 2020 24 April 2023 https://web.archive.org/web/20230424170514/https://books.google.com/books?id=-rQBAAAAYAAJ&q=1837+surat+fire&pg=PA316 live NeighbourhoodHouses destroyedCity6250Machhalipith259Rahia Soni Chaklo647Kelapith and Kanpith1174Rani Talav363Warifalia998Sangariawad390Bhagatalav581Kapatia Chaklo876Gopipura892Suburbs3123Navapura1880Haripura68Salabatpura524Begampura721Total9373 Apart from the more than 500 people who died in the fire, an additional 49 were found dead. That number includes seven people who died due to the change in the fire's direction on 25 April, 32 people who died while saving their property, and ten people who had tried to save themselves by jumping in a pond or well. The total economic loss could not be estimated. A total of 9,373 houses were destroyed. Of those, 6,250 were in the city proper and 3,123 in the suburbs. Placing the average cost of a house at 500 1837, the total loss amounted to about 4686500 1837.Haynes Douglas E. Rhetoric and Ritual in Colonial India Part Two: Surat City and the Larger World Berkeley University of California Press 1991 http://ark.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/ft8h4nb56f/ 40 UC Press E-Books Collection, 1982–2004 20 October 2020 22 June 2007 https://web.archive.org/web/20070622115125/http://ark.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/ft8h4nb56f/ live Relief The British government granted 50000 1837 for relief, while private donors collected 125000 1837 in Bombay. 1000 1837 were collected in London for relief work.https://books.google.com/books?id=Y5s3AQAAMAAJ&q=1837+Surat+fire&pg=RA1-PA305 The Asiatic Journal and Monthly Register for British and Foreign India, China, and Australia Parbury, Allen, and Company 1837 305 24 October 2020 24 April 2023 https://web.archive.org/web/20230424170509/https://books.google.com/books?id=Y5s3AQAAMAAJ&q=1837+Surat+fire&pg=RA1-PA305 live Aftermath After the fire, Surat was affected by a heavy flood in August 1837. Due to these disasters, Parsi, Jain, and Hindu traders moved to Bombay. Later, Bombay surpassed Surat to become the major port of the west coast of India. The city continued to be affected by several fires in subsequent years. See also 2019 Surat fire References Category:1837 fires Category:19th-century fires in Asia Category:Building and structure fires in India Category:History of Surat Category:19th century in Gujarat Category:Disasters in Gujarat Category:Urban fires in Asia Category:1837 in India Category:1830s disasters in Asia Category:19th-century disasters in India