In April 1837, a fire broke out in the Indian city of

Surat Surat is a city in the western Indian state of Gujarat. The word Surat literally means ''face'' in Gujarati and Hindi. Located on the banks of the river Tapti near its confluence with the Arabian Sea, it used to be a large seaport. It is now ...

, then under

British East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...

rule. It resulted in more than 500 deaths and the destruction of 9,737 houses in a 9 mile radius. It was the most destructive fire in the history of the city.

Fire

At the time of the fire in 1837, Surat was under the control of the British East India Company. At 5 pm on April 24, a jar of boiling pitch was spilt and some of the woodwork caught on fire at a house of one of the leading

Parsi Parsis () or Parsees are an ethnoreligious group of the Indian subcontinent adhering to Zoroastrianism. They are descended from Persians who migrated to Medieval India during and after the Arab conquest of Iran (part of the early Muslim conq ...

s in Machhalipith neighbourhood. The neighbours refused to allow water from their wells to be used to extinguish the fire. 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 three miles due to heavy wind from the north. At night, the large masses of smoke lit by the fire were visible from a distance of twenty to thirty miles. At daybreak on April 25, the fire's spread shifted due to wind from the southwest. At about 2 pm, 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 mile radius, about three-fourths of the city.

Damage

Apart from the more than 500 people who died in the fire, 49 additional dead were found. That number includes seven people who died due to the change in the fire's direction on April 25, 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 , the total loss amounted to about .

Relief

The British Government granted for relief, while private donors collected in

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

. were collected in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

for relief work.

Aftermath

After the fire, Surat was affected by a heavy flood in August 1837. Due to these disasters,

Jain Jainism ( ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an Indian religion. Jainism traces its spiritual ideas and history through the succession of twenty-four tirthankaras (supreme preachers of ''Dharma''), with the first in the current time cycle being ...

, and

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

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.

References

{{reflist 1837 fires in Asia Fires in India History of Surat History of Gujarat Disasters in Gujarat Urban fires in Asia 1837 in India 1837 disasters in India

Fire

Damage

Relief

Aftermath

See also

References