This article details events occurring in the year 1839 in India. Major events include the reduction of the Khanate of Kalat to a subsidiary ally of the British, and the capture of Aden in Yemen by the East India Company, creating an important stopover for voyages between Europe and India.

Incumbents

*The

Earl of Auckland Baron Auckland is a title in both the Peerage of Ireland and the Peerage of Great Britain. The first creation came in 1789 when the prominent politician and financial expert William Eden was made Baron Auckland in the Peerage of Ireland. In ...

, Governor-General, 1836-42. *

Alexander Cunningham Major General Sir Alexander Cunningham (23 January 1814 – 28 November 1893) was a British Army engineer with the Bengal Engineer Group who later took an interest in the history and archaeology of India. In 1861, he was appointed to the newly ...

, aide-de-camp to Lord Auckland, 1836-1840 *Sir John Keane, Lieutenant-General of the Bombay Army, 1834-1840 *Zirat Prasad, regent of

Bhaisunda Bhaisunda, also spelt 'Bhaisaunda', was a princely state in India during the British Raj. History Bhaisaunda state was founded in 1812 by the Kalinjar family. It was one of the Chaube Jagirs, which were part of the Bagelkhand Agency of British I ...

, 1829-1840 * Nau Nihal Singh, Maharaja of the Sikh Empire, 1839-1840 *Bhao Rao Phanse, Dewan of Indore State, 1839-1840 *

Raghuji Bohonsle III Raghuji Bhonsle III (1806 or 1808 – 11 December 1853) or Raghuji III Bhonsle, was the Maratha ruler of the Principal States of Nagpur in Central India from 1818 to 1853. Life Succession When Appa Sahib was arrested the Resident Mr. Jenk ...

, Maratha of Nagpur, 1818-1853 *

Gaya Prasad Gaya Prasad was the Chaube of Taraon State Taraon, also spelt Tarrauhan,Tarahwan,and Tarahuhān, was a jagir in India during the British Raj. It had an area of 67 square miles and its population was distributed in 13 villages. The capital of ...

, Chaube of

Taraon State Taraon, also spelt Tarrauhan,Tarahwan,and Tarahuhān, was a jagir in India during the British Raj. It had an area of 67 square miles and its population was distributed in 13 villages. The capital of the state was in Pathraundi, located about 1.5 ...

, 1812-1840 * Anand Rao Puar "Rao Sahib", Raja of Dewas State, 1817-1840 * Dariao Singh, Rao of Paldeo, 1812-1840 *

Shiv Saran Singh The word Shiv or shiv may refer to: People with the name * Shivnarine Chanderpaul, a West Indies cricketer nicknamed Shiv Arts, entertainment, and media * Shiv, a fictional location in Magic: The Gathering, see Dominaria * Shiv, a villain in t ...

, Rana of Baghal State, 1828-16 January 1840 * Jashwant Singh, Raja of Nabha State, December 1783-21 May 1840 * Kandhaji IV,

Thakur Sahib Thakur is a historical feudal title of the Indian subcontinent. It is also used as a surname in the present day. The female variant of the title is Thakurani or Thakurain, and is also used to describe the wife of a Thakur. There are varyi ...

Palitana State History It used to be a native state of India in the Kathiawar Agency of the Bombay Presidency. Area, 289 sq. m.; pop. (1901), 52,856, showing a decrease of 15% in the decade. Gross revenue, £42,000; tribute jointly to the Gaekwar of Baroda ...

, 1820-1840 * Nonghanji IV, Thakur Sahib of Palitana State, 1824-1860 * Henry Fane,

Commander-in-Chief, India During the period of the Company rule in India and the British Raj, the Commander-in-Chief, India (often "Commander-in-Chief ''in'' or ''of'' India") was the supreme commander of the British Indian Army. The Commander-in-Chief and most of his ...

, 1835-1839 *

, Chaube of

* Anand Rao Puar "Rao Sahib", Raja of Dewas State *

, Rana of Baghal State * Jashwant Singh, Raja of Nabha State *Ahmed Shah, King of the Maqpon dynasty * Chandrasinhji II Kesarisinhji, Maharana Raj Sahib of the Wankaner State, 1787-1839 *Vakhatsinhji Chandrasinhji, Maharana Raj Sahib of the Wankaner State, 1839-1842 *

Ranjit Singh Ranjit Singh (13 November 1780 – 27 June 1839), popularly known as Sher-e-Punjab or "Lion of Punjab", was the first Maharaja of the Sikh Empire, which ruled the northwest Indian subcontinent in the early half of the 19th century. He s ...

, founder and Maharajah of the Sikh Empire, 1780-1839 * Kharak Singh, Maharajah of the Sikh Empire, 1839-1840 *Jashwant Singh, Rana of Alirajpur State, 1818-17 March 1862 * Raja Zalim Sen, Raja of Mandi State, 1826-1839 * Raja Balbir Sen, Raja of Mandi, 1839-1851 * Bhup Deo, Raja of Kanker State, 1818-1839 * Padma Deo, Raja of Kanker State, 1839–1853 *Major-General William Henry Sleeman heads the Thuggee and Dacoity Department from February 1839 *

Thug Behram Thug Behram (c. 1765 – 1840), also known as Buhram Jamedar and the King of the Thugs, was a leader of the Thuggee cult active in Oudh in central India during the late 18th and early 19th century, and is often cited as one of the world's most ...

, ruler of a Thugee death cult

Events

* First Anglo-Afghan War, 1837–1842''Everyman's Dictionary of Dates''; 6th ed. J. M. Dent, 1971; p. 261 * Battle of Ghazni, part of the First Anglo-Afghan War, occurs on 23 July 1839 in Ghazni, Afghanistan * East India Company forces

capture Capture may refer to: *Asteroid capture, a phenomenon in which an asteroid enters a stable orbit around another body *Capture, a software for lighting design, documentation and visualisation *"Capture" a song by Simon Townshend *Capture (band), an ...

Aden Aden ( ar, عدن ' Yemeni: ) is a city, and since 2015, the temporary capital of Yemen, near the eastern approach to the Red Sea (the Gulf of Aden), some east of the strait Bab-el-Mandeb. Its population is approximately 800,000 people. ...

to provide a coaling station for ships en route to India, founding the Aden Colony * Khanate of Kalat is reduced to a subsidiary alliance with the British Empire, self-governing under Khans * British India Society is founded in England * Jessop & Company work on construction of the first iron bridge in British India, Loha-ka-Pul over River Gomti at Lucknow, 1812–1840 *

36th Jacob's Horse The 36th Jacob's Horse were a unit of cavalry of the British Indian Army. Origins They were raised by Lieut. John Jacob of the Bombay Artillery, as a unit of Irregular Horse, originally in 1839 (reformed 1846) to patrol the area of ' Scinde' ...

, a unit cavalry of the

British Indian Army The British Indian Army, commonly referred to as the Indian Army, was the main military of the British Raj before its dissolution in 1947. It was responsible for the defence of the British Indian Empire, including the princely states, which co ...

, is established *

Feast of Saint Raphael, Ollur The Feast of Saint Raphael or Malakhayude Perunnal is an annual festival held in Ollur, near Thrissur, Kerala (India), since 1839. It draws thousands of pilgrims. The Ollur forane church, founded in 1718 and dedicated to St Anthony, also house ...

is held for the first time in Ollur, near Thrissur, Kerala *The cornerstone for St. Paul's Cathedral, Kolkata is laid * Bishop Hodges Higher Secondary School is established *

St. Mary's Anglo-Indian Higher Secondary School St. Mary's Anglo-Indian Higher Secondary School is a Catholic higher secondary school for boys in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India, operated by the Salesians of Don Bosco. It is located on Armenian Street, Broadway opposite the High Court and adjacent ...

is established *

St. Paul's Church, Landour St. Paul's is an Anglican church in Landour, India. The church was built in 1839 and first consecrated on 1 May 1840, by Bishop Daniel Wilson of Calcutta. From 1840 to 1947, the church was run by military chaplains for the cantonment used primar ...

is established * Thomas John Newbold is appointed deputy assistant adjutant-general and postmaster to the field force of the East India Company * John Nicholson, then a cadet in the East India Company's

Bengal Infantry The regiments of Bengal Native Infantry, alongside the regiments of Bengal European Infantry, were the regular infantry components of the East India Company's Bengal Army from the raising of the first Native battalion in 1757 to the passing int ...

, reaches India *'' Sambad Prabhakar'', a weekly newspaper, became a daily newspaper *The

Statue of Thomas Munro The statue of Thomas Munro is an equestrian statue of Thomas Munro, 1st Baronet, Major-General in the British Army and Governor of Madras from 1820 to 1827, located in the city of Chennai, India. The bronze statue sculpted by Francis Chantrey ...

was shipped to Madras * Mr. Grange (Sub Assistant to the Commissioner at Nowgong) lead the first expedition to the Naga Hills (

Mezoma Mezoma is a village in Kohima district of Nagaland Nagaland () is a landlocked state in the northeastern region of India. It is bordered by the Indian states of Arunachal Pradesh to the north, Assam to the west, Manipur to the south and th ...

and Khonoma)

Law

*Interest Act

Births

*July -

Baba Jaimal Singh Jaimal Singh (1839–1903) was an Indian spiritual leader. He became an initiate of Shiv Dayal Singh (Radha Soami). After his initiation, Jaimal Singh served in the British Indian Army as a sepoy (private) from the age of seventeen and attain ...

, Founder of Radha Soami Satsang Beas (died 29 December 1903). *

Allan Webb Allan Webb may refer to: * Allan Webb (bishop) Allan Becher Webb (also spelled "Alan"; 1839–1907) was the second Anglican Bishop of Bloemfontein, afterward Bishop of Grahamstown and, later, Dean of Salisbury. Early years Webb was born in 183 ...

in Calcutta, second Bishop of Bloemfontein, baptised on 17 November * William Francis Frederick Waller, recipient of the Victoria Cross, born at Dagoolie, India on 20 August 1839 *

Hanson Jarrett Colonel Hanson Chambers Taylor Jarrett VC (22 March 1839 – 11 April 1891) was a recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forc ...

, recipient of the Victoria Cross, on 22 March in

Madras Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

Hugh Shaw Hugh Shaw may refer to: * Hugh Shaw (British Army officer) (1839–1904), recipient of the Victoria Cross * Hugh Shaw (footballer, born 1896) (1896–1976), Scottish football player and manager (Hibernian) * Hugh Shaw (footballer, born 1929), S ...

, recipient of the Victoria Cross, on 4 February in Madras * Jamsetji Tata, pioneer industrialist, who founded the Tata Group, India's biggest conglomerate company, on 3 March in Navsari, Baroda,

Bombay Presidency The Bombay Presidency or Bombay Province, also called Bombay and Sind (1843–1936), was an administrative subdivision (province) of British India, with its capital in the city that came up over the seven islands of Bombay. The first mainl ...

Deaths

, first Maharajah of the Sikh Empire, on 27 June 1839 in Lahore, Punjab, Sikh Empire * Sankara Varman, astronomer-mathematician belonging to the Kerala school of astronomy and mathematics * George Havell, a painter * Chandrasinhji II Kesarisinhji, Maharana Raj Sahib of the Wankaner State *

Jean-François Allard Jean-François Allard (; 1785–1839), born in Saint Tropez, was a French soldier and adventurer. Allard served in Napoleon's army, where he was twice injured. He was awarded the Légion d'honneur, and was promoted to the rank of Captain of the ...

, French soldier and adventurer, in Punjab, Sikh Empire * William Francklin, English orientalist and army officer, on 12 April * Raja Zalim Sen, Raja of Mandi State, died in June 1839 * Bhup Deo, Raja of Kanker State

References

{{Year in Asia, 1839 India Years of the 19th century in India