The Kolkata Cyclone/Earthquake of 1737 : Random Scribbles

Abstract

This article argues that the natural catastrophe that swept away Calcutta in 1737 was not only the first recorded case study of a natural disaster in an English settlement in India but it could also be argued as the first tsunami, which occurred in the Indian Ocean rim. While it traces the historical relation between natural disaster and human affliction in that region it also explains how the combined effect of both cyclone and earthquake led to the disaster. Finally, it shows how the effect of this natural calamity was not only limited to Calcutta but also devastated thousands of lives in the deltaic region of lower Bengal