Directory

1739 CE

A year defined by Nadir Shah's sack of Delhi, the outbreak of the War of Jenkins' Ear between Britain and Spain, the Stono Rebellion in South Carolina, and the Treaty of Belgrade ending the Russo-Turkish War.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

  • Nadir Shah of Persia invaded Mughal India and captured Delhi in March, plundering the city and seizing the Peacock Throne and the Koh-i-Noor diamond.
  • The Treaty of Belgrade was signed on September 18, ending the Russo-Turkish War of 1735-1739 with terms largely favorable to the Ottoman Empire.
  • Under the Treaty of Belgrade, Austria returned Belgrade and much of Serbia to the Ottomans, losing most of its Balkan gains from the Treaty of Passarowitz.
  • Russia gained the fortress of Azov under the treaty but was required to demolish its fortifications and was denied a naval presence on the Black Sea.
  • Britain declared war on Spain in October, beginning the War of Jenkins' Ear over commercial rights and territorial disputes in the Caribbean and Americas.
  • The War of Jenkins' Ear was partly provoked by Spanish coast guard seizures of British merchant ships suspected of smuggling in the Caribbean.
  • Nadir Shah reinstalled Muhammad Shah as Mughal Emperor but stripped the Mughal Empire of enormous treasure and the provinces of Kabul and Sindh.
  • The Qianlong Emperor continued to expand Qing influence in Central Asia, pursuing campaigns against western Mongol groups.
  • French colonial administrators in Louisiana sought to strengthen alliances with Native American nations to counter British expansion.
  • The Swedish Academy of Sciences was founded in Stockholm on June 2, promoting scientific research and the practical application of knowledge.

Conflict & Security

  • Nadir Shah's forces defeated the Mughal army at the Battle of Karnal on February 24, routing a much larger force and opening the road to Delhi.
  • The sack of Delhi by Nadir Shah's troops resulted in a massacre of thousands of the city's inhabitants after a riot against the occupying forces.
  • The Stono Rebellion erupted on September 9 near the Stono River in South Carolina, the largest slave uprising in the British colonies to date.
  • Approximately twenty enslaved Africans, led by a man named Jemmy, killed several white colonists before the rebellion was suppressed by the militia.
  • British Admiral Edward Vernon captured the Spanish port of Portobelo in Panama on November 21 with only six warships, achieving an early victory in the War of Jenkins' Ear.
  • The Treaty of Belgrade ended the Russo-Turkish War, forcing Austria to cede its Balkan conquests and restoring Ottoman control over Serbia.
  • The First Maroon War in Jamaica was fully concluded with the signing of additional peace treaties with the Windward Maroons.
  • Corsican rebels continued their fight against Genoese authority, maintaining control over significant portions of the island.
  • The Maratha Empire continued its military campaigns in India, expanding its territory and challenging remaining Mughal authority.
  • British colonial forces in Georgia fortified their positions along the Florida border in anticipation of conflict with Spain.

Economy & Finance

  • Nadir Shah's plunder of Delhi included treasure valued at an estimated 700 million rupees, devastating the Mughal economy.
  • The War of Jenkins' Ear disrupted British-Spanish trade in the Caribbean, affecting merchants on both sides of the conflict.
  • Smuggling and illicit trade expanded in the American colonies as merchants evaded enforcement of the Molasses Act, undermining British mercantilist policies.
  • The British privateering economy surged as the crown issued letters of marque authorizing attacks on Spanish shipping.
  • Colonial iron production in Pennsylvania and Virginia grew as forges and furnaces produced pig iron for domestic use and export.
  • The Chinese tea trade through Canton continued to expand, with the British East India Company importing increasing quantities.
  • Sugar prices in European markets remained strong, supporting the profitability of Caribbean plantations.
  • The Swedish East India Company conducted profitable trading voyages to China, importing tea, porcelain, and silk to Gothenburg.
  • The construction of roads and bridges in the American colonies facilitated the movement of goods between inland farms and coastal ports.
  • The financial costs of the Russo-Turkish War strained the Russian treasury, requiring increased taxation and borrowing.

Technology & Infrastructure

  • John Harrison continued work on his marine chronometer, refining the mechanisms that would eventually solve the longitude problem.
  • The construction of Fort Augusta in Jamaica was completed, serving as a military headquarters and symbol of British control.
  • Improvements to the Newcomen steam engine continued, with engineers modifying cylinder sizes and valve mechanisms for greater efficiency.
  • The development of coke-fired iron smelting in England progressed, gradually reducing dependence on charcoal for iron production.
  • Road construction in the British colonies linked settlements along the eastern seaboard, though inland roads remained rough tracks.
  • Fortress construction in the Balkans was affected by the Treaty of Belgrade, with Austria dismantling some of its forward positions.
  • Shipbuilding in the American colonies expanded, with colonial-built vessels increasingly competing with British-made ships.
  • Water-powered mills in England and Scotland processed wool, linen, and grain, forming the backbone of early industrial production.
  • The development of standardized measures and weights advanced in France under the royal administration.
  • Canal construction projects in France and England were discussed by engineers and entrepreneurs, though few were yet underway.

Science & Discovery

  • George Brandt confirmed his earlier discovery of cobalt as a distinct element, publishing further evidence in Swedish scientific journals.
  • The La Condamine geodesic expedition completed its measurements in Peru, confirming the equatorial bulge of the Earth.
  • Leonhard Euler published his solution to the Basel problem and continued work on mathematical analysis at the St. Petersburg Academy.
  • The Swedish Academy of Sciences began publishing its proceedings, making scientific research more widely available in Scandinavia.
  • David Hume published A Treatise of Human Nature, a foundational work of empiricist philosophy, though it initially received little attention.
  • Botanical collections from the Americas, Africa, and Asia continued to arrive in European gardens and museums for study.
  • The study of atmospheric phenomena, including weather patterns and barometric pressure, advanced through systematic observation.
  • French and British naval expeditions continued to chart coastlines in the Caribbean, improving navigational maps for merchant shipping.
  • The observation of Jupiter's satellites continued to be used as a method for determining longitude on land.
  • Natural philosophers in Europe debated the nature of heat, light, and electricity, advancing experimental science.

Health & Medicine

  • Epidemic diseases, including plague and typhus, continued to affect populations in the Ottoman Empire and the Balkans.
  • The massacre in Delhi during Nadir Shah's occupation caused tens of thousands of civilian casualties from violence and subsequent disease.
  • Smallpox inoculation was practiced more widely in the American colonies, with physicians in Boston and Philadelphia promoting the technique.
  • The gin epidemic in England prompted further attempts at regulation, with Parliament considering new legislation to restrict consumption.
  • Yellow fever outbreaks in the Caribbean continued to kill European soldiers and sailors newly arrived in the tropics.
  • Scurvy remained a persistent problem on long sea voyages, with the causes and prevention still not widely understood by naval authorities.
  • The British army and navy relied on surgeons with varying levels of training, from university-educated physicians to apprentice-trained barbers.
  • Hospitals in Paris, London, and other major cities remained overcrowded and unsanitary, serving primarily as refuges for the indigent.
  • Traditional medical systems in India, including Ayurveda and Unani, continued to provide healthcare in the aftermath of Nadir Shah's invasion.
  • Infant and child mortality remained extremely high across all societies, with infectious diseases claiming the lives of millions of young children annually.

Climate & Environment

  • Atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration was approximately 277 parts per million, as later confirmed by ice core analysis.
  • Hurricane activity in the Caribbean caused damage to plantations and shipping lanes during the storm season.
  • The continued expansion of European agriculture in North America altered forests, wetlands, and grasslands across the continent.
  • Flooding along the Danube River affected communities in the Austrian and Ottoman territories recently contested in the war.
  • The depletion of fur-bearing animal populations in eastern North America pushed trappers and traders deeper into the continental interior.
  • Coal mining in northeastern England expanded to meet growing urban demand, leaving scarred landscapes and polluted waterways.
  • Deforestation on Caribbean islands continued as plantation owners cleared remaining forest for sugar and coffee cultivation.
  • The fishing grounds of the North Atlantic remained intensively exploited, with cod and herring stocks under growing pressure.
  • Volcanic activity in the Mediterranean and Iceland continued at low levels, with no major eruptions recorded during the year.
  • The Little Ice Age continued to produce cooler average global temperatures, with regional variability across different continents.

Culture & Society

  • George Frideric Handel composed his Ode for St. Cecilia's Day and the Concerto Grosso Op. 6 set, masterworks of the Baroque period.
  • The Stono Rebellion in South Carolina heightened colonial fears of slave uprisings and led to harsher slave codes across the southern colonies.
  • George Whitefield's preaching tours across the American colonies drew thousands of listeners and intensified the First Great Awakening.
  • Dick Turpin, the English highwayman, was executed at York on April 7, becoming a legendary figure in British popular culture.
  • The first recorded performance of Rule, Britannia! did not occur this year, but British national sentiment was stirred by Admiral Vernon's victory at Portobelo.
  • The Qianlong Emperor continued his vast literary and artistic patronage, commissioning works that would define Chinese high culture.
  • Freemasonry continued to expand across Europe and the American colonies, attracting members from the educated and mercantile classes.
  • The tradition of the English garden began to take shape, with landscape designers moving away from formal French-style garden geometry.
  • Missionary activity by the Moravian Brethren expanded in the Caribbean and among Native American communities in Pennsylvania.
  • The world population was approximately 740 million.