1739
Nader Shah Sacks Delhi
After routing the Mughals at Karnal, the Persian conqueror rode into Delhi beside a helpless Muhammad Shah. A riot gave him his pretext. For a day his troops massacred tens of thousands of citizens. He left with the Peacock Throne, the Koh-i-Noor diamond, and treasure that let him suspend Persian taxes for three years.
Hume's Treatise of Human Nature
An obscure twenty-eight-year-old Scot published three anonymous volumes arguing that reason was the slave of the passions, that causation was a habit of mind, and that there was no self. It fell dead-born from the press, he later wrote. A century on, it would be called the beginning of modern philosophy.
Treaty of Belgrade
Austria, defeated in a disastrous war, signed a peace with the Ottomans that returned Belgrade and northern Serbia to the Sultan. The tide that Eugene had turned at Petrovaradin had turned again. Ottoman diplomats celebrated; Vienna fumed. It would be the last significant Ottoman military success against a major European power.
Stono Rebellion
Near the Stono River in South Carolina, about twenty enslaved Kongolese, many of them Catholic and trained in war, seized weapons and marched south toward Spanish Florida, calling for liberty. Others joined. The militia caught and slaughtered them at the Edisto. Carolina tightened its slave codes; fear of revolt became part of the weather.
War of Jenkins' Ear
Britain declared war on Spain, nominally to avenge Captain Robert Jenkins, who had lost an ear to a Spanish coast-guard and carried it, pickled, to Parliament. The war went badly: Admiral Vernon took Porto Bello; Cartagena resisted. The conflict would eventually fold into the War of the Austrian Succession. The ear was probably counterfeit.
Want 1739 in context? Print the whole 18th century as a one-sheet timeline chart.
Frequently asked
What happened in the year 1739?
Saeculum lists 5 curated events from 1739. The most significant is Nader Shah Sacks Delhi: After routing the Mughals at Karnal, the Persian conqueror rode into Delhi beside a helpless Muhammad Shah. A riot gave him his pretext.
What era was 1739 part of?
1739 falls within the Enlightenment (1651-1800). Reason, revolution, and the first global wars.
Which regions saw notable events in 1739?
The curated events from 1739 span South Asia, Europe, Middle East and North America.