The Mystery of the Afghanistan Earthquake of the Year 1505

Abstract

The Afghanistan earthquake of year 1505 has been described in the memoirs of the first Timurid-Mughal Emperor, Zahiruddin Muhammad Babur. In the same year, there was a major earthquake in Agra, India. Tibetan records suggest the date of the 6th of June in relation to an earthquake in the Himalayas, which would have been felt in Agra, but Indian sources record the date of the 6th of July for the Agra earthquake. Seismologists are of the view that the Agra and the Afghanistan earthquakes were different events. It has been suggested that the Indian writers conflated the Agra earthquake with the Afghanistan earthquake. This ultimately led to the assumption that the earthquake in Kabul described by Babur occurred on the 6th of July. A careful reading of the Baburnama would reveal that the Afghanistan earthquake occurred on the 25th (or the 22nd) of July and not on the 6th of July. This comprehensive review details the sequence and chronology of events leading up to the earthquake and discusses the reasons for the probable error in dating the Afghanistan earthquake.