Timeline of major famines in India during British rule

This is a timeline of major famines on the Indian subcontinent during British rule from 1765 to 1947. The famines included here occurred both in the princely states (regions administered by Indian rulers), British India (regions administered either by the British East India Company from 1765 to 1857; or by the British Crown, in the British Raj, from 1858 to 1947) and Indian territories independent of British rule such as the Maratha Empire.

This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.
Major famines in India during British rule
  • Map of famines in India between 1800 and 1878.

The year 1765 is chosen as the start year because that year the British East India Company, after its victory in the Battle of Buxar, was granted the Diwani (rights to land revenue) in the region of Bengal (although it would not directly administer Bengal until 1784 when it was granted the Nizamat, or control of law and order.) The year 1947 is the year in which the British Raj was dissolved and the new successor states of Dominion of India and Dominion of Pakistan were established.

Timeline
Chronological list of famines in India between 1765 and 1947[1]
YearName of famine (if any)British territoryIndian kingdoms/Princely statesMortalityMap or illustration
1769–70Great Bengal FamineBihar, Western Bengal10 million [2] (about one third of the then population of Bengal).[3]
The Bengal region shown in a later map (1880)
1783–84Chalisa famineDelhi, Western Oudh, Eastern Punjab region, Rajputana, and Kashmir11 million people may have died during the years 1782–84. Severe famine. Large areas were depopulated.[4]
Oudh, the Doab (land between the Ganges and Jumna rivers), Rohilkhand, the Delhi territories, eastern Punjab, Rajputana and Kashmir, were affected by the Chalisa famine.
1791–92Doji bara famine or Skull famineMadras PresidencyHyderabad, Southern Maratha country, Deccan, Gujarat, and Marwar11 million perished during the years 1788–94. One of the most severe famines known. People died in such numbers that they could not be cremated or buried. [5]
Map of India (1795) shows the Northern Circars, Hyderabad (Nizam), Southern Maratha Kingdom, Gujarat, and Marwar (Southern Rajputana), all affected by the Doji bara famine.
1837–38Agra famine of 1837–38Central Doab and trans-Jumna districts of the North-Western Provinces (later Agra Province), including Delhi and Hissar0.8 million (or 800,000). [6]
Map of the North-Western Provinces showing the region severely afflicted by the famine (in blue)
1860–61Upper Doab famine of 1860–61Upper Doab of Agra; Delhi and Hissar divisions of the PunjabEastern Rajputana2 million [6]
A map showing the Doab region
1865–67Orissa famine of 1866Orissa (also 1867) and Bihar; Bellary and Ganjam districts of Madras1 million (Orissa) and approximately 4-5 million in the entire region [7]
A 1907 map of Orissa, now Odisha, shown as the southwestern region of Greater Bengal. Coastal Balasore district was one of the worst-hit areas in the Odisha famine of 1866.
1868–70Rajputana famine of 1869Ajmer, Western Agra, Eastern PunjabRajputana1.5 million (mostly in the princely states of Rajputana) [8]
Map of Rajputana consisting of the princely states of the Rajputana Agency and the British territory of Ajmer-Merwara, in 1909; the map was little changed since the year of the famine, 1869.
1873–74Bihar famine of 1873–74BiharBecause of an extensive relief effort organized by the Bengal government, there were little to no significant mortalities during the famine [9]
A 1907 map of Bihar, British India, shown as the northern region of Greater Bengal. Monghyr district (top middle) was one of the worst-hit areas in the Bihar famine of 1873–74.
1876–78Great Famine of 1876–78 (also Southern India famine of 1876–78)Madras and BombayMysore and Hyderabad5.5 million in British territory [6] Mortality unknown for princely states. Total famine mortality estimates vary from 6.1 to 10.3 million [10]
Map of the British Indian Empire (1880), showing where the famine struck. Both years: Madras, Mysore, Hyderabad, and Bombay); during the second year: Central Provinces and the North-Western Provinces, and a small area in the Punjab
1896–97Indian famine of 1896–97Madras, Bombay Deccan, Bengal, United Provinces, Central Provinces. Also parts of Punjab specially Bagar tract.[11]Northern and eastern Rajputana, parts of Central India and Hyderabad5 million [12] ( 1 million in British territory.[6] [lower-alpha 1]) 12 - 16 Million (in British Territories according to contemporary Western journalist accounts)[15]
Map from Chicago Sunday Tribune, January 31, 1897, showing the areas in India affected by the famine.
1899–1900Indian famine of 1899–1900Bombay, Central Provinces, Berar, Ajmer. Also parts of Punjab specially Bagar tract.[11]Hyderabad, Rajputana, Central India, Baroda, Kathiawar, Cutch,1 to 4.5 million (in British territories).[6] Mortality unknown for princely states.[lower-alpha 2] Estimated to be 3 to 10 million (in British territories according to contemporary scholars and economists)[16]
Map of Indian famine of 1899–1900 from Prosperous British India by William Digby
1943–44Bengal famine of 1943Bengal1.5 million from starvation; 2.1 to 3 million including deaths from epidemics.[17]
A map of the districts of Bengal, 1943, from Famine Enquiry Commission, Report on Bengal, 1945
  • Map of famines in India between 1800 and 1878.
  • Engraving from The Graphic, October 1877, showing the plight of animals as well as humans in Bellary district, Madras Presidency, British India during the Great Famine of 1876–78.
  • A photograph of a famine-stricken mother with a baby who at 3 months weighs 3 pounds. Photographer: W. W. Hooper. Great Famine of 1876–78.
  • A poster envisioning the future of Bengal after the Bengal famine of 1943.
  • Government famine relief Ahmedabad, c. 1901.
  • "Famine in India" front cover of Illustrated London News, February 21, 1874.
  • Five emaciated children during the famine of 1876–78, India. Photographer: WW Hooper.
  • An illustration from Bengal Speaks (1944) showing homeless people eating on the sidewalk during the Bengal famine of 1943.
  • Famine in Bengal: Grain-boats on the Ganges. Illustrated London News, March 21, 1874.
  • Drawing, titled "Famine in India," from The Graphic, February 27, 1897, showing a bazaar scene in India with shoppers, many of whom are emaciated, buying grain from a merchant's shop.
  • A group of emaciated women and children in Bangalore, India, famine of 1876–78. Photographer: WW Hooper.
  • Illustration from Bengal Speaks (1944) showing a starvation fatality in the Bengal famine of 1943.
  • Famine relief at Bellary, Madras Presidency, The Graphic, October 1877.
  • Engraving from The Graphic, October 1877, showing two forsaken children in the Bellary district of the Madras Presidency during the famine.
  • Famine tokens of 1874 Bihar famine, and the 1876 Great famine.
  • The "Cooks' Room" at a famine relief camp, Madras Presidency, 1876–78. Photographer: W. W. Hooper.
  • Cartoon from Punch, "Mending the Lesson" showing Miss Prudence warning John Bull about handing out too much charity to the needy during the Bihar famine of 1873–74, and the latter's own interpretation of the Law of Supply and Demand.
  • Victims of the Great Famine of 1876–78 in British India, pictured in 1877. The famine ultimately covered an area of 670,000 square kilometres (257,000 sq mi) and caused distress to a population totalling 58,500,000. The death toll from this famine is estimated to be in the range of 5.5 million people.[8]

See also

Notes
  1. According to a 1901 estimate published in The Lancet, this and other famines in India between 1891 to 1901 caused 19,000,000 deaths from "starvation or to the diseases arising therefrom",[13] an estimate criticised by the writer and retired Indian Civil Servant Charles McMinn.[14]
  2. According to a 1901 estimate published in The Lancet, this and other famines in India between 1891 to 1901 caused 19,000,000 deaths from "starvation or to the diseases arising therefrom",[13] an estimate criticised by the writer and retired Indian Civil Servant Charles McMinn.[14]

Citations
  1. Imperial Gazetteer of India, volume III 1907, pp. 501–502
  2. Cambridge 1983, p. 528
  3. Cambridge 1983, p. 299
  4. Grove 2007, p. 80
  5. Grove 2007, p. 83
  6. Fieldhouse 1996, p. 132
  7. Cambridge 1983, p. 529
  8. Imperial Gazetteer of India vol. III 1907, p. 488
  9. Hall-Matthews 2008, p. 4
  10. Davis 2001, p. 7
  11. C.A.H. Townsend, Final repor of thirds revised revenue settlement of Hisar district from 1905-1910, Gazetteer of Department of Revenue and Disaster Management, Haryana, point 22, page 11.
  12. http://theguardian.com/world/2019/mar/29/winston-churchill-policies-contributed-to-1943-bengal-famine-study
  13. The effect of famines on the population of India, The Lancet, Vol. 157, No. 4059, June 15, 1901, pp. 1713-1714;
    Sven Beckert (2015). Empire of Cotton: A Global History. Random House. p. 337. ISBN 978-0-375-71396-5.;
    Davis, Mike (2001). Late Victorian Holocausts: El Niño Famines and the Making of the Third World. Verso. p. 7. ISBN 978-1859847398.
  14. C.W. McMinn, Famine Truths, Half Truths, Untruths (Calcutta: 1902), p.87; According to the writer and retired Indian Civil Servant Charles McMinn, The Lancet's estimates were an overestimate based on a mistake in the population changes in India from 1891-1901. The Lancet, states McMinn, declared that the population increased only by 2.8 million for the whole of India, while the actual increase was 7.5 million according to him. The Lancet source, contrary to McMinn claims, states that the population increased from 287,317,048 to 294,266,702 (2.42%). Adjusting for changes in census tracts, the total population increase in India was only 1.49% between 1891 and 1901, a major decline from the decadal change of 11.2% observed between 1881 and 1891, according to The Lancet article on April 13, 1901. It attributes the decrease in population change rate to excess mortality from successive famines and the plague. See: The Census in India, The Lancet, Vol. 157, No. 4050, pp. 1107–1108
  15. Davis, Mike (2002-06-17). Late Victorian Holocausts: El Nino Famines and the Making of the Third World (p. 151-158). Verso Books. Kindle Edition.
  16. Davis, Mike (2002-06-17). Late Victorian Holocausts: El Nino Famines and the Making of the Third World (p. 171-173). Verso Books. Kindle Edition.
  17. Cambridge 1983, p. 531.

References

Famines

Epidemics and Public Health
  • Banthia, Jayant; Dyson, Tim (December 1999), "Smallpox in Nineteenth-Century India", Population and Development Review, 25 (4): 649–689, doi:10.1111/j.1728-4457.1999.00649.x, JSTOR 172481
  • Caldwell, John C. (December 1998), "Malthus and the Less Developed World: The Pivotal Role of India", Population and Development Review, 24 (4): 675–696, doi:10.2307/2808021, JSTOR 2808021
  • Drayton, Richard (2001), "Science, Medicine, and the British Empire", in Winks, Robin (ed.), Oxford History of the British Empire: Historiography, Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 264–276, ISBN 978-0-19-924680-9
  • Derbyshire, I. D. (1987), "Economic Change and the Railways in North India, 1860-1914", Population Studies, 21 (3): 521–545, doi:10.1017/s0026749x00009197
  • Klein, Ira (1988), "Plague, Policy and Popular Unrest in British India", Modern Asian Studies, 22 (4): 723–755, doi:10.1017/s0026749x00015729, JSTOR 312523
  • Watts, Sheldon (1999), "British Development Policies and Malaria in India 1897-c. 1929", Past and Present, 165 (1): 141–181, doi:10.1093/past/165.1.141, JSTOR 651287
  • Wylie, Diana (2001), "Disease, Diet, and Gender: Late Twentieth Century Perspectives on Empire", in Winks, Robin (ed.), Oxford History of the British Empire: Historiography, Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 277–289, ISBN 978-0-19-924680-9
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