Indian famine of 1896–97
Encyclopedia
Famine
A famine is a widespread scarcity of food, caused by several factors including crop failure, overpopulation, or government policies. This phenomenon is usually accompanied or followed by regional malnutrition, starvation, epidemic, and increased mortality. Every continent in the world has...
that began in Bundelkhand
Bundelkhand
Bundelkhand anciently known as Chedi Kingdom is a geographic region of central India...
, India
British Raj
British Raj was the British rule in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947; The term can also refer to the period of dominion...
, early in 1896 and spread to many parts of the country, including the United Provinces
United Provinces of Agra and Oudh
The United Provinces of Agra and Oudh was a province of India under the British Raj, which existed from 1902 to 1947; the official name was shortened by the Government of India Act 1935 to United Provinces, by which the province had been commonly known, and by which name it was also a province of...
, the Central Provinces and Berar
Central Provinces and Berar
The Central Provinces and Berar was a province of British India. The province comprised British conquests from the Mughals and Marathas in central India, and covered much of present-day Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra states. Its capital was Nagpur. The Central Provinces was formed in...
, Bihar
Bihar
Bihar is a state in eastern India. It is the 12th largest state in terms of geographical size at and 3rd largest by population. Almost 58% of Biharis are below the age of 25, which is the highest proportion in India....
, parts of the Bombay
Bombay Presidency
The Bombay Presidency was a province of British India. It was established in the 17th century as a trading post for the English East India Company, but later grew to encompass much of western and central India, as well as parts of post-partition Pakistan and the Arabian Peninsula.At its greatest...
and Madras
Madras Presidency
The Madras Presidency , officially the Presidency of Fort St. George and also known as Madras Province, was an administrative subdivision of British India...
presidencies, and the Hissar district of the Punjab
Punjab region
The Punjab , also spelled Panjab |water]]s"), is a geographical region straddling the border between Pakistan and India which includes Punjab province in Pakistan and the states of the Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh and some northern parts of the National Capital Territory of Delhi...
; in addition, the princely states of Rajputana
Rajputana
Rājputāna was the pre-1949 name of the present-day Indian state of Rājasthān, the largest state of the Republic of India in terms of area. George Thomas was the first in 1800 A.D., to term this region as Rajputana...
, Central India Agency
Central India Agency
The Central India Agency was a political office of the British Indian Empire, which covered the northern half of present-day Madhya Pradesh state. The Central India Agency was made up entirely of princely states, which were under native rulers...
, and Hyderabad
Hyderabad State
-After Indian independence :When India gained independence in 1947 and Pakistan came into existence in 1947, the British left the local rulers of the princely states the choice of whether to join one of the new dominions or to remain independent...
were affected by the famine. All in all, during the two years, the famine affected an area of 307000 square miles (795,126.3 km²) and a population of 69.5 million. Although large-scale relief was offered throughout the famine-stricken regions in accordance with the Provisional Famine Code of 1883, the mortality, both from starvation and accompanying epidemics, was very high: approximately 1 million people are thought to have died as a result of the famine.
Course
The BundelkhandBundelkhand
Bundelkhand anciently known as Chedi Kingdom is a geographic region of central India...
district of Agra Province
United Provinces of Agra and Oudh
The United Provinces of Agra and Oudh was a province of India under the British Raj, which existed from 1902 to 1947; the official name was shortened by the Government of India Act 1935 to United Provinces, by which the province had been commonly known, and by which name it was also a province of...
experienced drought in the autumn of 1895 as a result of poor summer monsoon
Monsoon
Monsoon is traditionally defined as a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation, but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with the asymmetric heating of land and sea...
rains. When the winter monsoon failed as well, the provincial government declared a famine early in 1896 and began to organize relief. However, the summer monsoon of 1896 brought only scanty rains, and soon the famine had spread to the United Provinces
United Provinces of Agra and Oudh
The United Provinces of Agra and Oudh was a province of India under the British Raj, which existed from 1902 to 1947; the official name was shortened by the Government of India Act 1935 to United Provinces, by which the province had been commonly known, and by which name it was also a province of...
, Central Provinces and Berar
Central Provinces and Berar
The Central Provinces and Berar was a province of British India. The province comprised British conquests from the Mughals and Marathas in central India, and covered much of present-day Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra states. Its capital was Nagpur. The Central Provinces was formed in...
, portions of the presidencies of Bombay
Bombay Presidency
The Bombay Presidency was a province of British India. It was established in the 17th century as a trading post for the English East India Company, but later grew to encompass much of western and central India, as well as parts of post-partition Pakistan and the Arabian Peninsula.At its greatest...
and Madras
Madras Presidency
The Madras Presidency , officially the Presidency of Fort St. George and also known as Madras Province, was an administrative subdivision of British India...
, and of the provinces of Bengal, Punjab
Punjab region
The Punjab , also spelled Panjab |water]]s"), is a geographical region straddling the border between Pakistan and India which includes Punjab province in Pakistan and the states of the Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh and some northern parts of the National Capital Territory of Delhi...
, and even Upper Burma
Upper Burma
Upper Burma refers to a geographic region of Burma , traditionally encompassing Mandalay and its periphery , or more broadly speaking, Kachin and Shan States....
. The native states affected were Rajputana
Rajputana
Rājputāna was the pre-1949 name of the present-day Indian state of Rājasthān, the largest state of the Republic of India in terms of area. George Thomas was the first in 1800 A.D., to term this region as Rajputana...
, Central India Agency
Central India Agency
The Central India Agency was a political office of the British Indian Empire, which covered the northern half of present-day Madhya Pradesh state. The Central India Agency was made up entirely of princely states, which were under native rulers...
, and Hyderabad
Hyderabad State
-After Indian independence :When India gained independence in 1947 and Pakistan came into existence in 1947, the British left the local rulers of the princely states the choice of whether to join one of the new dominions or to remain independent...
. The famine affected mostly British India: of the total area of 307000 square miles (795,126.3 km²) affected, 225000 square miles (582,747.3 km²) lay in British territory; similarly, of the total famine-afflicted population of 67.5 million, 62.5 million lived in British territory.
The summer monsoon rains of 1897, however, were abundant, as was the following harvest which ended the famine in Autumn 1897. However, the rains, which were particularly heavy in some regions set off a malaria
Malaria
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease of humans and other animals caused by eukaryotic protists of the genus Plasmodium. The disease results from the multiplication of Plasmodium parasites within red blood cells, causing symptoms that typically include fever and headache, in severe cases...
epidemic which killed many people; soon thereafter, an epidemic of the bubonic plague
Bubonic plague
Plague is a deadly infectious disease that is caused by the enterobacteria Yersinia pestis, named after the French-Swiss bacteriologist Alexandre Yersin. Primarily carried by rodents and spread to humans via fleas, the disease is notorious throughout history, due to the unrivaled scale of death...
began in the Bombay Presidency
Bombay Presidency
The Bombay Presidency was a province of British India. It was established in the 17th century as a trading post for the English East India Company, but later grew to encompass much of western and central India, as well as parts of post-partition Pakistan and the Arabian Peninsula.At its greatest...
, which although not very lethal during the famine year, would, in the next decade, become more virulent and spread to the rest of India.
Famine relief
A decade earlier, in 1883, the Provisional Famine Code had been promulgated soon after the report of the first Indian Famine Commission was submitted in 1880. Now, guided by the Code, relief was organized for 821 million units at a cost of Rs. 7.25 croreCrore
A crore is a unit in the Indian number system equal to ten million , or 100 lakhs. It is widely used in India, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Pakistan....
s (then approx. £
Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
4,833,500). Revenue (tax) was remitted to the tune of Rs. 1.25 crores (£ 833,350) and credit totaling Rs. 1.75 crores (£1,166,500) was given. A charitable relief fund collected a total of Rs. 1.75 crores (£1,166,500) of which Rs. 1.25 were collected in Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
.
Even so, the mortality resulting from the famine was great; it is thought that in the British territory alone, between 750,000 and 1 million people died of starvation. Although the famine relief was reasonably effective in the United Provinces
United Provinces of Agra and Oudh
The United Provinces of Agra and Oudh was a province of India under the British Raj, which existed from 1902 to 1947; the official name was shortened by the Government of India Act 1935 to United Provinces, by which the province had been commonly known, and by which name it was also a province of...
, it failed in the Central Provinces
Central Provinces
The Central Provinces was a province of British India. It comprised British conquests from the Mughals and Marathas in central India, and covered parts of present-day Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra states. Its capital was Nagpur....
, especially among tribal groups, who were reluctant to perform labor in public works in order to earn food rations, and who, according to Famine Code guidelines, did not qualify for "charitable relief."
Weavers in the Bombay PresidencyBombay PresidencyThe Bombay Presidency was a province of British India. It was established in the 17th century as a trading post for the English East India Company, but later grew to encompass much of western and central India, as well as parts of post-partition Pakistan and the Arabian Peninsula.At its greatest...
The Famine Commission of 1880 had made special provisions for the relief of weavers, who practised the only trade other than agriculture that employed rural Indians. The Commission had recommended that weavers be given relief by offering them monetary advances for weaving coarse cloth or wool that could then be used in poor-houses or hospitals. This was preferable, it was felt, to having them produce the finer cloth of their trade, such as silk, for which there was no demand during a famine.However, by 1896, the rural weavers in the Bombay Presidency
Bombay Presidency
The Bombay Presidency was a province of British India. It was established in the 17th century as a trading post for the English East India Company, but later grew to encompass much of western and central India, as well as parts of post-partition Pakistan and the Arabian Peninsula.At its greatest...
, who were now having to compete with the increasing number of local cotton mills, were already in dire economic straits. Consequently, when the famine began, not only were they the first to apply for relief, but also did so in numbers that were much larger than had been anticipated.
Since the government could now offer only limited relief to them in their own trade because of the large capital required, the majority of weavers—either of their own accord or as a result of official dictate—sought the conventional "relief works," which included earth-works and the breaking of rock and metal for building roads.
Tribal groups in Chota NagpurChota NagpurChota Nagpur may refer to*Chota Nagpur Plateau*Chhotanagpur*Chota Nagpur Division, a division of British India *Chota Nagpur States, a collection of princely states of British India...
In Chota NagpurChota Nagpur
Chota Nagpur may refer to*Chota Nagpur Plateau*Chhotanagpur*Chota Nagpur Division, a division of British India *Chota Nagpur States, a collection of princely states of British India...
, East India
East India
East India is a region of India consisting of the states of West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, and Orissa. The states of Orissa and West Bengal share some cultural and linguistic characteristics with Bangladesh and with the state of Assam. Together with Bangladesh, West Bengal formed the...
, awareness of the famine came late in 1896 when it was discovered that the rice crop in the highlands of Manbhum
Manbhum
Manbhum was one of the districts of the East India during the British Raj. After India’s independence, the district became a part of Bihar state, and upon re-organization of the Indian states in the mid-1950s, the district became a part of the West Bengal...
district had failed entirely on account of very little rain the previous summer. The rice, grown on small terraces cut into the hillsides and forming staggered step-like patterns, was completely dependent on the monsoon: the only means of irrigation being water from the summer rains which flooded these terraces and which was then allowed to stand until mid-autumn when the crop ripened. The region also had a large proportion of tribal groups
Adivasi
Adivasi is an umbrella term for a heterogeneous set of ethnic and tribal groups claimed to be the aboriginal population of India. They comprise a substantial indigenous minority of the population of India...
including Santals and Mundas
Munda people
The Munda are tribal people of the Chota Nagpur Plateau region.They are found across Jharkhand, Bihar, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Orissa and Assam states of India, and into parts of Bangladesh...
who had traditionally relied on forest produce
Forest produce
Forest Produce is defined under section 2 of the Indian Forest Act, 1927. Its legal definition includes timber, charcoal, caoutchouc, catechu, wood-oil, resin, natural varnish, bark, lac, myrobalans, mahua flowers , trees and leaves, flowers and fruit, plants , wild animals, skins, tusks,...
for some of their food intake.
As the local government began to plan relief measures for the famine, they included, in the list of food resources available, forest produce for the tribal groups; the planned government-sponsored relief for these groups was accordingly reduced. The previous decades, however, had seen large-scale deforestation in the area, and what forest that remained was either in private hands or in reserves. The tribal groups, whose accessible forests were now few and far between, consequently, first endured malnutrition and later, in their weakened state, fell prey to a cholera epidemic which killed 21 people per thousand.
Food exports in Madras PresidencyMadras PresidencyThe Madras Presidency , officially the Presidency of Fort St. George and also known as Madras Province, was an administrative subdivision of British India...
Although the famine in the Madras PresidencyMadras Presidency
The Madras Presidency , officially the Presidency of Fort St. George and also known as Madras Province, was an administrative subdivision of British India...
was preceded by a natural calamity in the form of a drought, it was made more acute by the government's policy of laissez faire in the trade of grain. For example, two of the worst famine-afflicted areas in the Madras Presidency, the districts of Ganjam
Ganjam
Ganjam is a town and a notified area committee in Ganjam district in the state of Orissa, India.-Geography:Ganjam is located at . It has an average elevation of 3 metres .-Demographics:...
and Vizagapatam, continued to export grains throughout the famine. The table below shows exports and imports for the two districts during a five-year period beginning in 1892.
{| cellpadding="3" border="1" class="wikitable" ! bgcolor="#DDDDDD" colspan="4" | Foodgrain export from districts in Madras Presidency Madras Presidency The Madras Presidency , officially the Presidency of Fort St. George and also known as Madras Province, was an administrative subdivision of British India... affected by Indian famine of 1896–97 |
|||
| | Sea-borne Trade | Rail-borne Trade | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Ganjam Ganjam Ganjam is a town and a notified area committee in Ganjam district in the state of Orissa, India.-Geography:Ganjam is located at . It has an average elevation of 3 metres .-Demographics:... | Vizagapatam | Ganjam & Vizagapatam |
| 1892–93 | 13,508 tons exported | 7,585 tons imported | |
| 1893–94 | 17,817 tons exported | 742 tons imported | 79 tons imported into V. |
| 1894–95 | 12,334 tons exported | 89 tons exported | 7,683 tons imported into V. |
| 1895–96 | 31,559 tons exported | 4 tons exported | 5,751 tons exported |
| 1896–97 | 34,371 tons exported | 414 tons exported | 7,997 tons exported |
Cattle in the Deccan
Farming in the dry Deccan region of the Bombay PresidencyBombay Presidency
The Bombay Presidency was a province of British India. It was established in the 17th century as a trading post for the English East India Company, but later grew to encompass much of western and central India, as well as parts of post-partition Pakistan and the Arabian Peninsula.At its greatest...
required more farm animals—typically bullocks
Cattle
Cattle are the most common type of large domesticated ungulates. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae, are the most widespread species of the genus Bos, and are most commonly classified collectively as Bos primigenius...
to pull the heavier ploughs—than were needed in other, wetter, regions of India; often, up to six bullocks were needed for ploughing. For most of the first half of the 19th-century, farmers in the Deccan did not own enough bullocks to farm effectively. Consequently, many plots were ploughed only once every three or four years.
In the second half of the 19th-century, cattle numbers per farmer did increase, however, the cattle remained vulnerable to famines. When the crops failed, people were driven to change their diets and eat seeds and fodder. Consequently, many farm animals, especially bullocks, slowly starved. The famine of 1896–97 proved particularly devastating for bullocks; in some areas of the Bombay Presidency, their numbers had not recovered some 30 years later.
Epidemics
Epidemics of many diseases, especially choleraCholera
Cholera is an infection of the small intestine that is caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. The main symptoms are profuse watery diarrhea and vomiting. Transmission occurs primarily by drinking or eating water or food that has been contaminated by the diarrhea of an infected person or the feces...
and malaria
Malaria
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease of humans and other animals caused by eukaryotic protists of the genus Plasmodium. The disease results from the multiplication of Plasmodium parasites within red blood cells, causing symptoms that typically include fever and headache, in severe cases...
, usually accompanied famines. In 1897, an epidemic of the bubonic plague
Bubonic plague
Plague is a deadly infectious disease that is caused by the enterobacteria Yersinia pestis, named after the French-Swiss bacteriologist Alexandre Yersin. Primarily carried by rodents and spread to humans via fleas, the disease is notorious throughout history, due to the unrivaled scale of death...
broke out as well in the Bombay Presidency
Bombay Presidency
The Bombay Presidency was a province of British India. It was established in the 17th century as a trading post for the English East India Company, but later grew to encompass much of western and central India, as well as parts of post-partition Pakistan and the Arabian Peninsula.At its greatest...
and, in the next decade, would spread to many parts of the country. However, other diseases took a bigger toll during the famine of 1896–97.
Typically, deaths from cholera and dysentery and diarrhea peaked before the rains as large groups of people collected on a daily basis to receive famine relief. Malaria epidemics, on the other hand, usually began after the first rains when the famine-afflicted population left the relief-camps for their villages; there, new pools of standing water attracted the mosquito-borne virus to which their already enfeebled condition offered little resistance. The following table compares the number of deaths due to different diseases occurring in the famine year with the average number occurring in the five years preceding the famine in the Central Provinces and Berar
Central Provinces and Berar
The Central Provinces and Berar was a province of British India. The province comprised British conquests from the Mughals and Marathas in central India, and covered much of present-day Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra states. Its capital was Nagpur. The Central Provinces was formed in...
and the Bombay Presidency
Bombay Presidency
The Bombay Presidency was a province of British India. It was established in the 17th century as a trading post for the English East India Company, but later grew to encompass much of western and central India, as well as parts of post-partition Pakistan and the Arabian Peninsula.At its greatest...
. In each case, the mortality had increased during the famine year; this included the small number of officially registered suicides included in the "injuries" category below.
{| cellpadding="3" border="1" class="wikitable" ! bgcolor="#DDDDDD" colspan="5" | Death rates (per thousand) from different causes during the Indian famine of 1896–97 |
||||
| | Central Provinces and Berar Central Provinces and Berar The Central Provinces and Berar was a province of British India. The province comprised British conquests from the Mughals and Marathas in central India, and covered much of present-day Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra states. Its capital was Nagpur. The Central Provinces was formed in... | | Bombay Presidency Bombay Presidency The Bombay Presidency was a province of British India. It was established in the 17th century as a trading post for the English East India Company, but later grew to encompass much of western and central India, as well as parts of post-partition Pakistan and the Arabian Peninsula.At its greatest... |
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cause of death | 1891–95 Pre-famine years (average) | 1897 Famine year | 1891–95 Pre-famine years (average) | 1897 Famine year |
| Cholera Cholera Cholera is an infection of the small intestine that is caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. The main symptoms are profuse watery diarrhea and vomiting. Transmission occurs primarily by drinking or eating water or food that has been contaminated by the diarrhea of an infected person or the feces... |
1.79 | 6.01 | 1.30 | 3.03 |
| Smallpox Smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease unique to humans, caused by either of two virus variants, Variola major and Variola minor. The disease is also known by the Latin names Variola or Variola vera, which is a derivative of the Latin varius, meaning "spotted", or varus, meaning "pimple"... |
0.24 | 0.38 | 0.14 | 0.20 |
| Fevers (especially Malaria Malaria Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease of humans and other animals caused by eukaryotic protists of the genus Plasmodium. The disease results from the multiplication of Plasmodium parasites within red blood cells, causing symptoms that typically include fever and headache, in severe cases... ) |
21.28 | 40.98 | 21.12 | 24.59 |
| Dysentery Dysentery Dysentery is an inflammatory disorder of the intestine, especially of the colon, that results in severe diarrhea containing mucus and/or blood in the faeces with fever and abdominal pain. If left untreated, dysentery can be fatal.There are differences between dysentery and normal bloody diarrhoea... /Diarrhea Diarrhea Diarrhea , also spelled diarrhoea, is the condition of having three or more loose or liquid bowel movements per day. It is a common cause of death in developing countries and the second most common cause of infant deaths worldwide. The loss of fluids through diarrhea can cause dehydration and... |
1.85 | 8.53 | 1.87 | 4.57 |
| Injuries | 0.56 | 0.79 | 0.31 | 0.37 |
| All others and unknown | 8.14 | 12.64 | 4.84 | 7.08 |
| Combined Death Rate | 33.86 | 69.34 | 29.58 | 39.84 |
Mortalilty
Estimates of the total famine related deaths during this period vary. The following table gives the varying estimates of total famine related deaths between 1896 and 1902 (including both the 1899-1900Indian famine of 1899–1900
The Indian famine of 1899–1900 began with the failure of the summer monsoons in 1899 over west and Central India and, during the next year, affected an area of and a population of 59.5 million...
famine and the famine of 1896–1897).
| Estimate (in millions) | Done by | Publication |
|---|---|---|
| 19 | The Lancet The Lancet The Lancet is a weekly peer-reviewed general medical journal. It is one of the world's best known, oldest, and most respected general medical journals... |
The Lancet The Lancet The Lancet is a weekly peer-reviewed general medical journal. It is one of the world's best known, oldest, and most respected general medical journals... |
| 8.4 | Arup Maharatna Ronald E. Seavoy |
The Demography of Famines: An Indian Historical Perspective, New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1996 Famine in Peasant Societies (Contributions in Economics and Economic History), New York: Greenwood Press, 1986 |
| 6.1 | Cambridge Economic History of India | The Cambridge Economic History of India, Volume 2, Cambridge University Press, 1983 |
Aftermath
Both the famine and the relief efforts were painstakingly analyzed by the Famine Commission of 1898 presided by Sir James LyallJames Broadwood Lyall
Sir James Broadwood Lyall KCSI, GCIE. was an administrator in the Indian Civil Service of the British Raj period. Between 1887 and 1892 he was Lieutenant-Governor of the Punjab. He was a younger brother of Sir Alfred Comyn Lyall....
, the Chief Commissioner
Chief Commissioner
A Chief Commissioner is a commissioner of a high rank, usually in chief of several Commissioners or similarly styled officers.-Colonial:In British India the gubernatorial style was Chief Commissioner in various provinces , the style being applied especially where an elected assembly did not exist,...
of Central Provinces and Berar
Central Provinces and Berar
The Central Provinces and Berar was a province of British India. The province comprised British conquests from the Mughals and Marathas in central India, and covered much of present-day Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra states. Its capital was Nagpur. The Central Provinces was formed in...
. The Commission affirmed the broad principles of famine relief enunciated by the first Famine Commission of 1880, but made a number of changes in implementation. They recommended increasing the minimum wage in the "relief works," and extending gratuitous (or charitable) relief during the rainy season. They also defined new rules for relief of "aboriginal and hill tribes
Adivasi
Adivasi is an umbrella term for a heterogeneous set of ethnic and tribal groups claimed to be the aboriginal population of India. They comprise a substantial indigenous minority of the population of India...
" who had been found difficult to reach in 1896–97; in addition, they stressed generous remissions of land revenue. The recommendations were soon to be tested in the Indian famine of 1899–1900.
See also
- Indian famine of 1899–1900
- Famines, Epidemics, and Public Health in the British RajFamines, Epidemics, and Public Health in the British RajAmong the common features of famines, epidemics, and public health in the British Raj during the 19th century were:* There was no aggregate food shortage in India, although there were localized crop failures in the affected areas...
- Timeline of major famines in India during British rule (1765 to 1947)Timeline of major famines in India during British rule (1765 to 1947)This is a timeline of major famines on the Indian subcontinent during the years of British rule in India from 1765 to 1947. The famines included here occurred both in the princely states and British India This is a timeline of major famines on the Indian subcontinent during the years of British...
- Company rule in IndiaCompany rule in IndiaCompany rule in India refers to the rule or dominion of the British East India Company on the Indian subcontinent...
- Famine in IndiaFamine in IndiaFamine has been a recurrent feature of life in the Indian sub-continental countries of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, and reached its numerically deadliest peak in the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Historical and legendary evidence names some 90 famines in 2,500 years of history. There...
- Drought in IndiaDrought in IndiaDrought in India has resulted in tens of millions of deaths over the course of the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries. Indian agriculture is heavily dependent on the climate of India: a favorable southwest summer monsoon is critical in securing water for irrigating Indian crops...