Colonial famines
Topic: Colonial Economy: Land Revenue, Drain, Deindustrialisation · NCERT: Class 8, Ch 4 "The Colonial Era in India"
Meaning
Colonial famines were the many famines in India under British rule. Counts of severe famines range from a dozen to over twenty, with an estimated 50 to 100 million deaths, close to the death toll of World War II. Famines had happened in India before, but never on this scale. Colonial policy made them worse: harsh revenue demands, grain exports during famine, and a "free market" refusal to control food prices.
Example
During the Great Famine of 1876–78, up to 8 million people died, mostly in the Deccan. Britain kept exporting about one million tonnes of rice a year. Viceroy Lytton ordered no action to lower food prices and held a grand Delhi durbar (royal assembly) in 1876.
Don't confuse with
- Famine Code: a set of relief rules made after the Famine Commission of 1878–80. Colonial famines were the disasters themselves.
Related concepts
- Bengal famine of 1770
- Great Famine of 1876-78
- Lord Lytton
- Famine Commissions
- Famine Code
- Bengal famine 1943