“Further papers on this famine were presented to Parliament, 2nd July 1878. The number of souls for whom relief is required is said to be between three and four millions. One point brought out is the enormous cost of transporting supplies to the province of Shansi, where a mountain range has to be crossed and a distance of some hundreds of miles to be traversed by carts. Mr. Mayers says the reported cost of transporting these supplies to Shansi would be about four taels per picul, or, say, £12 sterling per ton. Mr. Hugh Fraser sends from Pekin, 18th January, the translation of a memorial addressed to the throne by Yen King-Ming, ‘Special High Commissioner for the Superintendence of the Arrangements for Famine Relief in Shansi. The commissioner dwells upon the painful scenes he has witnessed at every stage of his journey, in the course of which his chair has continually been surrounded by crowds of the famine-stricken population imploring relief, to whom he has administered comfort in soothing words, assuring them of the Imperial sympathy. The roads are lined with corpses in such numbers as to distance all efforts for their interment, while women and children, starving and in rags, know not where to look for the means of keeping body and soul together. The memorialist, his heart wrung with despairing pity, cannot but ask, why has a calamity so awful as this been visited upon the people. He can only ascribe it to his own failure in the due discharge of his duty, and he feels that his short-coming admits of no excuse. In reply, the Grand Council has received a rescript expressing profound sympathy with the sufferings of the people as reported in this memorial, and directing that all that is possible for their relief be done, in consultation with the governor of the province.”
“Note.—The Empire of China has long been subject to the most serious famines; but of these we have found no details available.”
It is sad to know that famines will occur, as long as man exists on the earth at enmity with his Creator. The ground was cursed on man’s account, and therefore it is man’s duty to appease the anger of his offended God. As man was taught by the Lord God to plough, and to sow, to reap and to garner up for the winter; so is it incumbent on those who govern nations to exercise their benevolence and make provision of food in granaries and storehouses against the recurrence of famines.
In the olden times, there were constructed near corn-fields, in all the countries over which the descendants of Israel ruled, most noble, solid granaries in rocks, as well as aqueducts and canals throughout their dominions. In the present age not a single civilized nation is prepared for a calamity which is sure to visit every country under heaven, sooner or later.
Of all countries, India is the one where famines recur most frequently, as the following table attests.
Chronological List of Famines in India.[[85]]
| B.C. | |
| 503-443 | India. During the reign of the Emperor Jei-chund; extending over this period, there was a great pestilence and famine. |
| A.D. | |
| 1022 | Hindoostan (reign of Musaood I). Great drought followed by famine; whole countries entirely depopulated. This year was remarkable for drought and famines in many parts of the world.—Dow’s Hindustan. |
| 1052-60 | Hindustan. There was seven years’ drought in Ghor (? Ghore, supposed to be one of the earliest seats of the Afghan race), so that the earth was burned up, and thousands of men and animals perished with heat and famine.—Dow’s Hindustan. |
| 1291 | India. No rain fell in the provinces about Delhi, and there was in consequence a most terrible famine.—Vide Birni’s History of Feroze. |
| 1342 | India. Famine in Delhi, very severe; few of the inhabitants could obtain the necessaries of life. |
| 1344-45 | India. A famine, supposed to have extended more or less over the whole of Hindustan. Very severe in the Deccan. The Emperor Mahommed, it is said, was unable to procure the necessaries for his household.—Dow’s Hindustan. |
| 1412-13 | India. Great drought, followed by famine, occurred in the Ganges-Jumna delta. |
| 1471 | India. A famine in Orissa. |
| 1495 | India. A great dearth occurred about this date in Hindustan. |
| 1521 | India. A very general famine in Sind. |
| 1540-43 | India. A general famine in Sind during these years. |
| 1631 | India. A general famine caused by drought and war; and throughout Asia. |
| 1661 | India. Famine caused by drought, and supposed to be confined to the Punjab. |
| 1703 | India. Famine in Thar and Parkar districts of Sind. |
| 1733 | India. Famine; appears to have been confined to North Western Provinces. |
| 1739 | India. Famine in Delhi and its neighbourhood. |
| 1745-52 | India. Famine in Nara districts of Sind, and Thar and Parkar. |
| 1769-70 | Hindustan. First great Indian famine of which we have record. It was estimated that 3,000,000 of people perished. The air was so infected by the noxious effluvia of dead bodies, that it was scarcely possible to stir abroad without perceiving it; and without hearing also the frantic cries of the victims of famine who were seen at every stage of suffering and death. Whole families expired, and villages were desolated. When the new crop came forward in August it had in many cases no owners.—Encyclopædia Britannica, Art. Hindustan. Other estimates have been that one-third of the population perished. |
| “Alarming want of rain was also reported throughout all the upper parts of Bengal. Madras was also suffering from drought, and from the ravages of the enemy, and the demands for grain caused a scarcity also in Calcutta. During September, October, and November, the drought continued nearly all over Bengal, the calamity being most severely felt in Behar and the Bengal districts north of the Ganges. A plentiful rain fell in June 1770; but the hopes of relief from the next crop which were thereby raised, were disappointed by the overflowing of the rivers in the eastern provinces; but the new crops in all the districts not greatly injured by floods were good.” The famine ceased by the end of the year.—Danvers, 1877. | |
| 1781-83 | India. Famine in the Carnatic and the Madras Settlement. “The Carnatic had been devastated by Hyder Ali’s incursions in 1780-81, and the settlement of Madras was reduced to great straits for food, as the whole country in its vicinity was suffering from a general scarcity. Early in 1781 the Government of Madras took steps to regulate the supply of grain; and the distress continuing, in January 1782 a public subscription was raised for the relief of the poor, to which the Government contributed. This was the origin of the institution for the relief of the native poor, known as the Monegar Choultry. Early in October the Government deemed it necessary to take the supply of rice and food-grain into their own hands. The scarcity seems to have come to an end in the early months of 1783.”—Danvers, 1877. |
| 1782-84 | India. Famine in province of Sind, including Thar and Parkar. “When the Kulhora dynasty ceased in 1782, and that of the Talpors commenced, a very severe famine occurred, which lasted for two and a half years. During four months of this time not a grain of corn was procurable. This famine was caused by the burning of crops, and the suspension of cultivation during a period of hostilities. There was also no rainfall for two years.”—Danvers, 1877. |
| 1783-84 | India. Famine in the north-west provinces of the Punjab. “The disturbance of the season of 1783 seems to have been general; but as the countries most affected were not then subject to British rule, very little information therein is obtainable. There are reasons for believing that the upper parts of Hindustan had been visited with extraordinary drought during the two previous years. In September and October 1783 there was an abnormal cessation of rain and extreme drought, and in the latter month a terrible famine was reported in all the countries from beyond Zahore to Karumnasa (the western boundary of Behar) ... and the famine had been already felt in all the western districts towards Delhi. To the northward of Calcutta, the crops upon the ground had been scorched, and nearly destroyed.”—Danvers, 1877. By the middle of 1784 the famine had abated. |
| 1787-88 | India. Famine prospects in Behar and north-west provinces of Punjab, consequent upon excess of rain and floods. The Government laid an embargo on the exportation of grain. |
| 1790-91 | India. Famine in district of Baroda, and in many adjoining districts, in some of which, however, it was only partial and local. “Very little is known concerning the famine in many of the districts named, beyond the fact that in 1790 tradition records the occurrence of a very severe famine. An almost total failure of rain was the immediate cause, apparently, of the calamity; and sufficient information exists to prove that it was one of the most remarkable on record. So great was the distress that many people fled to other districts in search of food; while others destroyed themselves, and some killed their children, and lived on their flesh. In Belgaum the scarcity was aggravated by people flocking into the district boarding on the Godavery.”—Danvers, 1877. |
| In Kach, in 1791, a famine was caused by innumerable black ants which swarmed in almost all parts of the country, and destroyed vegetation. [This Kach, formerly Cutch, is in Bombay Presidency, situated south-east of the mouths of the Indus, and appears in later times to have become a terribly God-forsaken place: famines and plagues constantly!] | |
| 1790-92 | India. Serious dearth in the northern districts of the Madras Presidency, and the pressure continued for about two years, from November 1790 to November 1792. “Many deaths from starvation occurred. At an early period Government suspended the import and transit duties on all kinds of grain and provisions, and themselves imported grain from Bengal. In the latter part of 1791 the export of rice from Tanjore was prohibited, except to the distressed districts. Rice was distributed by Government, and relief was afforded by employing the poor on public works.”—Danvers, 1877. |
| This was the first occasion of the poor being employed on public works by the Government in India. | |
| 1802-4 | India. Famine in the Nizam’s dominions (Bombay Presidency). “This famine was caused in the several districts affected by it by four distinct causes, which operated apparently about the same time. In Kach the crops are said to have been destroyed by locusts. In Pahlumpur, Rerva Kanta, Surat, Guzerat, Hyderabad, Belgaum, and Rutnagherry, the famine is stated to have been caused by want of rain. Candeish was overrun by the armies of Holkar; and the Pindaree bands sacked and burnt villages in every direction, even destroying the grain standing in the fields; and the same fate attended the districts of Ahmednagar, Poona, and Sholapur: whilst the influx of starving people from other districts into Sattara, Kolapur, Dharwar, and Colaba, caused a scarcity of food in those districts.”—Danvers, 1877. |
| 1804-7 | India. Scarcity in the Bombay Presidency, following the unfavourable season of 1804; severe pressure on the poorer classes. “In the latter part of the following year a general failure of crops appears to have occurred in most parts of the presidency, and the scarcity caused thereby had not passed over until October 1807.”—Danvers, 1877. |
| 1812-13 | India. Famine in parts of Sind and other neighbouring districts, attributed to failure of rain. “In Kach and Pahlunpore the loss was aggravated by locusts; and in Kattywar it was followed by a plague of rats. Guzerat suffered most from scarcity caused by export of grain to the famine districts; and Ahmedabad was overrun with starving immigrants. In Mahee Kanta the distress was caused by internal disturbances; whilst in Broach there was no failure of rain, but the crops, before they were reaped, were entirely devoured by locusts, which came in very large numbers, and spread all over the country.”—Danvers, 1877. |
| 1812-14 | India. Scarcity in Madras Presidency, following unfavourable season of 1811; “but no serious distress appears to have been generally experienced throughout the presidency on this occasion, although the district of Madras suffered considerably.”—Danvers, 1877. |
| 1813-14 | India. Partial famine in many parts of the Agra district; the autumn crop of 1812 failed, and the harvest of the following spring was indifferent. In 1813 the rains set in late, and were then only partial. |
| 1819 | India. Great scarcity in the Allahabad and neighbouring districts, under the following circumstances:—”The rains set in late, but when they did come they appear to have fallen in abundance. The land which had hitherto been so dried up by the heat that sowing had to be undertaken twice without any effect, became so drenched that a third sowing was not possible till the middle of September. In Bundelkhand the kharif of 1819 failed extensively, and frost nipped the spring crops in the beginning of 1820.“—Danvers, 1877. |
| 1820-22 | India. Famine in Upper Sind and neighbouring provinces, caused only partially by drought. “In 1819 there was a failure of crops in Ahmedabad, caused by unseasonable weather after the monsoon; whilst in Sawunt Warru it was occasioned by a sudden and unusual fall of rain, accompanied by a terrific storm—the former destroying the ground crops, and the latter the bagayut produce.”—Danvers, 1877. |
| 1824-25 | India. Famine in several districts. In Delhi and neighbouring provinces it was due to severe drought; in the Madras Presidency, and more particularly in the Carnatic and Western districts, the cause was failure of rains at the usual season. In Hindustan the same. |
| 1825-26 | India. Famine in the north-west provinces, occasioned by failure of rains; and scarcity in Saugor and Nerbada territories caused by blight, and a succession of heavy thunderstorms. |
| 1827-28 | India. Famine in parts of Hindustan. “The autumn of 1827 and the following spring were marked by drought across the Jumna. In Pergunnahs, Raneea, and Sirsa, the rains commenced auspiciously, but stopped abruptly early in July, and did not begin again till the 22nd September. It was then too late to retrieve the mischief which the drought had already caused; and to add to the general distress, there was every chance of a failure in the wheat. This was the staple rubbee crop in these regions, and its success was mainly dependent on the river Ganges overflowing its banks, but on this occasion the usual inundations did not occur.”—Danvers, 1877. |
| 1831-32 | India. Scarcity in Poona and the Mahratta country, producing considerable distress, but hardly a famine. |
| 1832-34 | India. Famine in some of the north-west provinces. “It is said that not a single shower of rain fell in Ajmir in 1832. In the following year the drought was most severely felt in Bundelkhand, and in the southern pergunnahs of Cawnpore; but in the pergunnahs bordering on the Ganges, the rubbee was good owing to the facilities for irrigation.”—Danvers, 1877. |
| 1833 | India. Famine in the Guntoor and other districts in the Madras Presidency; about 200,000 perished. Mr. Danvers says, “this was the most serious famine which has occurred since the British occupation, and from the fearful loss of life which took place in the Guntoor district on this occasion, the scarcity became generally known as the ‘Guntoor Famine.’” |
| 1833-35 | India. Famine in Madras Presidency. |
| “In 1834 rain fell copiously in Kach; grain was sown and came up well; but locusts appeared and destroyed all the crops and grass as well as the trees. In Ahmedabad there was excessive rain the same year, which rendered cultivation impossible, and locusts also appeared in great quantities. In Broach the famine of 1835 was also caused by excessive rain, which destroyed the spring crops, whilst the winter crops were also burnt up by intense cold. In the other districts named, the scarcity appears to have been caused by failure of crops owing to drought.”—Danvers, 1877. | |
| 1837-38 | India. Famine in north-west provinces, resulting from a general failure of rain. This was also felt in the lower provinces: for in Calcutta it is said the tanks were empty. Lord Auckland wrote in January 1838: “The fall in the usual season of the rains last year was unusually late and scanty; and an absolute drought has followed up to the present time.” |
| 1838-39 | India. Great scarcity and considerable distress, caused by failure of rains in Surat and other districts in the Bombay Presidency. Large numbers of people left these provinces in search of food elsewhere. |
| 1853-54 | India. Great scarcity in the Bellary district (Madras Presidency). “The rains which usually fall in the months of October and November, ceased at an unusually early period in the year 1853; and the showers which usually fall in June and July had been scanty. The grain harvests were consequently almost universally deficient, and considerable distress occurred in several parts of this presidency. In Bellary district the season had been exceptionally unfavourable: an average fall of only 9½ inches of rain having taken place during the year, against an average of about double that quantity in previous years. The stocks of grain on hand were small: for serious damage had been occasioned by a storm in 1851 to several of the irrigation works of the district; and in 1852 the falls of rain had been unseasonable, and the crops short.”—Danvers. |
| 1860-61 | India. “In 1859-60 the Delhi territory suffered from want of rain. The great Nujjufghar Jheel became entirely dry—a thing never before known within the memory of man. The rains of 1860 completely failed in the country between the Jumna and the Sutlej; and except where irrigation was available, no autumn or spring crop could be sown.”—Danvers, 1877. |
| 1861-62 | India. Considerable scarcity of food in Kach and various other districts of the Bombay Presidency, owing to scanty and unseasonable rains in 1861, and to short fall in the early part of 1862. |
| 1866 | India. Awful famine in the Lower Provinces of Bengal, Orissa, Behar, &c.; 1,500,000 persons reported to have perished. |
| “The total quantity of rainfall for the year (1865) was not unusually small in most of the districts of Bengal, but it fell abnormally and out of time. Much rain fell early in the season, before the usual time for sowing, while the later rains, which are usually expected in the end of September and October, failed.”—Danvers, 1877. | |
| Great scarcity also in Madras Presidency, through many districts. | |
| 1868-70 | India. Famine and scarcity in a considerable number of the north-west provinces, including Delhi, Meerut, &c. This was occasioned by failure of the harvest of 1868, following upon the inferior crop of 1867. |
| 1874 | India. Bengal; famine arising from drought. The Government took early measures, and at a cost of £6,500,000 organised a system of relief. About 1,000,000 tons of rice were carried into the distressed districts, and about 100,000 remained after relief concluded. Mr. Danvers gives us the following details respecting this famine:— |
| “During three successive years the weather in Bengal had been abnormal. In 1871 the rain was excessive, but the crops were good. In 1872 the rain was deficient, but although extraordinarily scanty, it was happily distributed both in time and place, and the crops were good in Bengal, and not bad in Behar. The year 1873 was again dry, almost beyond precedent, and what rain there was was unfortunately distributed. South of the Ganges it was excessive; but in North Behar, and almost the whole of Bengal, the rain was below the average. Coupled with deficient rainfall, the monsoon of 1873 was abnormally hot.... In January 1874 it was reported that the frost and west winds were drying up the crops in Patna. The famine reached its culminating point in April and May.” | |
| 1877 | India. Madras Presidency. One of the most extended famines on record. The cost to the Government of India, in remedial measures and loss of revenue, is estimated at £10,000,000. The actual amount of mortality occasioned is difficult to determine, the estimates vary so much. Cholera prevailed in some of the famine districts, and added greatly to the number of deaths. The Mansion House Relief Fund, instituted by the Lord Mayor (Sir Thomas White), exceeded half a million sterling. Mr. Danvers gives the following details regarding the meteorological incidents associated with this famine:— |
| “The season of 1874 was generally good, but in parts it was unfavourable. In 1875 the season was in many places unpropitious. In 1876 the south-west monsoon, or summer rains, were deficient throughout the greater part of the Madras Presidency, and in the Bombay district of Poona. In the northern portions only of the Madras Presidency ... was the rainfall ordinarily propitious. The north-east monsoon, or autumn rains, failed still more disastrously. In October the whole of the nine districts of the Bombay Deccan were threatened with a serious famine, nearly all the monsoon crops having perished, and there having been no later rains to admit of sowing the rabi.... The spring and summer rains again failed in 1877 ... and added to this, the rainfall was short almost all over Northern India.” |
“Famines in India have arisen from several different causes; but the most general cause has not been failure of the usual rains. Distress has also, however, been caused by hostile invasions; by swarms of rats and locusts; by storms and floods; and not unfrequently by the immigration of the starving people from distant distressed parts into districts otherwise well provided with food supplies; and occasionally by excessive exports of grain into famine-stricken districts; or by combinations of two or more of the above-named circumstances.”—Report 1878, p. 2, Mr. F. C. Danvers.
These stern facts prove that, in times of plenty, grain should be garnered in each district, and held in reserve till the time of famine, when, food being found at hand, the people would have no need to migrate into neighbouring provinces. The finest example set for the imitation of those who have the destiny of nations in their hands, is that precaution adopted by Joseph, when he expected the visitation of the seven years’ famine.
This memorable famine took place in the year B.C. 1708. But the land of Egypt had corn in her granaries—the Pyramids of our time; therefore none of the Egyptians died from starvation. Egypt even supplied food to other famine-stricken countries; for the Bible says, “the famine was over all the face of the earth; and all countries came into Egypt to Joseph for to buy corn, because that the famine was so sore in all lands.”