The Great Famine of 1876-1878 led to around 12 to 29 million deaths in India. The climate pattern, El Niño, was suspected to be one of the main causes of the great famine. Scientists pointed out that the extremely dry conditions and high temperature in India during these years might be driven by “the strongest El Niño that human instruments have ever measured” (Fecht, 2017). But there was also a man-made aspect to the catastrophe. Historically, the rule of the East Indian Company undermined India’s textile industries and forced laborers into agriculture, rendering the Indian economy much more dependent on seasonal monsoons. However, as prices rose and grain reserves dropped, and all signs pointing to a period of great scarcity, the colonial administration made little action. Under the influence of Malthusian principles, the administration considered excess deaths as nature’s response to overpopulation. The mid-nineteenth century economic wisdom dictated that government intervention in famines was unnecessary and even harmful (Patel, 2016). The government’s nonintervention definitely failed to mitigate the losses of the Great Famine.
Sen remembered the famine of the year 1872 and stealing rice to give to the village poor. Famine relief work seemed to be carried out mainly by local religious organizations. The “hands-off” approach of the government explained the relative absence of local authorities in the text.
Sources:
- Fecht, Sarah. “Causes of the Great Famine, One of the Deadliest Environmental Disasters.” State of the Planet, Earth Institute, Columbia University, 15 Dec. 2017, blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2017/12/15/causes-great-famine-drought/.
- Patel, Dinyar. “Viewpoint: How British Let One Million Indians Die in Famine.” BBC News, BBC, 10 June 2016, www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-36339524.