| Great Indian famine of 1876–1878 | |
|---|---|
 Map of theBritish Indian Empire (1885), showing the regions affected by various famines of the 19th century, including the Great Famine of 1876–1878. | |
| Country | British India |
| Location | Madras,Bombay,Mysore,Hyderabad |
| Period | 1876–1878 |
| Total deaths | 5.6–9.6 million |
| Causes | Drought,El Niño-Southern Oscillation |
| Theory | Grain commodification,Cash Crops |
| Preceded by | Bihar famine of 1873–1874 |
| Succeeded by | Indian famine of 1896–1897 |
TheGreat Famine of 1876–1878 was afamine inIndia under British Crown rule. It began in 1876 after an intense drought resulted in crop failure in theDeccan Plateau.[1] It affectedsouth andSouthwestern India—the British-administered presidencies ofMadras andBombay, and theprincely states ofMysore andHyderabad—for a period of two years. In 1877, famine came to affect regions northward, including parts of theCentral Provinces and theNorth-Western Provinces, and a small area inPunjab.[2] The famine ultimately affected an area of 670,000 square kilometres (257,000 sq mi) and caused distress to a population totalling 58,500,000.[2] Theexcess mortality in the famine has been estimated in a range whose low end is 5.6 million human fatalities, high end 9.6 million fatalities, and a careful modern demographic estimate 8.2 million fatalities.[3][4] The famine is also known as theSouthern India famine of 1876–1878 and theMadras famine of 1877.
TheGreat Famine was precipitated by an intense drought resulting in crop failure in theDeccan Plateau.[1] This was part of a larger pattern of drought and crop failure across India, China, South America and parts of Africa caused by an interplay between a strongEl Niño and an activeIndian Ocean Dipole that led to between 19 and 50 million deaths.[5]
The regular export of grain by the colonial government continued; during the famine, the viceroy,Lord Lytton, oversaw the export to England of a record 6.4 million hundredweight (320,000 tons) of wheat, which made the region more vulnerable. The cultivation of alternatecash crops, in addition to thecommodification of grain, played a significant role in the events.[6][7]
The famine occurred at a time when the colonial government was attempting to reduce expenses on welfare. Earlier, in theBihar famine of 1873–74, severe mortality had been avoided by importing rice from Burma. The Government ofBengal and its Lieutenant-Governor,Sir Richard Temple, were criticised for excessive expenditure on charitable relief.[8] Sensitive to any renewed accusations of excess in 1876, Temple, who was now Famine Commissioner for the Government of India,[2] insisted not only on a policy oflaissez faire with respect to the trade in grain,[9] but also on stricter standards of qualification for relief and on more meagre relief rations.[2] Two kinds of relief were offered: "relief works" for able-bodied men, women, and working children, and gratuitous (or charitable) relief for small children, theelderly, and theindigent.[10]
The insistence on more rigorous tests for qualification, however, led to strikes by "relief workers" in theBombay presidency.[2] In January 1877, Temple reduced the wage for a day's hard work in the relief camps inMadras and Bombay[11]—this 'Temple wage' consisted of 450 grams (1 lb) of grain plus oneanna for a man, and a slightly reduced amount for a woman or working child,[12] for a "long day of hard labour without shade or rest."[13] The rationale behind the reduced wage, which was in keeping with a prevailing belief of the time, was that any excessive payment might create 'dependency' (or "demoralisation" in contemporaneous usage) among the famine-afflicted population.[11]
Temple's recommendations were opposed by some officials, includingWilliam Digby and the physicianW. R. Cornish, Sanitary Commissioner for theMadras Presidency.[14] Cornish argued for a minimum of 680 grams (1.5 lb) of grain and, in addition, supplements of vegetables and protein, especially if the individuals were performing strenuous labour in the relief works.[14] However, Lytton supported Temple, who argued that "everything must be subordinated to the financial consideration of disbursing the smallest sum of money."[15]
In March 1877, the provincial government of Madras increased the ration halfway towards Cornish's recommendations, to 570 grams (1.25 lb) of grain and 43 grams (1.5 oz) of protein in the form ofdaal (pulses).[14] Meanwhile, many more people had succumbed to the famine.[16] In other parts of India, such as theUnited Provinces, where relief was meagre, the resulting mortality was high.[16] In the second half of 1878, an epidemic ofmalaria killed many more who were already weakened by malnutrition.[16]
By early 1877, Temple proclaimed that he had put "the famine under control". Digby noted that "a famine can scarcely be said to be adequately controlled which leaves one-fourth of the people dead."[15]
All in all, the Government of India spent Rs. 30 million in relieving 700 million units (1 unit = relief for 1 person for 1 day) in British India and, in addition, another Rs. 7.2 million in relieving 72 million units in theprincely states ofMysore andHyderabad.[16] Revenue (tax) payments to the amount of Rs. 6 million were either not enforced or postponed until the following year, and charitable donations from Great Britain and thecolonies totaled Rs. 8.4 million.[16] However, this cost was minusculeper capita; for example, the expenditure incurred in theBombay Presidency was less than one-fifth of that in theBihar famine of 1873–74, which affected a smaller area and did not last as long.[13]
Two years before the famine of 1876, heavy rain destroyedragi crops (a type ofmillet) inKolar andBangalore. Scant rainfall the following year resulted in drying up of lakes, affecting food stock. As a result of the famine, the population of the state decreased by 874,000 (in comparison with the 1871 census).
Sir Richard Temple was sent by theBritish India Government as Special Famine Commissioner to oversee the relief works of the Mysore government. To deal with the famine, thegovernment of Mysore started relief kitchens. A large number of people journeyed to Bangalore when relief was available. These people had to work on the Bangalore–Mysore railway line in exchange for food and grains. The Mysore government imported large quantities of grain from the neighbouring British ruledMadras Presidency. Grazing in forests was allowed temporarily, and new tanks were constructed and old tanks repaired. TheDewan of Mysore State,C. V. Rungacharlu, in hisDasara speech estimated the cost to the state at 160lakhs, with the state incurring a debt of 80 lakhs.[17]
Theexcess mortality in the famine has been estimated to lie in a range whose low end is approximately 5.6 million human deaths, the high end approximately is 9.6 million deaths and a careful modern demographic estimate of which is 8.2 million deaths.[3][4]
The excessive mortality and the renewed questions of "relief and protection" asked in its wake led directly to the formation of the Famine Commission of 1880, and to the eventual adoption of theIndian Famine Codes.[16] After the famine, a large number of agricultural labourers andhandloom weavers inSouth India emigrated to British tropical colonies to work asindentured labourers in plantations.[18] The excessive mortality in the famine also neutralized the natural population growth in the Bombay and Madras presidencies during the decade between the first and second censuses of British India in 1871 and 1881 respectively.[19] The famine lives on in the Tamil and other literary traditions.[20] A large number ofKummi folk songs describing this famine have been documented.[21]
The Great Famine had a lasting political impact on events in India. Among the British administrators in India who were unsettled by the official reactions to the famine and, in particular by the stifling of the official debate about the best form of famine relief, wereWilliam Wedderburn andA. O. Hume.[22] Less than a decade later, they would found theIndian National Congress and, in turn, influence a generation ofIndian nationalists. Among the latter wereDadabhai Naoroji andRomesh Chunder Dutt for whom theGreat Famine would become a cornerstone of the economic critique of theBritish Raj.[22]