Timeline of major famines in India during British rule (1765 to 1947)

This is a timeline
Timeline
A timeline is a way of displaying a list of events in chronological order, sometimes described as a project artifact . It is typically a graphic design showing a long bar labeled with dates alongside itself and events labeled on points where they would have happened.-Uses of timelines:Timelines...

of major famines
Famine in India
Famine 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...

on the Indian subcontinent
Indian subcontinent
The Indian subcontinent, also Indian Subcontinent, Indo-Pak Subcontinent or South Asian Subcontinent is a region of the Asian continent on the Indian tectonic plate from the Hindu Kush or Hindu Koh, Himalayas and including the Kuen Lun and Karakoram ranges, forming a land mass which extends...

during the years of British rule in India from 1765 to 1947. The famines included here occurred both in the princely states (regions administered by Indian rulers) and British India (regions administered either by the British East India Company

British East India Company

The East India Company was an early English joint-stock company that was formed initially for pursuing trade with the East Indies, but that ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent and China...

from 1765 to 1857, or by the British Crown, in the British Raj

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...

, from 1858 to 1947). The year 1765 is chosen as the start year because that year the British East India Company, after its victory in the Battle of Buxar

Battle of Buxar

The Battle of Buxar was fought on 22 October 1764 between the forces under the command of the British East India Company, and the combined armies of Mir Qasim, the Nawab of Bengal; Shuja-ud-Daula Nawab of Awadh; and Shah Alam II, the Mughal Emperor...

, was granted the Diwani (rights to land revenue) in the region of Bengal

Bengal Presidency

The Bengal Presidency originally comprising east and west Bengal, was a colonial region of the British Empire in South-Asia and beyond it. It comprised areas which are now within Bangladesh, and the present day Indian States of West Bengal, Assam, Bihar, Meghalaya, Orissa and Tripura.Penang and...

(although it would not directly administer Bengal until 1784 when it was granted the Nizamat, or control of law and order.) The year 1947 is the year in which the British Raj

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...

was dissolved and the new successor states of Dominion of India

Dominion of India

The Dominion of India, also known as the Union of India or the Indian Union , was a predecessor to modern-day India and an independent state that existed between 15 August 1947 and 26 January 1950...

and Dominion of Pakistan

Dominion of Pakistan

The Dominion of Pakistan was an independent federal Commonwealth realm in South Asia that was established in 1947 on the partition of British India into two sovereign dominions . The Dominion of Pakistan, which included modern-day Pakistan and Bangladesh, was intended to be a homeland for the...

were born.

Timeline

Year	Name of famine (if any)	British territory	Indian kingdoms/Princely states	Mortality
{\| cellpadding="3" border="1" class="wikitable" ! bgcolor="#DDDDDD" colspan="5" \| Chronological list of famines in India between 1765 and 1947
1769–70	Great Bengal Famine Bengal famine of 1770 The Bengal famine of 1770 was a catastrophic famine between 1769 and 1773 that affected the lower Gangetic plain of India...	Bihar, Northern and Central Bengal		10 million (about one third of the then population of Bengal). Disputed as excessive.
1782–83		Madras city Chennai Chennai , formerly known as Madras or Madarasapatinam , is the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, located on the Coromandel Coast off the Bay of Bengal. Chennai is the fourth most populous metropolitan area and the sixth most populous city in India... and surrounding areas	Kingdom of Mysore Kingdom of Mysore The Kingdom of Mysore was a kingdom of southern India, traditionally believed to have been founded in 1399 in the vicinity of the modern city of Mysore. The kingdom, which was ruled by the Wodeyar family, initially served as a vassal state of the Vijayanagara Empire...	See below.
1783–84	Chalisa famine Chalisa famine The Chalisa famine of 1783-84 in South Asia followed unusual El Nino events that began in 1780 and caused droughts throughout the region. Chalisa refers to the Vikram Samvat calendar year 1840...		Delhi Delhi Delhi , officially National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest by population in India, next to Mumbai. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16,753,265 inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census... , Western Oudh Awadh Awadh , also known in various British historical texts as Oudh or Oude derived from Ayodhya, is a region in the centre of the modern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, which was before independence known as the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh... , Eastern Punjab region 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... , 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... , and Kashmir Kashmir Kashmir is the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term Kashmir geographically denoted only the valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal mountain range...	Severe famine. Large areas were depopulated. Up to 11 million people may have died during the years 1782–84.
1791–92	Doji bara famine Doji bara famine The Doji bara famine of 1791-92 in South Asia was brought on by a major El Niño event lasting from 1789 CE to 1795 CE and producing prolonged droughts... or Skull famine		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... , Southern Maratha country, Deccan, Gujarat, and Marwar Marwar Marwar is a region of southwestern Rajasthan state in western India. It lies partly in the Thar Desert. In Rajasthani dialect "wad" means a particular area. The word Marwar is derived from Sanskrit word 'Maruwat'. English translation of the word is 'The region of desert'., The Imperial Gazetteer...	One of the most severe famines known. People died in such numbers that they could not be cremated or buried. It is thought that 11 million people may have died during the years 1788–94.
1837–38	Agra famine of 1837–38	Central Doab Doab A Doab is a term used in India and Pakistan for a "tongue" or tract of land lying between two confluent rivers... and trans Trans Trans is a Latin noun or prefix, meaning "across", "beyond" or "on the opposite side".Trans may refer to:- Science and technology :* Cis-trans isomerism, in chemistry, a form of stereoisomerism... -Jumna districts of the North-Western Provinces North-Western Provinces The North-Western Provinces was an administrative region in British India which succeeded the Ceded and Conquered Provinces and existed in one form or another from 1836 until 1902, when it became the Agra Province within the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh .-Area:The province included all... (later Agra Province Agra Province Agra Province was a part of the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh in India under the British Raj, which existed from 1904 until 1947; it corresponded to the former regions, Ceded and Conquered Provinces and the North Western Provinces .-See also:Company rule in IndiaUnited Provinces of Agra and... ), including Delhi Delhi Delhi , officially National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest by population in India, next to Mumbai. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16,753,265 inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census... and Hissar Hisar, India Hisar city, previously spelled Hissar, is the administrative headquarters of Hisar district, in the state of Haryana, in northwestern India. Hisar was founded in 1354 CE, as Hissar-e-Firoza by Firoz Shah Tughlaq, who reigned over the Sultanate of Delhi from 1351 to 1388. on the demolished ruins...		800,000.
1860–61	Upper Doab famine of 1860–61	Upper Doab of Agra; Delhi and Hissar divisions of the Punjab	Eastern Rajputana	2 million.
1865–67	Orissa famine of 1866 Orissa famine of 1866 The Orissa famine of 1866 affected the east coast of India from Madras upwards, an area covering 180,000 miles and containing a population of 47,500,000; the impact of the famine, however, was greatest in Orissa, which at that time was quite isolated from the rest of India.-Causes:Like all Indian...	Orissa (also 1867) and Bihar; Bellary and Ganjam districts of Madras		1 million (814,469 in Orissa, 135,676 in Bihar and 10,898 in Ganjam)
1868–70	Rajputana famine of 1869 Rajputana famine of 1869 The Rajputana famine of 1869 affected an area of and a population of 44,500,000, primarily in the princely states of Rajputana, India, and the British territory of Ajmer; other areas affected included Gujarat, the North Deccan districts, the Jubbalpore division of the...	Ajmer, Western Agra, Eastern Punjab	Rajputana	1.5 million (mostly in the princely states of Rajputana)
1873–74	Bihar famine of 1873–74 Bihar famine of 1873–74 The Bihar famine of 1873–1874 was a famine in British India that followed a drought in the province of Bihar and the neighboring provinces of Bengal and the North-Western Provinces and Oudh; it affected an area of and a population of 21.5 million...	Bihar		An extensive relief effort was organized by the Bengal Bengal Presidency The Bengal Presidency originally comprising east and west Bengal, was a colonial region of the British Empire in South-Asia and beyond it. It comprised areas which are now within Bangladesh, and the present day Indian States of West Bengal, Assam, Bihar, Meghalaya, Orissa and Tripura.Penang and... government. There were no mortalities during the famine.
1876–78	Great Famine of 1876–78 Great Famine of 1876–78 The Great Famine of 1876–1878 was a famine in India that began in 1876 and affected south and southwestern India for a period of two years... (also Southern India famine of 1876–78)	Madras and Bombay	Mysore and Hyderabad	5.5 million in British territory. Mortality unknown for princely states. Total famine mortality estimates vary from 6.1 to 10.3 million.
1888–89		Ganjam Ganjam District Ganjam district is a district in the Indian state of Orissa located on the border of Andhra Pradesh. Ganjam's total area is 8,070 km² . Its population is approximately 2,704,056.Ganjam is known for its beaches bordering the Bay of Bengal, the most famous ones being Gopalpur and Dhavaleshwar... , Orissa and North Bihar		150,000 deaths in Ganjam. Deaths were due to starvation as famine relief was not provided in time.
1896–97	Indian famine of 1896–97	Madras, Bombay Deccan, Bengal, United Provinces, Central Provinces	Northern and eastern Rajputana, parts of Central India and Hyderabad	5 million in British territory.
1899–1900	Indian famine of 1899–1900	Bombay, Central Provinces, Berar, Ajmer	Hyderabad, Rajputana, Central India, Baroda, Kathiawar, Cutch,	1 million (in British territories). Mortality unknown for princely states.
1905–06		Bombay	Bundelkhand Bundelkhand Bundelkhand anciently known as Chedi Kingdom is a geographic region of central India...	235,062 in Bombay (of which 28,369 attributed to Cholera). Mortality unknown for Bundelkhand.
1943–44	Bengal famine of 1943 Bengal famine of 1943 The Bengal famine of 1943 struck the Bengal. Province of pre-partition India. Estimates are that between 1.5 and 4 million people died of starvation, malnutrition and disease, out of Bengal’s 60.3 million population, half of them dying from disease after food became available in December 1943 As...	Bengal		1.5 million from starvation; 3.5 million including deaths from epidemics.

Timeline

See also