Arguably, the worst artificial famine in human history which was engineered for profit, the Great Bengal Famine of the 1770 occurred between 1769 and 1773. In the Bengali calendar however, the famine is documented as having taken place between 1176 and 1180. The Bengal famine’s scope was the lower Gangetic plains of India and so devastating was the famine that a documented 10 million people were reported to have died due to the famine. Consequentially, India’s population was significantly reduced to 30 million at the time. This manuscript will thus appraise this historical moment in the history of India. The Bengal famine of 1770 brought about not by nature phenomenon, more than that, the Bengal famine was largely attributed to the British East India Company (British Crown) and affected Bengal in areas including agriculture and economy sectors with its effect far overweighing any possible benefits brought about by the British rule in India.
Causes and consequences of the famine
The Bengali famine took place in the territorial region of Bengal which was then under British East India Rule. The company forced the local farmers to cultivate opium, a scenario that is widely blamed for the witnessed famine. The Bengal territory is a region which stretched across the contemporary West Bengal, Assam, Bangladesh, Bihar and Jharkhand. As a province of the then Mughal Empire, Bengal was ruled by a nawab or a governor. Events prior to the Bengal famine witnessed the English East India Company receiving the Calcutta town as a gift from the Mughal Prince Shuja. Consequentially, the company become an extended arm of the Mughal rule and gained prominence. As the company gained more trading rights accorded to it, it rose to become the sole and dominant trading power in Bengal. Events following the historical Battle of Plassey would however serve to redefine the course of history of the region. In this battle, the British overcame the nawab Siraj Ud Daulah and pillaged the Bengali’s treasury. This victory gave the company privileged rights including the diwani which were exclusive taxation rights and in effect becoming Bengali’s de-facto ruler.
Adverse events of the famine were also fuelled by widespread looting raids carried out by the bargirl (Maratha bargis) who mainly came from Nagpur. The Bargis were a people group of the Maratha tribe who were involved in large scale plundering in the west side of Bengal for over ten decades. So severe was their looting spree that they not only looted what they could, but laid to waste whatever they could not loot as documented by historians’. Among the loot-able items where gold, money, women, temples, food and ornaments. As documented, the hardest hit areas by the famine occurred in majority of these areas that experienced wide spread looting. The Bengal famine of 1770 thus revealed the extent of possible damage that can be witnessed to a people group.
Pre 1770 -Prelude to the Bengal famine (I have re written most parts here. Please check)
The effects of the Bengal famine spurned across the regions of the Jharkhand, Odisha, modern Bangladesh, West Bengal and Bihar. However, the hardest hit areas were the regions of Bihar, Champaran, Bengal, Bettiah and Birbhum. More than 33% of India’s population died due to the famine. The British East India Company influenced the growth of opium in India in more than 90% of arable land. Less food was thus grown as the cash crop opium was preferred. Less food was thus available to the populace when the famine struck. As such, the famine is largely regarded as man made since natural forces played little role in influencing the onset of the drought. Other than the role of the British East India Company in influencing wide spread opium growth thereby contributing to the famine, a myriad of reasons equally served to contribute to the famine. An abnormal crop failure in 1768, which was followed up more wanting climatic conditions in 1769 only served to fuel the outcomes of the inevitable famine. As alarming news of the biting famine started trickling in in the 1770’s from rural dwellings, such calls where watered down by the company officials. As this happened, wide spread starvation kicked in in 1770 and by mid-year, reported deaths from the starvations were reported widely.
Based on the kept and documented excerpts from the oxford Journal of 1770, the famine was documented as follows:
The news this morning by Capt. Gardner reports of a devastating famine with shattering effects among the Bengal natives in India. These confirmed reports document the demise of over two million people. So terrible are the events that nobody is left to bury the dead.
Post 1770 famine-aftermath in Bengal
According to Wilson, subsequent years witnessed an increased lack of rainfall, a fact that heightened the death toll to ten million by the fall of 1770. This accounted for a third of the entire Indian population. The aftermath of the famine was the mushrooming of marauding gangs and bandits who became part of the Bengal culture. Furthermore, majority of the populace returned to the jungle and these included the Birbhum. As a result, majority of arable land were abandoned. It was until the 1780’s which witnessed the introduction of punitive measures that the witnessed crime was abated.
The image below gives evidence of the ghastly nature of the 1770 famine. Such documented first-hand accounts of the famine serve to offer invaluable insights regarding the famine’s extent and nature.
Image depicting the 1770 Bengal famine
Source: National Museum- India. http://www.nationalmuseumindia.gov.in/
Economic effects of the famine –Tax related issues
According to most historians, the Bengal famine is largely attributed to the punitive role the British East India Company played at the time in Bengal. As the main trading body and a de facto leader in Bengal, the company’s objective was to minimize losses and to maximize profits from the Bengal residents. High taxation mainly from land tax and trade tariffs fuelled most these monetary inlet routes. As lands in Bengal were managed by the company, taxation received a fivefold increase what it used to be from 10% to 50% of all agriculturally produced goods.The implication was that less agricultural food was produced in the years before and after the famine.
Furthermore, the repercussions of such a punitive tax increment to 50% where that majority of the collected tax flowed outside the country. Consequentially, circulation of money in Bengal’s economy was quite low. This made India have less money in circulation and less money meant less agricultural activity. Bengal in the 1700’s had 80% of its population relying on agriculture. In addition, as the gripping effects of the famine set in in 1770, the company announced its 10% increase on taxes. Consequentially, the tax increment led to decreased agricultural activity by the natives which led to less food production in the years before 1770 when the biting famine set in. The increment in taxes was in a bid to demonstrate to the British government that the company was profitable annually. So, instead of the British East India Company providing emergency food supplies to the residents, land taxes and trade tariffs where raised from 1769. The increased tax meant that fewer peasants participated in farming which meant less crops were planted and harvested hence the inevitable famine. The punitive law of growing opium in Bengal at the time served to diminish food reserves for the masses and was a major contributor to the famine. Furthermore, historical accounts document that the British East India Company gave orders for the growth of indigo instead of rice and also banned the hoarding of rice. Such a measure served to deter traders and farmers from storing rice reserves as the famine approached. By the time the famine set in, monopolistic cartels were already in place to exploit the residents. The British East India Company held no plans of addressing the famine concern of grain shortage but instead, was focused on protecting the merchants and their trading partners.
Land revenues in the affected year witnessed a sharp drop by 14% a vast tracts of lands where abandoned. However, aggressive tax collection efforts in the aftermath of the famine served to increase profitability for the company. Revenue in 1772 for instance, were higher than in 1770 as the global profit margins of the company shot upwards from 15 million Rupees to 30 million Rupees. However, the aftermath of the famine resulted in major losses for the company and the parliament was forced to pass the 1773 Tea Act which raised the import duties on tea shipped to America.
Counter argument
Proponents to the 1770 famine are of the view that the Bengal famine was a natural event and that the presence of the British in India was actually beneficial. According to the British government at the time, their opinion towards the 1770 famine holds that natural calamity is responsible for the famine. The British argue that the lack of rain in the years preceding 1770 is to blame majorly for the famine that claimed numerous lives. It is argued that more revenue was generated for the India government by the rule of the British in addition to converting more land into arable farm lands. However, based purely on the ghastly brutality of the Bengal famine, few arguments exist regarding any positive things at the time.
However, few critics have held the opinion that much as the British East India Company were largely to blame for the famine, they also transformed the economic landscape of India, with effects resonating hitherto. Much as these claims may be partly true, the witnessed famine pales in comparison to any benefits brought about by the British East India Company rule. So brutal was the famine that the incarcerated Jews in the Second World War do not measure up to the witnessed deaths. Given, the British East India Company introduced beneficiary trade systems which ultimately benefited India’s trade sector. The company also had a reputation of easing tax laws in the event of an expected famine.
Rebuttal
Such documented claims as argued in the counter argument above fail to offer convincing claims owing to the magnitude of the Bengal famine, which is one of the greatest famines hitherto. In as much as the British East India Company introduced beneficial aspects to India’s trade sector with effects reverberating hitherto, the effects of the Bengal 1770 famine equally resonate up until now. Despite warnings regarding the impending famine, the British rulers ignored such warnings and instead raised land tax rates by up to 60% in 1770 and subsequent years in a callous move aimed at recompensing themselves for the lost peasant lives. As a consequence, less peasants meant less tax and revenue was collected.
Concluding remarks
The 1770 famine was one of the noteworthy moments of the 18th century whose effects under the British Colonial Rule resonated beyond the 19th century because of the large number of casualties witnessed. As the British East India Company under the British rule took over from the Mughal rulers, they introduced punitive agricultural and economic measures which are largely attributed to devastative effects of the famine. Famers for instance, where forced to uproot rice, paddy and vegetables and instead where forced to cultivate opium or indigo. Such cash crops yielded better value for the colonial masters but resulted in a hungry populace. Therefore, claims for the beneficial aspects brought by the British East India Company are riddled with holes. It is evident that the repercussions brought about by the presence of the British in Bengal far outweigh any benefits. It is thus imperative to take cognizance of the fact that as the west enjoy their wealth, it was largely obtained at the expense of the graves of the poor masses in far places including Bengal. As such, proper respect and tribute must be accorded the affected nations.
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