Famine during colonial era

There was a sudden surge in famines during colonial rule, mainly in the mid-eighteenth century. That was not the first time India saw famines, but colonial rule and its exploitative policies made conditions worse for the people of India, resulting in an uncountable number of deaths.

There were several reasons why famines saw a sudden spurt during colonial rule.

1. Colonial policies that were exploitive in nature, like the heavy taxes, and policies like the permanent settlement, which hurt farmers.

2. The farming methods of the people were not modern, and farmers had to depend on one cash crop that could fulfil the British tax requirement.

3. British trade policies like heavy taxes on Indian goods and exporting all raw materials outside resulted in the destruction of local markets and the handicrafts industry, leaving people with no money to survive during famine-like situations. And when they started exporting food grains outside the country, there was no food left for people to have during famines.

4. Under colonial rule, no arrangements were made to prepare for famines, which made the condition worse when famine hit.

5. Natural calamities like drought and flood made the situation of farmers worse as they didn’t have any modern irrigation techniques and, in this situation, had to pay taxes to Britishers, which made the farmers starve to death.