Great Bengal famine of 1770

Quick Facts: Who was Great Bengal famine of 1770?

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Great Bengal famine of 1770

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A devastating famine that struck Bengal and Bihar between 1769 and 1770, impacting millions.

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Origins & Early Life

The Great Bengal famine of 1770 struck Bengal and Bihar between 1769 and 1770 and affected some 30 million people, which was about one third of the current population of the area. It occurred during a period of dual governance in Bengal. This existed after the East India Company had been granted the diwani, or the right to collect revenue, in Bengal by the Mughal emperor in Delhi, but before it had wrested the nizamat, or control of civil administration, which continued to lie with the Mughal governor, the Nawab of Bengal, Najmuddin Ali Khan (Nazm-ud-Daula) (1765–72). Crop failure in autumn 1768 and summer 1769 and an accompanying smallpox epidemic were thought to be the manifest reasons for the famine. The East India Company had farmed out tax collection on account of a shortage of trained administrators, and the prevailing uncertainty may have worsened the famine's impact.

Pivotal Works & Achievements

Other factors adding to the pressure were: grain merchants ceased offering grain advances to peasants, but the market mechanism for exporting the merchants' grain to other regions remained in place; the East India Company purchased a large portion of rice for its army; and the Company's private servants and their Indian Gomasthas created local monopolies of grain. By the end of 1769 rice prices had risen two-fold, and in 1770 they rose a further three-fold. In Bihar, the continual passage of armies in the already drought-stricken countryside worsened the conditions. The East India Company provided little mitigation through direct relief efforts; nor did it reduce taxes, though its options to do so may have been limited. By the summer of 1770, people were dying everywhere.

Enduring Legacy & Impact

Although the monsoon immediately after did bring plentiful rains, it also brought diseases to which many among the enfeebled fell victim. For several years thereafter piracy increased on the Hooghly river delta. Deserted and overgrown villages were a common sight. Depopulation, however, was uneven, affecting north Bengal and Bihar severely, central Bengal moderately, and eastern only slightly. The recovery was also quicker in the well-watered Bengal delta in the east.

Chronological Milestones & Life Events

1. 1765: 1765 Milestone — This existed after the East India Company had been granted the diwani, or the right to collect revenue, in Bengal by the Mughal emperor in Delhi, but before it had wrested the nizamat, or control of civil administration, which continued to lie with the Mughal governor, the Nawab of Bengal, Najmuddin Ali Khan (Nazm-ud-Daula) (1765–72).
2. 1768: 1768 Milestone — Crop failure in autumn 1768 and summer 1769 and an accompanying smallpox epidemic were thought to be the manifest reasons for the famine.
3. 1769: 1769 Milestone — By the end of 1769 rice prices had risen two-fold, and in 1770 they rose a further three-fold.
4. 1770: 1770 Milestone — The Great Bengal famine of 1770 struck Bengal and Bihar between 1769 and 1770 and affected some 30 million people, which was about one third of the current population of the area.

Historical Fact-Check Quiz: Great Bengal famine of 1770

True or False: “The East India Company was the sole administrator of Bengal immediately following the Great Bengal famine of 1770.”

Answer (FALSE ❌): While the famine hastened the end of dual governance and led to the Company becoming the sole administrator soon after, it did not happen instantaneously.

Contemporary Figures & Related Historical Timelines

• Alexander von Humboldt — Historical peer (Born in 1769) (1769): German polymath, geographer, and naturalist who pioneered biogeography and modern science.
• Amelia Opie — Historical peer (Born in 1769) (1769): English novelist and leading abolitionist of the Romantic period.
• Adam Johann von Krusenstern — Historical peer (Born in 1770) (1770): Russian admiral and explorer, famed for leading the first Russian circumnavigation.
• Alexandre Brongniart — Historical peer (Born in 1770) (1770): Pioneering French scientist in chemistry, geology, and mineralogy.
• Eli Whitney — Historical peer (Born in 1765) (1765): American inventor best known for the cotton gin, shaping the Antebellum South's economy.
• Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor — Historical peer (Died in 1765) (1765): Last non-Habsburg Holy Roman Emperor; founder of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine.
• Arthur Guinness II — Historical peer (Born in 1768) (1768): Anglo-Irish brewer, banker, and politician who managed the expansion of the Guinness brewery.
• Canaletto — Historical peer (Died in 1768) (1768): Master Vedutista: Celebrated painter of Venetian and Roman cityscapes.

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