|
Punganur in Andhra Pradesh was a prominent zamindari during
the British rule. Lack of permanent irrigational facilities
and inadequate transport coupled with poor soils left the
zamindari a backward region. Whenever there was a famine
in any part of the ceded district, it had its echo in Punganur.
The entire 19th century was dotted with numerous famines
in the zamindari. The famines which occurred in the zamindari
before the first Famine Commission of 1880 form the frame
of reference for this paper. They present certain unique
features both in their severity and also in the manner the
relief was provided. During the first phase of the famines
(1800-1870), a large number of ryots were forced to abandon
their lands and leave the villages in search of living.
The Great Famine of 1876-78 was the severest of all famines.
The starving people ate even the leaves and roots to keep
the body and soul together. There were also famines during
the last decade of the century, but they are beyond the
scope of the present paper. This paper also analyzes the
nature of the famine relief measures adopted during the
famines. There was relief provided by the zamindar. The
government directly took certain measures to mitigate the
sufferings of the people and there were also certain concessions
shown by the government to the zamindar with the hope that
those concessions would ultimately percolate to the ryots.
Thus, there was a three-pronged approach in the relief that
came to the people. While the relief works undertaken by
the zamindar were mostly related to the improvement of irrigational
works, the government's relief revolved around the provision
of transport facilities like road works, etc.
The word `famine', derived from the Latin word `fames'
meaning hunger, is defined as a condition of extreme general
scarcity of food or want of food, hunger and starvation
in a certain area or part of a country. It may, therefore,
connote broadly as a widespread shortage of food, caused
by natural calamities or shortfall of rain or due to swarms
of insects and pests, leading to distress and starvation
of people over a large area. It may be the result of drought
due to lack of rains or on account of scarcity that results
due to insufficiency of food supply. Famines, sometimes
may be caused only by human factors as in the case of Bengal
Famine of 1943. They might be the result of historical and
economic factors such as war, trade depressions, or even
heavy land taxes. Any study on famines, therefore, involves
an enquiry not only into local and contemporary climatic
and agricultural conditions, but also into political, economic
and social conditions in the broadest sense.
Famines in India, as L C A Knowles aptly pointed out, "is
a lock-out in the agricultural Industry". As agriculture
has been the main occupation of the majority of the people
in the country, such lock-outs did affect the entire country.
Agriculture not only supplies food grains and raw materials
like cotton, jute and oilseeds, but also provides occupation
to about 75% of population directly or indirectly.To ensure normal cropping, it is important that the seasonal
distribution of rainfall was normal, occur at the right
time and be well distributed. When this did not happen,
generally famines occurred. General economic conditions
of the country also have a close bearing on famines. If
the masses are economically strong, few failures of crops
would not affect much, but if they have no savings to fall
back upon, even a slight drought would cause a severe suffering
to them. The severity of famines in India during the 19th
century was largely due to deterioration in the economic
condition of the people. The victims of these famines were
counted in millions. There is also a fair amount of agreement
among 19th century economic historians and commentators
regarding the causes for these catastrophes. Landless agricultural
laborers in particular found little employment as agricultural
activity was brought to a standstill. Food prices increased,
and hoarding became common. The severe famines frequently
took place in the entire 19th century though the crop failures
were localized.
|
