From the 18^th century onwards India had experienced a series of famines recurring at very short intervals bringing untold suffering and mortality. During famines common people used to depend on natural resources like forests for sustenance. With the introduction of land and forest policies by the British colonial administration, centuries old dependence of people on forests was disrupted. Consequently, when calamities like famines hit the country, the people had little to fall back on natural resources like forests for sustenance. Even the princely states, which comprised one third of the Indian subcontinent, were also insensible to the needs of the people during the times of crisis, and had adopted the British land and forest policies. Thus, the country as a whole experienced the disruption of centuries old harmonious relations between man and nature. The present paper examines the history and nature of famines in the princely state of Hyderabad against the backdrop of introduction of state forestry with the British colonial influence. It studies the traditional survival strategies of peasant and tribal communities during famines prior to the introduction of state forestry. It analyzes how the state forestry had curbed people's access to natural resources like forests during famines. It examines to what extent people depended on forests at the time of crisis and the State response to the demands of the people during famines. It concludes how state forestry made its people much more vulnerable to natural calamities like famines.

In the recent historiography, the study of famines and conditions of scarcity and drought that frequented during the colonial period has been given due attention. It is a well-known fact that from the 18^th century onwards India had experienced a series of famines recurring at very short intervals bringing untold suffering and mortality. Different regions in the country were affected which brought disorder into the lives of millions of people. Many of the studies have concentrated on the causes of famine, statistical mortality, state famine policy and relief measures, migration and dislocation of people, popular reaction to the relief measures, number of recipients, impact of famines on the economic, social and political life of the people, etc.

Early and recent historical research has clearly demonstrated that the adverse effects of the colonial rule were not temporary but had a lasting effect on the toiling masses who were the first victims of famine. The misery and suffering of the people was a direct result of the British land and forest policies and the implicit reliance and support extended to the native chiefs, landlords and other dominant social groups by the colonial administration. In one of his seminal writings David Arnold has shown the catastrophic consequences of the South Indian Famine of 1876-78 particularly, in the region of the Madras Presidency. His main focus has been on the attitude and action of peasants during the crisis of famine; and how the peasants perceived and responded to the crisis created by drought, dearth and famine.

History and Culture Journal, British Colonial Administration, Natural Resources, Famines, Natural Calamities, Ecological System, Forest Resources, Famine Commission, Human Mortality, Agricultural Production, Forest Resources, Forest Department, British Colonial Policies, Peasant Communities.