Why were famines caused the british rule in india
Answers
Reports have identified the inaction of the British government as contributing factors to the severity of famines during the time India was under British rule.
Famines occurred in British India due to the inadequate transportation of food, which in turn was caused due to an absence of a supportive political and social structure.
Money was drained from the peasant to the landlord and for paying for the British military effort and made it impossible for the peasant to procure food.
The famines in the British era were not due to a lack of food but due to the inequalities in the distribution of food, which was linked with the inequality to the undemocratic nature of the British Empire.
There were reports that massive investments in agriculture were required to break India's stagnation, however, these were not forthcoming owing to the scarcity of water, poor quality of soil and livestock and a poorly developed input market which guaranteed that investments in agriculture were extremely risky.
Answer:
Famines occurred in British India due to the inadequate transportation of food, which in turn was caused due to an absence of a supportive political and social structure.
In India as a whole, the food supply was rarely inadequate, even in times of droughts. The Famine Commission of 1880 identified that the loss of wages from lack of employment of agricultural labourers and artisans were the cause of famines.
Under the British Raj, India suffered countless famines. But the worst hit was Bengal. The first of these was in 1770, followed by severe ones in 1783, 1866, 1873, 1892, 1897 and lastly 1943-44.