FAMINES IN THE INDIAN SUBCONTINENT, 1500 to 1767
It has become common in discussions of famine in the Indian sub-continent to state that Mike Davis, in "Late Victorian Holocausts: El Niño Famines and the Making of the Third World" (2001) "points out that here were 31 serious famines in the 120 years of British rule compared with 17 famines in the 2,000 years before British rule."
That "120 years" should give a clue to a snag with the claim: its source, as Davis states quite clearly, is a preliminary study of the worldwide history of famine made by Cornelius Walford for the Statistical Society of London back in 1878, just over 120 years after the Battle of Plassey. In 1874, Charles Blair's "Indian famines: Their historical, financial and other aspects …" had noted a significant problem: "… reliable records are only available from the date of our rule in India; and it will be seen ... that subsequent to this time these disasters have been very frequent."
Suspecting, as I attempted to edit some India-related Wikipedia articles a few years ago, that modern technology would make it much easier to find pre-Plassey information, I decided to keep a spreadsheet of references to famines in the period from 1500, when the Portuguese were beginning to expand Europe's first-hand knowledge of India, to 1767, the year before the new British administration in Bengal faced and failed its first major famine challenge (as it happens, others were working on a similar project at the same time, but the fascinating Famine and Dearth website- sadly not always online- has different priorities from mine).
You can see all the pre-1768 famines listed by Walford on a separate page, but below I have tabulated the references I have found so far, in chronological order, linking to a separate page for each year (NB: Where a famine lasts more than one year but there is little information after the first year reported, I have not listed the later years separately).
COLOUR CODES (links + maps): | FAMINE YEAR | SCARCITY YEAR | OTHER INTERESTING INFORMATION | ||||||
1500 | 1501 | 1502 | 1503 | 1504 | 1505 | 1506 | 1507 | 1508 | 1509 |
1510 | 1511 | 1512 | 1513 | 1514 | 1515 | 1516 | 1517 | 1518 | 1519 |
1520 | +/or 1521 | 1522 | 1523 | 1524 | 1525 | + 1526 | 1527 | 1528 | 1529 |
1530 | 1531 | 1532 | 1533 | 1534 | 1535 | 1536 | 1537 | 1538 | 1539 +40 |
1540 | + 1541 | + 1542 | 1543 | 1544 | 1545 | 1546 | 1547 | 1548 | 1549 |
1550-ish | 1551 | 1552 | 1553 | 1554 | 1555 | + 1556 | 1557 | 1558 | 1559 |
1560 | 1561 | 1562 | 1563 | 1564 | 1565 | 1566 | 1567 | 1568 | 1569 |
1570 | 1571 | 1572 | +/or 1573 | 1574-5 | 1575 | 1576 | 1577 | 1578 | 1579 |
1580 | 1581 | 1582 +3 | 1583 | 1584 | 1585 etc. | 1586 +7 | 1587 | 1588 | 1589 |
1590 | 1591 | 1592 | 1593 | 1594 | 1595 | + 1596-8 | 1597 | + 1598 | 1599 |
1600 | 1601 | 1602 | 1603 | 1604 | 1605 | 1606 | 1607-9 | 1608 | 1609 |
1610 | 1611 | 1612 | 1613 | 1614 | + 1615-6 | 1616 | + 1617 | 1618 | 1619 |
1620s | 1621 | 1622 | 1623 | 1624 | 1625 | 1626 | 1627 | 1628 | 1629 |
1630 | 1631 | 1632 | 1633 | 1634 | 1635 | 1636 | 1637 | 1638 | 1639 |
1640 | 1641 or 2 | 1642 | 1643 | 1644 | 1645 | 1646-8 | 1647 | 1648 +9 | 1649 |
1650-1 | 1651 | 1652 | 1653 | 1654 | 1655 | 1656 | 1657 | 1658-61 | 1659 |
+ 1660-1 | 1661 | 1662-3 | 1663 | + 1664 | 1665 | 1666 | 1667 | 1668 | 1669-70 |
1670-71 | 1671 | + 1672-3 | 1673 | + 1674 | + 1675 | 1676 | 1677 | 1678 | + 1679 |
1680 | 1681 | 1682 | 1683 | 1684 see | 1685 | + 1686 | to 1687-9 | 1688 | + 1689 |
1690 | 1691 | 1692 | 1693 | 1694 | + 1695-6 | 1696 | + 1697 | 1698 | 1699-1700 |
1700 | + 1701 | 1702-4 | 1703 | + 1704 | 1705 | +1706-7 | 1707-8 | 1708 | + 1709 |
1710-11 | 1711 | + 1712 | 1713 | 1714 | 1715 | 1716 | 1717 | + 1718 | + 1719 |
+ 1720 | 1721-3 | 1722 | 1723 | + 1724 | 1725 | 1726 | 1727 | + 1728 | +1729 |
1730 | 1731 | + 1732 | 1733 | + 1734 | + 1735 | + 1736 | 1737 | + 1738 | 1739 |
1740 | 1741 | 1742 | + 1743 | 1744-6 | 1745-52 | 1746 | + 1747 | 1748 | 1749 |
1750 | 1751 | 1752-5 | 1753-4 | 1754 | 1755-6 | 1756 | 1757 | 1758 | + 1759-61 |
1760 | 1761-2 | 1762 | 1763-4 | 1764 | 1765 | 1766 | + 1767 | 1768 + + + |