Why was there a sudden spurt in famines in colonial India since the... | UPSC Mains Model Answer

Why was there a sudden spurt in famines in colonial India since the mid-eighteenth century? Give reasons.

Based on 71 evaluated answers to this question on CollectorBabu: here is what aspirants most often missed, the mistakes that cost marks, and a model answer.

What most aspirants missed

Export of food grains during famines, such as the Madras famine of 1876-78, showing policy callousness
Destruction of village granaries and community grain reserves under British revenue and land policy
Railways moving grain from famine zones to ports, not to relief
Commercialisation of agriculture: indigo, cotton and opium replacing food crops
Laissez-faire doctrine and Malthusian beliefs that prevented timely state intervention
Specific famines with death tolls, such as Bengal 1770 (about 10 million) and Great Famine 1876-78 (about 5.5 million)

Common mistakes

Listing causes without linking each one to the sudden rise in famines after the mid-eighteenth century
Naming famines without death tolls or dates, which leaves the argument unsupported
Using vague phrases like 'exploitation' or 'weak relief measures' without a specific policy or example
Adding irrelevant material such as climate remarks in the conclusion or unrelated quotations

What the better answers did

Opening with a clear contrast between pre-colonial relief and colonial policy shifts
Grouping causes under economic and administrative headings with one concrete example each
Using dated examples: Bengal 1770, Permanent Settlement 1793, Famine Code 1883, Madras 1876-78
Ending with a crisp link between colonial political economy and mass mortality

Introduction

Open by stating that colonial revenue extraction and trade policy, not just drought, turned recurring crop failures into mass famine from the 1770s onward.

Conclusion

Close by tying the argument to the Great Famine of 1876-78 and the shift from relief to laissez-faire, to show why famines became more frequent and deadly.

Model answer

Famines were recurrent in pre-colonial India, but from the mid-eighteenth century their frequency and severity rose sharply. The change lay in colonial revenue extraction, trade policy and a weak state response to scarcity.

Economic and agrarian causes

Revenue extraction left no surplus for emergencies. The Bengal Famine of 1770, which killed about 10 million people, followed early revenue pressure, and the Permanent Settlement of 1793 fixed high demands on zamindars and peasants.
Commercialisation of agriculture pushed indigo, cotton and opium in place of food crops, reducing grain availability.
Deindustrialisation, including the decline of the handloom industry, pushed artisans onto the land and increased pressure on it.

Policy and administrative causes

Grain exports continued during shortages, as in the Madras famine of 1876-78.
Village granaries and community reserves were dismantled. The Forest Acts of 1865 and 1878 restricted access to forest resources that peasants had relied on.
Railways moved grain to ports and cities rather than to famine-hit districts.
Laissez-faire doctrine and Malthusian beliefs delayed relief. The Famine Code of 1883 was weakly implemented, and relief wages were inadequate.

Thus, colonial political economy, rather than scarcity alone, turned recurrent crop failures into mass starvation. The Great Famine of 1876-78 alone killed an estimated 5.5 million people.

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