Here's the north-east
monsoon at last,' said the Hon.Robert Ellis, C.B., junior member of the
Governor's Council, Madras, as a heavy shower of rain fell at Coonoor, on a day
towards the end of Oct 1876, when the members of the Madras Government were
returning from their summer sojourn on the hills. ' I am afraid that is not the
monsoon,' said the gentleman to whom the remark was made. 'Not the monsoon?'
rejoined Mr. Ellis. 'Good God ! It must be the monsoon. If it is not, and if
the monsoon does not come, there will be an awful famine.' The next day, when
the party had arrived on the plains, it was found that the heavy rain of the
previous day was not a presage of the north-east monsoon ; it was merely a
local downpour, and, instead of the country side being refreshed with fallen
rain, all was withered and bare and desolate.
East India Company came to India for trading – slowly became
rulers – during their 300 years of rule, they made peoples slaves. After 72
years of Independence, some are still colonial slaves – the vestiges of British
still persists. Once a while you may
read somewhere the mindset, when some one yawns – British would have handled
the situation better. A day back saw a
similar natured comment on how the British would have handled ‘pandemics’ – by
someone hell-bent on blaming present rulers without realizing that England is
badly affected by Covid-19 and is struggling.
Here is some history !
The Royal Titles Act
1876 was an Act of the Parliament of the
United Kingdom which officially recognized Queen Victoria (and subsequent
monarchs) as “Empress of India”. This title had been assumed by her in 1876,
under the encouragement of the Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli. The long title
of the Act is "An Act to enable Her most Gracious majesty to make an
addition to the Royal Style and Titles appertaining to the Imperial Crown of
the United Kingdom and its Dependencies." It was repealed by the Indian
Independence Act 1947. Emperor or empress of India, shortened to
king-emperor or queen-empress, was a title used by British monarchs from 1 May
1876 to 22 June 1948. The image of the emperor or empress was used
to signify British authority—his or her profile, for instance, appearing on
currency, in government buildings, railway stations, courts, on statues etc.
We say that human life
should be saved at any cost and at any effort; no man, woman, or child shall
die of starvation. Distress they must often suffer; we cannot save them from
that. We wish we could do more, but we must be content with saving life and
preventing extreme suffering - Government of India, Jan. 1877.
Whilst preparations were
being made for the proclamation of Her Majesty the Queen of Great Britain as
Empress of India, and whilst the ceremonies were actually in progress, 65,000
subjects of the Queen-Empress died of starvation and the diseases caused by
insufficient nourishment, in the Madras Presidency alone. Thirteen thousand
must similarly have perished in the province of Mysore, but no record of deaths
month by month were published ; how many
died in Bombay Presidency is unknown, for here, too, reticence was displayed
respecting mortality whilst scarcity and want were prevalent. The terrible
character of the death-rate in the districts of Southern India was not known to
the Viceroy and the Governors and Councillors who were assembled at Delhi, but
enough was known to enable them to feel that they were face to face with the
greatest disaster arising from drought which had visited India during the
century.
Remember that in 2012
there were some fears of World coming to an end - Nibiru Cataclysm; Mayan
calendar – were not they something to do with the mind and eternal fear ?
There were many reports of the World ending on 21st Dec 2012… Nibiru
cataclysm is a supposed disastrous encounter between the Earth and a large
planetary object. The word ‘cataclysm’
would mean – wash down but in modern day context refers to a mythological
deluge and to ‘a hypothetical doomsday event’. There is also the ‘apocalypse’
of things hidden from humanity – a disclosure of revelation to the end of the
world in general. From time immemorial,
mankind has been living in constant fear of various existential risks that they believed to have the potential to destroy, or drastically
restrict, human civilization; and causing extinction of human species. Mankind
has feared the deluge, destruction of planet Earth, annihilation of the solar
system and the like. There is fear of
known natural disasters like volcanoes, floods, tsunamis and man made events
like global warming, nuclear war and bioterrorism – and now what we live
‘Covid-19’ – the Corona virus.
The Great Famine of 1876–1878
(also the Southern India famine of 1876–1878 or the Madras famine of 1877) was
a famine that swept parts of India under
Crown rule.
It began in 1876 after an intense drought resulting in crop failure in the
Deccan Plateau. It affected south and southwestern India (the British
presidencies of Madras and Bombay, and the princely states of Mysore and
Hyderabad) for a period of two years. In its second year famine also spread
northward to some regions of the Central Provinces and the North-Western
Provinces, and to a small area in the Punjab. The famine ultimately covered an
area of 670,000 square kilometres (257,000 sq mi) and caused distress to a population
totalling 58,500,000. The death toll from this famine is estimated to be in the
range of 5.5 to 10.3 million people.
The famine occurred at a time when the
colonial government was attempting to reduce expenses on welfare. Earlier, in
the Bihar famine of 1873–74, severe mortality had been avoided by importing
rice from Burma. The Government of Bengal and its Lieutenant-Governor, Sir
Richard Temple, were criticised for excessive expenditure on charitable relief.
Sensitive to any renewed accusations of excess in 1876, Temple, who was now
Famine Commissioner for the Government of India, insisted not only on a policy
of laissez faire with respect to the trade in grain, but also on stricter
standards of qualification for relief and on more meagre relief rations. Two
kinds of relief were offered: "relief works" for able-bodied men,
women, and working children, and gratuitous (or charitable) relief for small
children, the elderly, and the indigent.
The insistence on more rigorous tests for
qualification, however, led to strikes by "relief workers" in the
Bombay presidency. In Jan 1877, Temple reduced the wage for a day's hard work
in the relief camps in Madras and Bombay —this 'Temple wage' consisted of 450
grams (1 lb) of grain plus one anna for a man, and a slightly reduced amount for
a woman or working child, for a "long day of hard labour without shade or
rest." The
rationale behind the reduced wage, was in keeping with a prevailing belief of
the time, that any excessive payment might create 'dependency' (or
"demoralisation" in contemporaneous usage) among the famine-afflicted
population.
Temple's recommendations were opposed by
some officials, including William Digby and the physician W. R. Cornish,
Sanitary Commissioner for the Madras Presidency. Cornish argued for a minimum
of 680 grams (1.5 lb) of grain and, in addition, supplements of vegetables and
protein, especially if the individuals were performing strenuous labour in the
relief works. However, Lytton supported Temple, who argued that
"everything must be subordinated to the financial consideration of
disbursing the smallest sum of money."
With malnourishment, lakhs of citizens
succumbed to the famine. In other parts of India, such as the United
Provinces, where relief was meagre, the resulting mortality was high. In the
second half of 1878, an epidemic of malaria killed many more who were already
weakened by malnutrition. – have we ever read all
these in our History books when we read of the administrative skills and clemency
of Viceroys ?
The famine threatened to wipe the
population. The collector of North Arcot was directed to consider whether
improvement to wells could not be beneficially undertaken, as was done in
Bellary in 1868, when famine was sore in that part of the land. In Jan 1876 the
Government of India observed the state of things in Madras, and on the 22nd of
that month sent the following telegram to the local Government : 'Your weekly
telegram of state of season for week ending Jan 20, implies a very sudden
change in prospects. Please report facts fully by letter, stating probable
amount of remissions, localities affected, and any other important points.'
The Government of Madras in 1877 consisted
of his Grace the Duke of Buckingham and Chandos, Sir Neville Chamberlain,
Commander-in-Chief, the Hon. W. R. Robinson, K.C.S.L, and the Hon. R. S. Ellis,
C.B. The Governor was, comparatively speaking, new to the country, and
unfamiliar with the people and with Indian topics ; the Commander-in-Chief took
but littlepart in the civil affairs of the Presidency ; Sir William Robinson
knew the country most thoroughly : as Inspector- General of Police he had
visited every part of it, and was known to possess great personal sympathy with
Indians of all races.
The Madras authorities telegraphed to
Simla, a second time, on October 27, and asked for sanction for relief works
amounting to Rs.377,770/- adding that it
was impossible to avoid expense or to provide necessary relief from provincial
or local funds. The sanction was not accorded, but the production of certain
returns,which had been asked for, was urged. Collectors were summoned from
their districts to Madras and were consulted as to existing and prospective
needs, and great earnestness and much effort were exhibited by the Government.
In fourteen districts, covering an area of
80,000 miles, distress was felt. It manifested itself in many ways,—in the
mofussil (country districts) by people leaving their homes and wandering ; in
crowding to chathrams (relief houses), and to large towns; in large crowds
congregating around the dwellings of European officers and clamouring for
employment. The employment of the village coolies in collecting stones from the
wayside, fields, or quarries, breaking them and storing them for use, would be
highly beneficial and ultimately remunerative, and the work would be suited to
all classes,—men, women, and children, was what the British decided.
In the large towns melancholy specimens of
emaciated beings were seen, but the climax was reached in the city of Madras.
The inhabitants of the surrounding districts, particularly Chingleput and North
Arcot, were most sorely stricken, and, few or no relief works being provided
for them, they left their homes, and in large numbers flocked to Madras. With characteristic generosity
a number of Hindu gentlemen arranged to feed the starving poor, and the report
spread that food was to be had in Madras for the asking. In North
Arcot, whence the majority of the people came, they told one another, ' In Madras
there are mountains of rice and rivers of ghee ; anybody who likes can have a
share.' Ten Hindus were feeding, with
one meal per day, 11,400 people. ' An immense number of ' emaciated congregated
on the beach and obtained a precarious existence by picking up the grains which
fell from the ricecarts, the grain being not always accidentally dropped. The scenes in the streets of
Madras at this time (Nov 1876) and for seven or eight subsequent months were
unique, and in many respects sad and disheartening. Much excitement was caused
by a report of death from starvation in one of the most frequented streets of the
city; a villager and his family had 'wandered' into the town ; these were
without food for several days, two of the children died and were buried, and
then the man died of absolute want in sight of thousands of bags of grain.
How
terribly the people suffered, and how cruelly the administrators and rulers treated
the subjects including the children . One of the first steps
taken by the Madras Government was to send two members of the Board of
Revenue—experienced officials, who reached the Board table only after having
had long and intimate experience of the country, as administrators—on tour ;
Mr. Thornhill, C.S.I. , and the Hon. Arbuthnot, proceeded on a visit to the
districts. The last-named officer left Madras on Nov 5, and his report, which
refers to the district of Kurnool, gives a fair idea of the state of the
country as a whole.
In the meantime, unknown to the local
merchants, the Madras Government had entered the market as buyers of grain.
Some uneasiness had been felt as to the probability of such a course being
adopted, secret purchases having been the sheet-anchor of Lord Northbrook's famine
policy in Behar. As, however, the practice had been much condemned, great hope
was expressed that similar action would not be taken in Madras. It was also
known that the supreme authorities objected to interference with trade, and
were not disposed either themselves to undertake importation or to sanction
such a course in their subordinates.
The mortality in the famine was in the
range of 5.5 million people. The excessive mortality and the renewed questions
of "relief and protection" that were asked in its wake, led directly
to the constituting of the Famine Commission of 1880 and to the eventual
adoption of the Indian Famine Codes. After the famine, a large number of
agricultural labourers and handloom weavers in South India emigrated to British
tropical colonies to work as indentured labourers in plantations.
The Great Famine had a lasting political
impact on events in India. Among the British administrators in India who were
unsettled by the official reactions to the famine and, in particular by the
stifling of the official debate about the best form of famine relief, were
William Wedderburn and A. O. Hume. Less than a decade later, they would found
the Indian National Congress and, in turn, influence a generation of Indian
nationalists. Among the latter were Dadabhai Naoroji and Romesh Chunder Dutt
for whom the Great Famine would become a cornerstone of the economic critique
of the British Raj.
In his book Late Victorian
Holocausts, Mike Davis called the famine a "colonial genocide"
perpetrated by Great Britain. Sad .. the lives of people – the natural disaster
and the man-made suffering administered by the colonial rulers. Clearly it was
not only nature that failed but also the rulers, their lack will to plan, abject negligence, not having enough rolling stock and not
preparing to bring them from UK and failture to transport available foodgrain,
distribution, storage all went agains the common man, whose destiny went
unheralded and unrecorded. Hail the
British rulers.
With profound sorrow to those
departed
S. Sampathkumar
13.4.2020
Biblio:
The Famine Campaign in Southern India vol I by William Digby
No comments:
Post a Comment