{"id":1054,"date":"2022-06-29T17:38:30","date_gmt":"2022-06-29T17:38:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/?page_id=1054"},"modified":"2025-02-28T02:45:25","modified_gmt":"2025-02-28T02:45:25","slug":"famines-in-western-india-1760-1860","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/famines-in-western-india-1760-1860\/","title":{"rendered":"Famines in Western India (1760 &#8211; 1860)"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3><strong><span style=\"font-size: 14pt\">What happened?<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Between 1760 and 1860, western India (map below) experienced several periods of widespread famine. <\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div id=\"attachment_1055\" style=\"width: 360px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1055\" class=\"wp-image-1055\" src=\"https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/97\/2022\/06\/Screen-Shot-2022-06-28-at-11.44.55-AM-e1656431155344-254x300.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"350\" height=\"413\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/97\/2022\/06\/Screen-Shot-2022-06-28-at-11.44.55-AM-e1656431155344-254x300.png 254w, https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/97\/2022\/06\/Screen-Shot-2022-06-28-at-11.44.55-AM-e1656431155344.png 531w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 350px) 100vw, 350px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-1055\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The region of western India is shaded in red (from Wikipedia, 2021).<\/p><\/div>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none\">\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The famine of 1790 to 1792, caused by a crop failure that led to increased grain prices, was particularly devastating.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The famine of 1812 hit the state of Gujarat (map below) especially hard since this region was also experiencing high rates of immigration from the neighboring state of Rajasthan, which had experienced crop failures the year before.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The famine of 1842 was also particularly severe.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div id=\"attachment_1056\" style=\"width: 360px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1056\" class=\"wp-image-1056\" src=\"https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/97\/2022\/06\/Screen-Shot-2022-06-28-at-11.47.12-AM-e1656431274228-259x300.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"350\" height=\"405\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/97\/2022\/06\/Screen-Shot-2022-06-28-at-11.47.12-AM-e1656431274228-259x300.png 259w, https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/97\/2022\/06\/Screen-Shot-2022-06-28-at-11.47.12-AM-e1656431274228.png 625w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 350px) 100vw, 350px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-1056\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Map of the states and territories of India (from Wikipedia, 2021).<\/p><\/div>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The immediate response of a region\u2019s government to the onset of a famine often determines its severity. The British East India Company, an imperial organization that started as a group of traders from Great Britain but began to forcibly seize territory and ended up ruling India in the 19th century, refused to intervene with the food market during the 1760-1860 famines. They believed that intervention by the government in the economy should be avoided, which exacerbated the famines.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><span style=\"font-size: 14pt\"><strong>How is this related to climate?<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The famines from 1760 to 1860 are correlated with several periods of widespread drought, throughout western India, the most drought-prone region of the country. There were 10 droughts in western India from 1792 to 1857 alone.<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">A drought is a period of time when an area or region experiences below-normal precipitation. Droughts are associated with low soil moisture due to decreased precipitation and high evaporation rates caused by increased temperatures.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Famines are often caused by, or are at least strongly correlated with, droughts because low soil moisture negatively impacts crop yields. Low soil moisture is caused by both lack of precipitation and increased evaporation rates due to high temperatures.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Water availability in western India is heavily dependent on monsoon cycles. A monsoon cycle is a wet season and a dry season that are the result of changes in the direction of the prevailing winds of a region due to temperature and pressure differences between the land and ocean (diagram below).<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The south Asian monsoons in particular are caused by pressure and temperature differences between air masses over the Indian Ocean and the Asian continent.\u00a0<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">In the summer, high pressure is over the Indian Ocean and low pressure is over the Asian continent. Air moves from high to low pressure, so a moist air mass from over the Indian Ocean moves over the Asian continent, bringing torrential rains. These rains are characteristic of the wet season in south Asia, which usually lasts from June to September.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">In the winter, the conditions are reversed. High pressure is over the Asian continent and low pressure is over the Indian Ocean. A dry air mass from over the Asian continent moves over the Indian Ocean, resulting in the dry season. <\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div id=\"attachment_1057\" style=\"width: 1172px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1057\" class=\"wp-image-1057 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/97\/2022\/06\/Screen-Shot-2022-06-28-at-11.49.48-AM.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1162\" height=\"864\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/97\/2022\/06\/Screen-Shot-2022-06-28-at-11.49.48-AM.png 1162w, https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/97\/2022\/06\/Screen-Shot-2022-06-28-at-11.49.48-AM-300x223.png 300w, https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/97\/2022\/06\/Screen-Shot-2022-06-28-at-11.49.48-AM-1024x761.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/97\/2022\/06\/Screen-Shot-2022-06-28-at-11.49.48-AM-768x571.png 768w, https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/97\/2022\/06\/Screen-Shot-2022-06-28-at-11.49.48-AM-624x464.png 624w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1162px) 100vw, 1162px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-1057\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Monsoons are seasonal reversals of wind direction caused by temperature differences that occur primarily in Asia (from Wooster Geologists).<\/p><\/div>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none\">\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Any changes to monsoon cycles, such as deficits (when the monsoon cycle starts later than usual or brings a lower than normal amount of rain), failures (when the monsoon does not form at all) or other extreme variability, may lead to drought. The main causes for monsoon variability in western India are:<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Fluctuations in air circulation patterns\u00a0<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Air masses in south Asia moving from areas of high to low pressure are an important driver of the monsoon cycle (diagram above). Fluctuations in air circulation can affect these masses, which in turn impacts the monsoon and how much rain it brings to western India.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">El Ni\u00f1o Southern Oscillation (ENSO) (diagram below)<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">El Ni\u00f1o, and its opposite phase, La Ni\u00f1a, are part of the El Ni\u00f1o-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) cycle, which is a complex, large-scale weather pattern driven by natural temperature variations in the Equatorial Pacific Ocean. El Ni\u00f1o phases are associated with warmer ocean temperatures and La Ni\u00f1a by colder ocean temperatures.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The effects of ENSO on the South Asian monsoon are not completely understood, but drought is more likely during the El <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Ni\u00f1o phase and heavy precipitation is more likely during the La Ni\u00f1a phase.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div id=\"attachment_1071\" style=\"width: 814px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1071\" class=\"wp-image-1071 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/97\/2022\/06\/Screen-Shot-2022-06-29-at-11.10.02-AM.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"804\" height=\"1004\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/97\/2022\/06\/Screen-Shot-2022-06-29-at-11.10.02-AM.png 804w, https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/97\/2022\/06\/Screen-Shot-2022-06-29-at-11.10.02-AM-240x300.png 240w, https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/97\/2022\/06\/Screen-Shot-2022-06-29-at-11.10.02-AM-768x959.png 768w, https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/97\/2022\/06\/Screen-Shot-2022-06-29-at-11.10.02-AM-624x779.png 624w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 804px) 100vw, 804px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-1071\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">El Ni\u00f1o and La Ni\u00f1a are complex, large-scale weather patterns driven by natural temperature variations in the Equatorial Pacific (from Reef Resilience Network).<\/p><\/div>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Droughts continue to impact India\u2019s population today: f<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">rom 1990 to 2006, more than one billion people have been affected and more than 4 million have died. With ongoing global warming, monsoon patterns are expected to become more variable and the chance of severe drought in western India is expected to increase.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><strong><span style=\"font-size: 14pt\">References and additional resources<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Adamson, G. C. D. \u201cInstitutional and community adaptation from the archives: A study of drought in western India 1790\u20131860.\u201d <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Geoforum<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, vol. 55, 2014, pp. 110\u2013119. DOI: <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.geoforum.2014.05.010\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.geoforum.2014.05.010<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Adamson, G. C. D. \u201c\u2018The Most Horrible of Evils\u2019: Social Responses to Drought and Famine in the Bombay Presidency, 1782\u20131857.\u201d <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Natural Hazards and Peoples in the Indian Ocean World<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, 2016, pp. 79\u2013104. DOI: <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1057\/978-1-349-94857-4_4\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1057\/978-1-349-94857-4_4<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Crawford, A. \u201cClimate Monday: Visualizing the South Asian Monsoon.<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201d Wooster Geologists<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/woostergeologists.scotblogs.wooster.edu\/2018\/03\/05\/climate-monday-visualizing-the-south-asian-monsoon\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">https:\/\/woostergeologists.scotblogs.wooster.edu\/2018\/03\/05\/climate-monday-visualizing-the-south-asian-monsoon\/<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Damodaran, V., et al. \u201cThe 1780s: Global Climate Anomalies, Floods, Droughts, and Famines.\u201d <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Palgrave Handbook of Climate History. <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Palgrave Macmillan, 2018.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Doctor, V. \u201cRecollecting India\u2019s frantic efforts to end starvation after independence.\u201d <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Economic Times<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. 2020. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/economictimes.indiatimes.com\/news\/politics-and-nation\/recollecting-indias-frantic-efforts-to-end-starvation-after-independence\/articleshow\/73618277.cms?from=mdr\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">https:\/\/economictimes.indiatimes.com\/news\/politics-and-nation\/recollecting-indias-frantic-efforts-to-end-starvation-after-independence\/articleshow\/73618277.cms?from=mdr<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cThe El Ni\u00f1o\/Southern Oscillation.\u201d <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Penn State University College of Earth and Mineral Sciences.<\/span><\/i> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.e-education.psu.edu\/meteo469\/node\/211\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">https:\/\/www.e-education.psu.edu\/meteo469\/node\/211<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li>Reef Resilience Network. &#8220;El Nino Southern Oscillation.&#8221;\u00a0\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/reefresilience.org\/stressors\/climate-and-ocean-change\/el-nino-southern-oscillation\/.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/reefresilience.org\/stressors\/climate-and-ocean-change\/el-nino-southern-oscillation\/.\u00a0<\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Gadgil, S., et al. \u201cDroughts of the Indian summer monsoon: Role of clouds over the Indian Ocean.\u201d <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Current Science<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, vol. 85, no. 12, 2003, pp. 1713\u20131719. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.jstor.org\/stable\/24109976\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">https:\/\/www.jstor.org\/stable\/24109976<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Gupta, A., et al. \u201cDrought disaster challenges and mitigation in India: strategic appraisal.\u201d <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Current Science<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, vol. 100, no. 12, 2011, pp. 1795\u20131806. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.semanticscholar.org\/paper\/Drought-disaster-challenges-and-mitigation-in-Gupta-Tyagi\/26a80661809f756fd84cfacecebcf4cea5e0f3b7\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">https:\/\/www.semanticscholar.org\/paper\/Drought-disaster-challenges-and-mitigation-in-Gupta-Tyagi\/26a80661809f756fd84cfacecebcf4cea5e0f3b7<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Kumar, K. K., et al. \u201cOn the Weakening Relationship Between the Indian Monsoon and ENSO.\u201d <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Science<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, vol. 284, no. 5423, 1999, pp. 2156\u20132159. DOI: <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1126\/science.284.5423.2156\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1126\/science.284.5423.2156<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">L\u2019Heureux, M. \u201cWhat is the El Ni\u00f1o &#8211; Southern Oscillation (ENSO) in a Nutshell?\u201d <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">NOAA Climate.gov.<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> 2014. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.climate.gov\/news-features\/blogs\/enso\/what-el-ni%C3%B1o%E2%80%93southern-oscillation-enso-nutshell\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">https:\/\/www.climate.gov\/news-features\/blogs\/enso\/what-el-ni%C3%B1o%E2%80%93southern-oscillation-enso-nutshell<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">McAlpin, M. B. \u201cDearth, Famine, and Risk: The Changing Impact of Crop Failures in Western India, 1870-1920.\u201d <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Journal of Economic History<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, vol. 39, no. 1, 1979, pp. 143\u2013157.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">McNamara, R. \u201cEast India Company.\u201d <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">ThoughtCo. <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">2020. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thoughtco.com\/east-india-company-1773314\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">https:\/\/www.thoughtco.com\/east-india-company-1773314<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Rosenberg, M. \u201cMonsoon.\u201d <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">ThoughtCo. <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">2017. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thoughtco.com\/what-is-a-monsoon-p2-1435342\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">https:\/\/www.thoughtco.com\/what-is-a-monsoon-p2-1435342<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Rutledge, K., et al. \u201cMonsoon.\u201d <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">National Geographic<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. 2011. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nationalgeographic.org\/encyclopedia\/monsoon\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">https:\/\/www.nationalgeographic.org\/encyclopedia\/monsoon\/<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Myhrvold-Hanssen, T. L. \u201cDemocracy, News Media, and Famine Prevention: Amartya Sen and The Bihar Famine of 1966-67.\u201d 2003. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.semanticscholar.org\/paper\/Democracy-%2C-News-Media-%2C-and-Famine-Prevention-%3A-Myhrvold-Hanssen\/d7631692434958ebf02bf4921b5888a25b04ece6\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">https:\/\/www.semanticscholar.org\/paper\/Democracy-%2C-News-Media-%2C-and-Famine-Prevention-%3A-Myhrvold-Hanssen\/d7631692434958ebf02bf4921b5888a25b04ece6<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">National Geographic Society. \u201cDrought.\u201d <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">National Geographic. <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">2020. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nationalgeographic.org\/encyclopedia\/drought\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">https:\/\/www.nationalgeographic.org\/encyclopedia\/drought\/<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Oblack, R. \u201cMonsoons and Their Effect on the Environment.\u201d <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">ThoughtCo. <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">2019. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thoughtco.com\/what-is-a-monsoon-3444088\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">https:\/\/www.thoughtco.com\/what-is-a-monsoon-3444088<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Prabhakar, S. V. R. K., and Shaw, R. \u201cClimate change adaptation implications for drought risk mitigation: a perspective for India.\u201d <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Climatic Change<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, vol. 88, no. 2, 2008, pp. 113\u2013130. DOI: <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/s10584-007-9330-8\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/s10584-007-9330-8<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Roy, T. \u201cWere Indian Famines \u2018Natural\u2019 Or \u2018Manmade\u2019?\u201d <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">London School of Economics and Political Science<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, no 243, 2016. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.lse.ac.uk\/Economic-History\/Assets\/Documents\/WorkingPapers\/Economic-History\/2016\/WP243.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">https:\/\/www.lse.ac.uk\/Economic-History\/Assets\/Documents\/WorkingPapers\/Economic-History\/2016\/WP243.pdf<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Relph, S. \u201cIndian villages lie empty as drought forces thousands to flee.\u201d <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Guardian. <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">2019. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2019\/jun\/12\/indian-villages-lie-empty-as-drought-forces-thousands-to-flee\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2019\/jun\/12\/indian-villages-lie-empty-as-drought-forces-thousands-to-flee<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Shi, F., et al. \u201cA tree-ring reconstruction of the South Asian summer monsoon index over the past millennium.\u201d <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Scientific Reports<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014. DOI: <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1038\/srep06739\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1038\/srep06739<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cStates and Union Territories of India.\u201d <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Wikipedia. <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">2021. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/States_and_union_territories_of_India\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/States_and_union_territories_of_India<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cWestern India.\u201d <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Wikipedia. <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">2021. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Western_India\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Western_India<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>How to cite this page<\/h3>\n<p><em>Famines in Western India (1760 &#8211; 1860)<\/em>. (2023, June 19). Climate in Global Cultures and Histories: Promoting Climate Literacy Across Disciplines. Retrieved Month Date, Year, from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/famines-in-western-india-1760-1860\/\">https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/famines-in-western-india-1760-1860\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What happened? Between 1760 and 1860, western India (map below) experienced several periods of widespread famine. The famine of 1790 to 1792, caused by a crop failure that led to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":148,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1054","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Famines in Western India (1760 - 1860) - Climate in Arts and History<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/famines-in-western-india-1760-1860\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Famines in Western India (1760 - 1860) - Climate in Arts and History\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"What happened? 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