Food

British Famines

  • British rule created famine of 1877-79 which wiped out HALF the Dalit population of Madras state.
  • Factors there include artificial famines (Eg: 1943 Bengal famine), food exports at time of famine (Ja).
  • Lytton’s famine exacerbation. (TE)
  • Churchill diverted essential grain away from Bengal to *reserves* in Europe.
  • The time of severe famines in colonial Asia coincided with lack of famines in the colonist homelands.

Salt

  • East India Company controlled all salt production in Bengal. They increased taxes on salt by 1000%.
  • And to prevent salt smuggling, which was the only way to get affordable salt in interior India, they built a huge 12 feet tall hedge which ran 1500 km across face of India. This hedge, in 1869, extended from the Indus to the Mahanadi in Madras, a distance of 2,300 miles; guarded by nearly 12,000 men and petty officers.
  • Caused salt starvation - especially in times of famine. [W, Amazon, RH]