1412-13. In the Ganges, Jumna, Doab, great drought, followed by famine.
1471. Famine in Orissa. There is vague mcntion of great famines in the 13th, 14th, and 15th centuries, notably one in 1471.
1491. A great dearth in Hindustan about this date. 1521. A very general famine in Sind.
1540-43. A general famine in Sind during these years. 1581. Persia desolated by famine and plague.
1598. In Pegu, very severe.
1630. The records of the East India Company mention a severe famine in Surat in A.D. 1630.
1631. Farnine in India general by drought and war, and throughout Asia.
There seems to be no doubt that one of the great historical fatnines affected India about the year 1631, in the reign of Shah Jahan. During the wars in the Dekban which that ruler carried on against the Murtazza Nizam Shah of Ahmad naggur, Muhammad Adal Shah of Bijapur, and Kntub Shah of Golconda, a destructive famine desolated the Dekhan. It began from a failure of the periodical rains of 1629, and was raised to a frightful pitch by a recurrence of the same misfortune in 1630. Thousands of people emi grated, and many perished before they reached more favoured provinces ; vast numbers died at home ; whole districts were depopulated, and some bad not recovered at the end of forty years. The famine was accompanied by a total want of forage and by the death of all the cattle ; and the miseries of the people were completed by a pestilence, such as is usually the consequence of the other calamities.
1661 A.D. Dow mentions severe famine in the Mogliul empire in A.D. 1661, caused by drought. 1703. In the Thar and Parkar districts of Sind. 1733. In the N.W. Provinces.
1739. Dehli and neighbourhood.
1745. In the Nara, Thar, and Parker districts.
1770. Bengal suffered in the year 1770 from famine, more widespread and terrible than any which had ever befallen any other British possession, and which Colonel Baird Smith deemed to have been the most intense that India ever had experienced, aml one-third of all Bengal lay waste and silent for twenty years.
The crops of December 1768 and August 1769 were both scanty, and prim; became very high ; and throughout the month of October 1769 hardly a drop of rain fell. The usual refreshing showers of January to May also failed in 1770, in which year until late in May scarcely any rain fell. The famine was felt in all the northern parts of Bengal as early as November 1769, but by the 4th January 1770 the daily deaths from starvation in Patna were up to 50 ; and before the end of May, 150. The tanks were dried up, and the springs had ceased to reach the surface, and before the end of April 1770 famine had spread desolation. In Murshidabad, at length, the dead were left uninterred ; dogs, jackals, and vultures were the sole scavengers. Three millions of people were supposed to have perished. It is also said that within the first nine months of 1770, one-third of the entire population of Lower lieugal perished for want of food. According to Grant, one-fifth of the entire population perished; according to Mill, tive-eighths ; while Ward and Marshrnan state one-third. The year 1770 corre sponds to the 13engali year 1276, and it is known to this day amongst the people as the Che'hattar Saler Durbliikya Manwantara. It Wa8 during the governorship of Mr. Cartier ; his Government did nothing to -help the people, and the Company's servants trafficked in grain. The executive civil administration was conducted by native officials, who temporarily remitted 18000 of rent. Another famine occurred in Bengal in A.D. 1783, and again in 1788.
1781-83 A.D. Famine and scarcity in Karnatie and Madras districts, caused by the incursions of Hyder Doarths and famines again recurred in S. India in 1802-4, 1807,1812, 1824, 1833, 1534, 1866, and 1877.
1782-84. In the Thar and Parker districts, caused by a burning of crops and suspension of cultivation during the hostilities between the Kulhora and Talpur dynasties.
1783. About A.D. 1783, the Gukkar nation of the Harare district suffered from a severe famine.