The Odisha Famine of 1866 (ନଅଙ୍କ ଦୁର୍ଭିକ୍ଷ) - Causes and Consequences

The famine primarily affected Odisha, then a somewhat isolated province under the Bengal Presidency of British India. It also impacted parts of Bihar, Bengal, and the Madras Presidency. The death toll in Odisha alone is estimated to be around one million people, roughly a third of the population at the time.

Causes:

British policy of forcibly extracting agricultural revenue:

• High Revenue Demands: Following the British conquest of Odisha in 1803, land revenue settlements were introduced. These were often short-term initially and aimed at maximizing revenue extraction for the colonial government. The revenue demand was frequently set very high, often without adequate consideration for the actual productivity of the land or variations in yield.

• Inflexible Collection: The British insisted on fixed revenue payments in cash, regardless of whether the harvest was good or bad. There was little provision for remission or suspension of revenue even during natural calamities like drought. Peasants were coerced into paying the revenue demands.

• Erosion of Peasant Reserves: To meet these high and rigid cash demands, peasants were forced to sell a large portion of their harvest immediately, often at low post-harvest prices dictated by merchants and moneylenders. This left them with little or no surplus grain reserves to fall back on during lean seasons or crop failures.

• Indebtedness and Land Alienation: Many peasants fell into debt with local moneylenders (Mahajans) to pay the land revenue, especially in bad years. This often led to the eventual loss of their land to these moneylenders or Zamindars (landlords responsible for revenue collection in some areas), increasing the number of landless labourers who were even more vulnerable.

• Disincentive for Investment: The focus on revenue extraction discouraged investment in agricultural improvements or traditional water harvesting systems that might have offered some resilience.

The heavy dependence of agriculture in India (specifically Odisha) on forces of nature:

• Monsoon Failure: This was the immediate trigger. The monsoon rains failed significantly in 1865. Odisha's agriculture, particularly its staple crop, rice, was overwhelmingly dependent on these seasonal rains for cultivation.

• Crop Destruction: The failure of the 1865 monsoon led to a disastrous failure of the main winter rice crop, which formed the bulk of the region's food supply. Subsequent hopes for the smaller spring rice crop in early 1866 were also dashed due to lack of sufficient water or subsequent untimely rains/floods in some areas.

• Limited Irrigation: At that time, large-scale, modern irrigation infrastructure was virtually non-existent in Odisha. Agriculture relied almost entirely on rainfall and traditional, localized water management systems, which were inadequate to cope with such a severe and widespread drought.

• Vulnerability: This near-total dependence on the monsoon meant that a single season's failure could precipitate a major food crisis, as there were few alternative agricultural outputs or safety nets.

Interaction of Factors and Other Causes:

• The monsoon failure (b) created the initial scarcity, but the British revenue policies (a) had systematically stripped the peasantry of its resilience and ability to cope. The famine was thus a result of natural calamity drastically amplified by man-made policy failures.

• Administrative Apathy and Misjudgment: Local British officials, including the Lieutenant-Governor Sir Cecil Beadon, initially downplayed the severity of the situation, believed reports of suffering were exaggerated, and were slow to recognize the need for large-scale relief. They adhered rigidly to laissez-faire principles, believing market forces would correct the situation, which failed disastrously.

• Poor Transport and Communication: Odisha was relatively isolated, with poor road networks and undeveloped ports (Paradip port development came much later). This made it extremely difficult to import food grains into the famine-stricken areas quickly, even once the administration belatedly decided to act.

• Export and Hoarding: Despite the impending crisis, records show that grain exports from Odisha continued in late 1865. Additionally, merchants who had stocks likely hoarded them, speculating on further price rises, which exacerbated the scarcity and pushed prices beyond the reach of the starving populace.

Consequences:

1. Devastating Mortality: As mentioned, approximately one million people perished in Odisha due to starvation and subsequent diseases like cholera, dysentery, and malaria that preyed on the weakened population. Entire villages were depopulated.

2. Social Collapse: The famine led to widespread social breakdown. Families disintegrated, people resorted to eating leaves and roots, there were reports of cannibalism, parents sold their children, and migration out of desperation became common. Crime and dacoity increased.

3. Economic Ruin: Odisha's economy was shattered. The loss of a third of the population, including the agricultural workforce, massive loss of cattle, and abandonment of land set back development for decades. Traditional industries also suffered.

4. Policy Reassessment: The sheer scale of the disaster and the clear administrative failures forced the British government to reassess its famine policy.

   • The Famine Commission of 1867, led by Sir George Campbell, was appointed to investigate the causes of the Odisha famine.

   • It highlighted administrative failures, the problems with revenue policy, and the lack of infrastructure.

   • This, along with subsequent famines elsewhere in India, eventually led to the development of the Famine Codes (formalized from the 1880s onwards), which laid down procedures for famine monitoring, declaration, and relief operations (like relief works, gratuitous relief, food distribution).

5. Infrastructure Development: The famine underscored the need for better communication and transport links. It provided impetus (though often slow in realization) for investments in railways and improving port facilities, partly to facilitate troop movement and trade, but also for famine relief. The importance of irrigation (like the Orissa Coast Canal project) was also recognized, although implementation remained patchy.

6. Impact on Nationalism: The perceived indifference and exploitative policies of the British during the famine fueled deep resentment and contributed to the growth of nationalist consciousness in Odisha and India in the long term. It became a powerful example cited by nationalists of the detrimental impact of colonial rule.

7. Cultural Scar: The "Na'Anka Durbhikshya" remains deeply embedded in the collective memory and folklore of Odisha as a period of unimaginable suffering directly linked to colonial misrule and natural disaster.

In conclusion, the Odisha Famine of 1866 was a tragic confluence of natural disaster (monsoon failure) and devastatingly flawed colonial policy (punitive revenue extraction, administrative neglect). While nature provided the trigger, the scale of the catastrophe was largely man-made, leading to immense loss of life and eventually forcing significant, though often inadequate, changes in British famine administration and policy in India.