Indian famine of 1896–97
The Indian famine of 1896–1897 was a famine that began in Bundelkhand, India, early in 1896 and spread to many parts of the country, including the United Provinces, the Central Provinces and Berar, Bihar, parts of the Bombay and Madras presidencies, and the Hissar district of the Punjab; in addition, the princely states of Rajputana, Central India Agency, and Hyderabad were affected by the famine. All in all, during the two years, the famine affected an area of 307,000 square miles (800,000 km2) and a population of 69.5 million. Although large-scale relief was offered throughout the famine-stricken regions in accordance with the Provisional Famine Code of 1883, the mortality, both from starvation and accompanying epidemics, was very high: approximately 1 million people are thought to have died as a result of the famine.
The Bundelkhand district of Agra Province experienced drought in the autumn of 1895 as a result of poor summer monsoon rains. When the winter monsoon failed as well, the provincial government declared a famine early in 1896 and began to organise relief. However, the summer monsoon of 1896 brought only scanty rains, and soon the famine had spread to the United Provinces, Central Provinces and Berar, portions of the presidencies of Bombay and Madras, and of the provinces of Bengal, Punjab, and even Upper Burma. The native states affected were Rajputana, Central India Agency, and Hyderabad. The famine affected mostly British India: of the total area of 307,000 square miles (800,000 km2) affected, 225,000 square miles (580,000 km2) lay in British territory; similarly, of the total famine-afflicted population of 67.5 million, 62.5 million lived in British territory.
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