International Journal of History

From the very dawn of human civilization, people have repeatedly faced the fury of natural disasters. Among these, famine stands out as one of the most devastating. While famines often arose from natural causes like floods, excessive rainfall, crop failures, droughts, etc. In the Indian subcontinent, colonial policies played a crucial and aggravating role. Alongside natural factors, British rule with its oppressive taxation, exploitative governance, indifference toward disaster management, and policies that forced farmers into cultivating commercial crops and prioritized railway construction collectively created fertile ground for recurring and catastrophic famines. These crises deeply scarred Bengal, particularly the important district of Nadia. The devastation was not limited to the tragic loss of thousands of lives or destruction of property. It profoundly disrupted the district’s entire social fabric, economy, culture, and demographics. The purpose of this article is to present a historical analysis of the various famines that struck Nadia district between 1875 and 1943 and to shed light on their socioeconomic, cultural, and political impacts, as well as the responses they provoked.