Hazards, Vulnerability, and Resilience in Colonial India: The Bihar Famine of 1873–74

The history of colonial India is deeply intertwined with the history of famines. During British rule, an estimated 60 to 85 million people perished in over 30 famines, with their frequency and intensity peaking in the latter half of the nineteenth century—an era often referred to as the "high noon" of British imperialism. By this time, India had become the most famine-prone region in the world. Scholars have long debated the causes of these famines, attributing them variously to extreme weather events, market failures, or colonial governance. Traditional famine studies have often polarized these causes into "natural" versus "man-made" factors. However, recent advances in historical disaster studies emphasize famines as complex phenomena arising from the interaction between natural hazards and societal vulnerabilities.

This paper examines the 1873–74 famine in Bihar, a unique case in the history of colonial famines due to its relatively low mortality despite a significant natural hazard. Contemporary accounts describe the drought and subsequent grain yield losses as severe, yet the societal impact was mitigated by a combination of social, economic, and political factors.

The study begins by reconstructing the natural hazard—the drought—using a combination of paleoclimatic and instrumental data, alongside qualitative meteorological evidence from archival records. It then evaluates the vulnerability and resilience of the affected society over time, focusing on key indicators such as shifts in real wages, cash-crop production, and access to common property resources. Special attention is given to the most vulnerable groups, including landless laborers, lower castes, and women, whose experiences reveal the "root causes" and dynamic pressures shaping vulnerability in both the medium and long term.

Finally, the paper explores the role of famine relief policies and private initiatives in mitigating the disaster's impact. By analyzing these factors, the study sheds light on why the Bihar famine of 1873–74 resulted in lower mortality compared to preceding and subsequent famines, offering valuable insights into the interplay of hazards, vulnerability, and resilience in colonial India.