ABOUT THE BOOK

This book deals with a more or less discarded piece of the history of famines in British Malabar – a region that presently constitutes the northern and central Kerala in India - during the 18th, 19th and first half of the 20th centuries . Wh at distinguishes this study from a host of scholarly works on famines in different parts of the world is (a) the analysis of issues on a macrohistoric frame-work with elaborate notes and references, (b) integrating in this frame-work the causes, consequences and features of famines in Malabar with the help of hitherto unused primary data in the regional and national archives, and (c) a book-length treatment, for the first time, of the casual mechanism precipitating hunger and destitution into full-blown famine, and its prevention and mitigation as the primary responsibility of the State, be it democratic, authoritarian or imperialistic. Despite being an original work, this book is expected to be highly useful for post-graduate teachers of British economic history as a reference text; for general readers to have a comprehensive view of the subject under study; and for new generation students to identify easily verifiable topics for further research, not necessarily of famine alone.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dr. M. Raghavan did his PhD from the Centre for Economic Studies and Planning , Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. Several of his research papers, mainly on food security related aspects, have been published in Economic and Political Weekly, Social Scientist, and the Hindu Business Line. Dr. Raghavan was in the Indian Economic Service. He quit the service, while serving as Director, Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP), and worked as Professor in the Institute o f Technology, Kannur University and, then, in KMCT School of Business, Calicut University.

CONTENTS

Acknowledgement . 11 Preface . 13 Chapter 1 Introduction . 19 Chapter 2 Famines in Malabar: A Historical Sketch . 53 Chapter 3 Food Availability Crisis and Famines . 126 Chapter 4 Famines and British Land Revenue Policy . 152 Chapter 5 Epidemics and Famine Mortalities . 181 Chapter 6 Entitlement Approach to Famines: Some Comments . 221 Chapter 7 The 1943 Famines: Comparing Bengal and Malabar . 252 Chapter 8 A Postscript. 274 References . 287 Index . 299