World History
The Famine of 1770 in Bengal. This is a chapter from the book, The Unseen World, and Other Essays. It was written by John Fiske and published in 1869.
In this chapter, Fiske provides his explanations for the catastrophic famine resulting from British rule in the previous century. The Bengal famine of 1770 was a disaster that between 1769 and 1773 affected the lower Gangetic plain of India. The famine caused the deaths of an estimated 10 million people, approximately one-third of the population at the time.
From the site:
Throughout the entire course of recorded European history, from the remote times of which the Homeric poems preserve the dim tradition down to the present moment, there has occurred no calamity at once so sudden and of such appalling magnitude as the famine which in the spring and summer of 1770 nearly exterminated the ancient civilization of Bengal. It presents that aspect of preternatural vastness which characterizes the continent of Asia and all that concerns it. The Black Death of the fourteenth century was, perhaps, the most fearful visitation which has ever afflicted the Western world. But in the concentrated misery which it occasioned the Bengal famine surpassed it, even as the Himalayas dwarf by comparison the highest peaks of Switzerland. It is, moreover, the key to the history of Bengal during the next forty years; and as such, merits, from an economical point of view, closer attention than it has hitherto received.
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World History
The Famine of 1770 in Bengal
The Famine of 1770 in Bengal. This is a chapter from the book, The Unseen World, and Other Essays. It was written by John Fiske and published in 1869.In this chapter, Fiske provides his explanations for the catastrophic famine resulting from British rule in the previous century. The Bengal famine of 1770 was a disaster that between 1769 and 1773 affected the lower Gangetic plain of India. The famine caused the deaths of an estimated 10 million people, approximately one-third of the population at the time.
From the site:
Throughout the entire course of recorded European history, from the remote times of which the Homeric poems preserve the dim tradition down to the present moment, there has occurred no calamity at once so sudden and of such appalling magnitude as the famine which in the spring and summer of 1770 nearly exterminated the ancient civilization of Bengal. It presents that aspect of preternatural vastness which characterizes the continent of Asia and all that concerns it. The Black Death of the fourteenth century was, perhaps, the most fearful visitation which has ever afflicted the Western world. But in the concentrated misery which it occasioned the Bengal famine surpassed it, even as the Himalayas dwarf by comparison the highest peaks of Switzerland. It is, moreover, the key to the history of Bengal during the next forty years; and as such, merits, from an economical point of view, closer attention than it has hitherto received.
- Robert Clive - British Empire Builder
Robert Clive - British Empire BuilderRobert Clive went to India as a clerk of the British East India Company. Through daring and ability he was instrumental in defeating the French and their Indian allies. He consolidated British power in Bengal in the...
- Battle Of Plassey
Robert Clive of the British East India Company was the winner of the Battle of Plassey, 70 miles north of Calcutta in 1757. At the head of 1,000 English and 2,000 Indian (sepoy) soldiers and with eight pieces of artillery, he routed the 50,000 soldiers...
- History Of Bangladesh
History of Bangladesh. This essay presents the history of Bangladesh in a short and readable format. From the site: Bengal was absorbed into the Mughul Empire in the 16th century, and Dhaka, the seat of a nawab (the representative of the emperor),...
- Teaching About India
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