Rice and 1866 Famine of Orissa: A case Study on Balasore District

Abstract

Nineteenth century Orissa history is marked as a period of natural calamity and severe drought. The shortage of rainfall and the decline of food production created a horrific situation for the people of Orissa. From the ancient period,the people of Orissa were famous for their reach of rice cultivation,and till now,it is the primary food crop for most of the people of Orissa. During the 19th century,apart from being an important food crop, it was used as an essential item for trade and commercial activities. During the colonial period, society was feudal, and most of the benefits from trade were taken by the colonial Government, Zamindars, and merchants. Peasants came at the last of the list. This was one of the most prominent reasons behind the famine of 1866. Due to the high price of rice throughout the famine, lower-class people could not afford the high pricerice, and they didn’t have sufficient storage of food for any kind of emergency,;as a consequence, lower-class people became the primary victims of the famine. Here rice will be used as an essential source to study the famine in Balasore district of Orissa which was one of the city which was greatly affected by the famine of 1866 along with Cuttack and Puri. Here in this article, we are subjected to study on the famine of 1866 in Balasore district, its rice production, its society and how it reacted to the famine, and how it overcomes the famine of 1866 in Orissa.