The famines became an inevitable part of India since from the beginning of the civilization. But the famines became a frequent event in India during the supremacy of the s British in India. During the rule of the British s East India Company India suffered in from twelve famines and four severe scarcities. The significant of those was the greats famine of Bengal of 1769-70, which claimed a large toll of lives. The state government did not adopt any relief measures. Rather the company`s servants made enormous profits from this scarcity. They bought rice and retailed it in high prices. The years 1781 and 82 were the period of extreme crises in Madras; in 1784 severe famines afflicted the whole of Northern India. However during the Madras famine, the state provided reliefs to the famine stricken. The Famine commissions of 1880 envisaged that till the end of the18th century the position of the British Government in India was not such as either to create any senses of general obligation to give relief or to supply sufficient means of affording it.

During the years 1803 famine in Northwestern Provinces including Oudh the state granted remissions of the revenue, gave loans and advances to s the s landowners, offered a bounty on all grain imported to Benaras, Allahabad, Kanpur and Fatehgarh. The Guntur Famine of 1833 s took a heavy s toll of lives. In the year 1837, there was a severe famine took places in the Upper India. As a result publics works were opened at several centers. However the work of relieving the helpless and the infirm was left to the charitable public. Under the east India Company no measures were adopted to formulate any general system of famine relief or prevention. However the provincial governments and the Districts officers tried to improve the conditions. They made various s experiments to afford reliefs to the famine stricken areas such as the storage of grain by the government penalties on hoarding, bounties on imports, advancing loans for the sinking off wells etc.

The transfer of power from the Company to the Crown and the economic developments of the latter half of the 19th century like the extension of railways and other means of communications and transport, growth of foreign trade etc changed the character of the economic problem in India. The states were made aware about their responsibility for the expansion of the irrigation facilities, s enactment of the agrarian legislation and adoptions of preventive measures as well as formulation of famine relief policy to meet possible famines.

Under the British Crown, ten severe famines took palace in India. These famines occurred in the areas of Delhi and Agra in the year1860-61. It was the forest occasion on which poor houses were used as a means of affording relief. Moreover during this time the British authorities thought it necessary to enquire into the causes, area and intensity of the famine as well as took measures to cope with the distress. Colonel Baird Smith was deputes for this purpose but his report did not lend any formulation on the general principles of relief.

The famine of 1865 followed by a famine the following years affected Orissa, Madras, northern Bengal and Bihar. In these years Orissa became the most affected one. Hence the famine came to be known as the "Orissa Famine". The Government officers though warned, took no step to meet the approach of the calamity of famine. Even during the severe famine the Government adhered to the principles of free trade and the law of demands and supply. In this circumstances the Government only provided employments to the sable bodied persons and lefts the works of charitable reliefs to the voluntary agency. Since the voluntary agencies could not work like the government they could not provide adequate relief and as a result the Orissa famine claimed a heavy toll of lives. The Orissa famine proved a turning point in the history of the Indian famines. Followings the severe calamity of the Orissa Famine a Committee was appointed under the chairmanship of George Campbell. The Committee was entrusted with the charge to submit reports on the causes of the famine and its results. The committee after a prolonged research over the matters had forwarded several recommendations. The old idea that the Public was responsible for the relief of the helpless was abandoned. The government was expected to borrow money from the Houses Authorities in England to afford the finance for the building of railways and canals. Further it was declared that the districts officers were made responsible for saving all preventable deaths.

In 1868, when the severe calamity took places in Northern and Central India the worst affected areas were Rajputana and central India. The government following the recommendations of the Committee, adopted measures to relieve the distress. However the relief givens by the Government was inadequate.

The great famine of 1876-78 was perhaps the most grievous calamity experienced since the beginning of the 19th century when the power was transferred to the Crown. The calamity affected Madras, Bombay, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab. Due to this famine extensive areas were depopulated and large tracts went outs of cultivation. During this time also the government made the halfhearted efforts to help the famine stricken. The government famine machinery was absolutely inadequate and ineffective. The weakness of the government`s policy was completely revealed from these inadequacies. Moreover the government refused to recognize their responsibility for saving human lives.

Between the years 1880 and 1896, there were two famines and five severe s scarcities took place. Buts these calamities, all had more or less a local character. The greats famine affected the provinces greatly. The reliefs operations were conducted with a fair measure of successes except in the central Province, where the famines made its worst effects. The Government took extensive reliefs. Following the great famine, a Committee was formed, presided by Sir James Lyall, ex lieutenant Generals of the Punjab. But they largely adhered to the recommendations already prepared by their predecessors. In the year 1880, only by suggesting certain alterations.

Following the famine of 1896 and 97, another calamity came in the year 1899-1900. But during this time the British authorities in some area failed and finally refused to open famine relief works in the early stages of the famine. Later the authorities opened a large number of relief works but could not maintain it properly.

The Great famine of Bengal took place s in the year 1942 to 1943. The great famine of Bengal was perhaps the most dangerous calamity under the British. The famine of Bengal took the character of an epidemic. The root causes of the famine was the series of crop failures that Bengal experienced from the year 1938 .The conditions of the Second World war was also responsible for the terrible famine in Bengal. The normal imports from Burma were stopped. Consequently the movement of trade and food grains was dislocated. However the historians have considered that the famine of Bengal was mostly man made than by the natural causes. The opportunists to create famine and to make enormous profits out of this had exploited the situation of Second World War. Here also the government reliefs proved inadequate and the Government of India wanted the Provincial Government to undertake and organize the famine relief.

Thus the British Government of India Gradually exploited the economy of India. The evil effects of the Second World War also created a vacuum. Thus regular famines were an inevitable feature of India during the 19th and the 20th centuries.