The famine appears to have lasted from November 1790 to November 1792.1[1] Its effect on the people was terrible. It was computed that one-fourth of them either emigrated or fell victims to starvation.2[2]
In 1833 a succession of unfavourable seasons culminated in the great 'Guntúr famine.' Though this did not affect Gódávari so severely as the neighbouring district of Guntúr after which it was named (where 'it covered the country with human bones from Ongole to Masulipatam'3[3]) yet so deeply did the remembrance of it enter into the hearts of the people that it afterwards became an era from which they reckoned dates. The author of the original Manual of this district, who knew the country well, says4[4] 'I have frequently asked a man his age, and he has been unable to state it; but he was quite ready to answer the question how old were you at the time of the Great Famine?'
The hardships appear to have begun with a hurricane in May 1832, which 'destroyed much produce stored, a large number of cattle, and many cocoa, palmyra and betel nut trees.'5[5] This was followed by a failure of rain in western India and a consequent lack of freshes in the Gódávari, so that the paddy crop usually grown along the banks of that river was lost. A temporary rise of the river in the early part of the season had induced the ryots to commence this cultivation; and their disappointment was thus the more bitter. Gódávari, however, did not suffer either so soon or so severely as the districts to the south of the river. As late as April 1833 the Collector was able to report that though a great influx of distressed people had taken place from Masulipatam and Guntúr, and great distress prevailed on account of the high price of grain; yet 'the miserable creatures that everywhere meet the eye are principally other than the local inhabitants.'
But from that time forward matters gradually became worse. The contributions cheerfully given by the wealthier Europeans and natives were quite inadequate to the needs of the case. From March 1833 to the end of July private subscriptions enabled about 3,000 people to be fed every day, and it was hoped that a good monsoon might render Government relief unnecessary. But these hopes were disappointed, and assistance had at length to be demanded from the State.
