C P Brown: Guntur famine

20. GUNTUR FAMINE

Wherever the British took controls Famines ensued – Bengal, Bihar, Orissa and then Andhra. They were so devastating and the human misery caused war indescribable. One such is the GUNTUR FAMINE.

The Famine was a direct result of the British rapacity. Bangorey dealt with it in 23 pages, and 5 letters but obfuscates all relevant issues, which could be really brought out. He packed lies and misinformation in order to extol CPB for the most ridiculous reasons, and to cover up the British depredations. I shall discuss these in some detail.

Bangorey says that CPB was concerned of the people. This is a blatant lie. The readers may please judge for themselves. Remember people were dying like flies in Guntur - Letter written by CPB on 5th Sep 32 is translated below: -
CPB’S order to KR. The application (letter) written by you on 26th Aug; that due to lack of rains, the river had dried up, resulting in the garden drying up and water not coming into the well. You wrote that, the ‘Lord’ said he will give 50Rs., and also 2 month ‘s rent in advance. We are not getting any income from the garden. Even then we agree for digging the well. 'Before your letter came I wrote you to give 70Rs to Vangipuram Narasimha Acharulu. Therefore after deducting that, balance you have plus taking the 2months advance rent You can get the stone walling, floor etc done. If the money is not sufficient you can take the 50Rs., which the ‘Lord’ said he will give. If you want any more you write and we’ll reply.'

Is there a single word of any, concern, and anxiety, feeling for the Cuddapah people as Bangorey writes? Bangorey’s words ooze of pathetic poesy, as if CPB was on the verge of tears for his beloved Cuddapah!

CPB took charge as Acting Collector of Guntur District from W. Mason on 21 Dec 32.
Bangorey, instead of going deeply into details about the Famine, takes this ghastly event to praise CPB the great humanitarian, “on the 5th day of taking charge, CPB went out of his way, to write to the government the difficult conditions”. But actually letter written on 31st Dec ’32 and 16th Jan ’33 show CPB’s problem with law and order due to dacoitees; and possible law and order problems requesting for ammunition and problem for the movement of the 45th Regt! NOT how to improve the Food / Water situation. No references of his tour! No numbers given of deaths etc In fact he totally failed to rise to the occasion. The govt. naturally asked for figures of Crimes; saying the letters “creates a distrust of the accuracy of your information”.

Let us see the Prices of items within six months!

It is full 2 months after taking over on 21 Dec, In a report on 21 February he says that he started relief works and “I trust that the steps I have adopted will not be disapproved by the board” – Look at the, acting Collector’s weakness and lack of initiative, and guts, – and absolute of lack of fore sight. Here Bangorey, who praised the action of writing a letter within 5 days of taking charge, falls silent and doesn’t want to ask his protégé, as to what he was doing when corpses were lying on roads!

The famine continued – March 6 – March 15th Bangorey doesn’t even notice CPB says, “I expected to be relieved earlier and Mr. Blackwood has taken too long and therefore he delayed trying the corrupt amines on corruption charges. Here is a judicial person, notices rampant crime and ignores taking steps! And the biographer also keeps silent.

Reverend Howell gloats over the Famine

A Letter on 8th April 31st written by William Howell, a missionary in Cuddapah to London Missionary Society says that he rejoices at the famine that enabled him to reap souls.

“Taking advantage of this situation the missionaries jumped in to convert people to Christianity” says Bangorey. Simply as if it is a part of the process. No condemnation of the Government, no word about the culture or society in danger! Here are living staring skeletons being told to get converted and saved or go to perdition, and our Shri. Bangorey just say that they took “advantage of a situation”. Bangorey should get the lists and numbers of people who got converted in that year alone. To day if that belt is full of convertees is it not the work of
HOWELL CPB combine? Bangorey underplays any dastardly activities of the British as well as the Christians. Is it not anti national? Bangorey doesn’t make any observation on these notes, though he is supposed to be writing about Kadapa’s travails in this period. When he criticises a historian for calling it a “Guntur Famine” and not 'Cuddapah Famine!! He ignores the church, which distributed boiled rice water letting the famine go on its death dance so that in the last days they can attract dying people and give them the baptism. Howell gloats that even Brahmins came for his rice water camps.

Even after relating the unimaginable devastation Bangorey doesn’t leave his mission of advocating the British! He merely says “a government soft towards Christianity…” while it was a part and parcel of the whole conversion process. Let us see some unfortunate statistics –
Famine affected people flocking to Madras to Refuge Camps.
By 4th May 1833 - 110512
By 8th June 1833 - 168808
By 6th July 1833 - 217386
Dead in one week … 378

H. LACON asks for a grant of 40/- per day- from the Govt. which was busy swindling the people In September 1833, he spent 740 Rupees for 30237 people which comes to .08 Naya Paisa per man per day.

In April 1833 a Ship with Rice arrived in Masulipatam from Calcutta but returned. South Canara and Malabar had lots of rice but not imported. While Vizag and Ganjanm prices of Rice etc were half, but not moved to Famine areas.

175000 Manugula Salt went to Bengal from Nellore Isuka Palli port.And our hero was witness to all this. Is there a single letter from him, whose heart was bleeding, on these issues to the government?

The famines started off as the British ryotwari policies of overtaxing through crack collectors, jamabandis, and so-called settlements started causing havoc with the collapse of the peaceful coexistence of the village unit. In the first half of the 19th century, there were seven famines leading to a million and a half deaths. In the second half, there were 24 famines (18 between 1876 and 1900), one in every 16 months, causing over 20 million deaths (as per official records). W. Digby, noted in “Prosperous British India” in 1901 that “stated roughly, famines and scarcities have been four times as numerous, during the last thirty years of the 19th century as they were one hundred years ago, and four times as widespread”. In Late Victorian Holocausts, Mike Davis points out that here were 31 (thirty one) serious famines in 120years of British rule compared to 17 (seventeen) in the 2000years before British rule.

It will not be out of place here to describe the in human cruel practices adopted by the British to collect land revenue:
Tying a man down in a bent position;
Squeezing the crossed fingers;
Pinches, slaps, blows with fist or whip,
Twisting the ears,
Making a man sit with brickbats behind his knees;
Putting a low caste man on his back;
Striking two defaulters’ heads, or tying them by the back hair;
Tying by the hair to a donkey’s or a buffalo’s tail;
Placing a necklace of bones or other degrading or disgusting materials round the necks;
And occasionally, though rarely, more severe discipline”.

From – Economic history of India page 123.

Madras was rich in the remains of reservoir tanks, built by old rajas and Polygars; and Dr. Francis Buchnan had observed and described them in course of his journey from Madras to the West Coast as early as 1800. But irrigation was sadly neglected; and when, sometimes, a Collector undertook the restoration of an old reservoir, it was mainly with the purpose of adding to the heavy assessment of his district.

The works were constructed at a great expense; the company then raised the land revenue as much as it was possible to raise it, leaving the unfortunate cultivators as permanently poor as they were before.