In 1770, a catastrophic famine swept through Bengal, killing roughly ten million people—nearly a third of the region’s population. While many assume this was solely the result of drought or mismanagement by local rulers, the truth is far more complex and damning. This episode examines how the British East India Company, having just secured the Diwani—the right to collect revenue—from the Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II in 1765, continued to extract taxes from a starving populace. We explore the role of Governor-General Warren Hastings, who initially downplayed the crisis, and the tragic economic policies that prioritized cash crops like indigo over food grains. Through letters and records, we reconstruct how a company acting as both merchant and magistrate failed its most basic duty, turning a regional agricultural failure into one of the deadliest man-made disasters in history.
Podden och tillhörande omslagsbild på den här sidan tillhör
Fexingo. Innehållet i podden är skapat av Fexingo och inte av,
eller tillsammans med, Poddtoppen.
