Dimensions of crisis after the famine of 1866 in colonial Orissa: A study of economic crisis

Abstract

The Bengal-Orissa Famine visited Orissa in 1866. It was most horrible famine because one-third of the population was perished in this famine. In addition, it generated many fundamental changes in the economic and social behavior of the people. The immediate result of the famine was that the area under cultivation was diminished for want of cultivators and laborers. Similarly, after the famine of 1866, money wage rate was increased. The famine had also devastating effect on the cottage industries because the area under cotton cultivation diminished for want of raw materials. The agriculture of Orissa was also affected because of scanty rainfall and subsequent apathy. Irrigation system introduced in Orissa was with a colonial profit motive. Similarly, several canals were introduced in Orissa for communication purposes. The article seeks to discuss the dismal economic picture in Orissa after the famine of 1866. It further want to delineate the failure imperial agenda after the coming of railway. The economy of Orissa presented an ominous picture after the famine of 1866.