Bengal famine

There have been a number of significant famines in the history of Bengal (now independent Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal) including:

See also

Bengal famine of 1943

The Bengal famine of 1943 (Bengali: পঞ্চাশের মন্বন্তর Pañcāśēr Manbantar) struck the Bengal Province of pre-partition British India (present-day West Bengal, Odisha, Bihar and Bangladesh) during World War II following the Japanese occupation of Burma. Approximately 3 million people died due to famine. Generally the estimates are between 1.5 and 4 million, taking into account death due to starvation, malnutrition and disease, out of Bengal's 60.3 million population. Half of the victims died from disease after food became available in December 1943. Generally it is thought that there was a serious decrease in food production during that time, coupled with Bengal's continuing export of grain. However, according to Amartya Sen, there was no decrease in food production in 1943 (in fact food production was higher compared to 1941). As in previous Bengal famines, the highest mortality was not in previously very poor groups, but among artisans and small traders whose income vanished when people spent all they had on food and did not employ cobblers, carpenters, etc. The famine also caused major economic and social disruption, ruining millions of families.