FAMINES IN THE INDIAN SUBCONTINENT, 1500 to 1767

1607: a visit to Bengal

François Pyrard (de Laval), "Discours du Voyage des François aux Indes Orientales" (1611, with additions from 3rd edition, 1619)

pp119-23: [The produce, industries and exports of Bengal, which Pyrard visited in 1607] "Le pais est fort sain & temperé, si admirablement fertile qu'on y vit presque pour rien: il y a si grand quantité de ris qu’outre la nourriture & provision de tout le païs on en transporte par toute l’Inde tant en Goa & Malabar qu’en Sumatra, aux Moluques & par toutes les Isles de la Sonde, de tous lesquels païs Bengale est la mere nourrisse, leur fournissant entierement leur soutien & nourriture. Aussi y void on iournellement aborder nombre infiny de navires de tous costez des Indes querir telles provisions, & croy qu'il y en iroit davantage principalement de plus gros, si la navigation n’en estoit point si perilleuse, pour les bancs & sables, dont tout ce Golfe est remply: de sorte que quant il arrive que les navires de Bengale tardent à venir ou se perdent, le ris est infiniment cher, & crie l’on à la faim, comme en une extrémité de famine, & au contraire quand la navigation est bonne, le ris est à aussi vil prix que s’il venoit au païs & ne vaut d’ordinaire que la valeur de quatre deniers la livre. Au demeurant le païs est remply de bestiaux, boeufs, vaches, moutons: qui fait que la chair y couste fort peu, outre les laitages & les beurres dont ils font si grand quantité qu’ils en fournissent l’Inde, outre plusieurs tapis velus qu'ils font fort proprement. Il y a quantité de bons fruicts, on toutesfois cocos ou bananes, force citrons, limons, oranges, grenades, caius, ananats & plusieurs autres fruicts, gingembre, poivre long, dont il s’en fait grand nombre de confitures estant verd, comme aussi de citrons & oranges. Le païs abonde en cannes de sucre, qu’ils mangent verd, les autres en font quantité d’excellens sucres, dont ils chargent des navires, & ne s’en fait autre part en toute l’Inde, sinon qu’en Cambaye, & autres terres du Mogol qui touchent avec celle cy, sont d’un mesme climat, mesme langue & mesme fertilité. On tire aussi de Bengale, quantité d’huille de senteurs qu’on faict d’une certaine graine, & de certaines fleurs dont tous les Indiens se servent pour se frotter apres qu’ils se sont baignez. Le cotton y vient en si grande abondance, qu’outre qu’il suffit pour l’usage & vestement de ceux du pays, & outre le transport qu’on en fait d’écreu, ils font tant de toilles de cotton & si bien faites, que c’est de là seulement qu’on en apporte par toute l’Inde, principalement aux quartiers de la Sonde. Semblablement il y a de la soye en abondance, tant de la soye de vers, que de celle d’herbe, [1619 adds: "du plus beau iaune qu'on sçauroit voir, & semble plus belle que lasoye mesme:"] dont ils font aussi quantité d’estoffes de diverses couleurs, qui se portent par tout. Car les habitans tant hommes que femmes sont admirablement adroits en la manufacture, tant des toilles de cotton ou de soye, que tout autre ouvrage à l’esguille , comme de broderies qu’ils font si proprement iusqu’aux simples coustures, qu’il ne se peut rien veoir de plus beau. Ils font entr’autres des toilles de cotton ou de soye si delices, qu'il est malaise de iuger quand on l’a sur soy si on est vestu ou si on est nud, comme aussi font ils bien proprement plusieurs autres sortes d’ouvrages, meubles & utencilles si délicatement qu’il n’eft pas possible, & qui estans transportez icy, on dit que c’est de la Chine. [1619 adds: "En ce pays se fait grande quantité de petite poterie noire & rouge, comme la terre sigillé la plus fine & delice du monde, & en font grand trafic, & principalement des gargoulettes & vases à boire, & autres utenciles. Il y a grand nombre de roseaux ou cannes grosses comme la cuisse d'un homme, & longues de 6 à 7 toises, creuses par dedans, & noiieuses comme celles de païs. Elles sont plus fortes à rompre que bois du monde, & en font des leviers & bastons à porter tous fardeaux les plus pesans, dont ils se servent par toutes les Indes, mesmes à Goa, & ailleurs, tant les Portuguais que les Indiens ne se servent d'autres bastons pour porter leurs palanquins ou litleres, ils l'appelent par tout Bambou, & le mettant dans le feu on le ploye en la forme qu'on veut, & y demeure tousiours, de sorte qu'il romproit plustost que de perdre son ply. Ils en font aussi des mesures pour mesurer toutes leurs denrees, comme ris, grains, huyle, beurre, & autres choses semblables. Ils en font des mesures en toutes grandeurs. Il se trouve de ces roseaux en beaucoup d'autres endroicts des Indes, mais c'est là leur origine & le lieu où il s'en trouve le plus. Ces cannes ne plient iamais & sont bigarrés de blanc & noir. Il y en a d'une autre sorte qui n'est de la forme & grosseur de ceste-cy, le plus gros n'est pas de plus de quatre poulces, & fort haut. Il est poreux & dur & fort pliant, de sorte qu'on mettroit les deux bouts ensemble sans qu'il se rompit, & toutesfois est bien fort. Ils en font des baguettes pour porter à la main, & pour battre ceux qu'ils veulent chastier, & cela enleve tout l'endroit du corps où il touche, il ne rompt iamais pour quelque menu qu'il soit. Il est gentiment façonné & bigarré naturellement de blanc, iaune & noir, ils en font trafic, & les bastons en sont requis par toute l'Inde, n'en ayans point d'autres, en frottant ferme deux bastons de ceste canne l'un contre l'autre, il en sort du feu comme d'un fusil & s'en servent pour cest effect. Il y a encore une autre sorte de canne qui ne vient iamais plus grosse que le petit doigt, de mesme forme & façon que l'autre, & ploye comme osier, & l'appellent Rotan. Ils en font des chables de nauire, & force sortes de panniers gentiment entre-lassez, & de toutes sortes de clisses. Bref ils en font ce qu'ils veulent comme de la corde, & la fendent en tant de parties qu'ils veulent. La longeur est d'une brasse & demie. Ils en trafiquent par tout, & on en fait grand estat pour sa gentille manufacture, elle est fort blanche & non bigarree."] Ce pais est fort abondant en elephans, & c'est de là qu’on en mene aux autres endroits de l’Inde. Il y a des Rhinoceros, & dit on mesme des Licornes [1619 adds: "qu'on tient se trouver en ce seul pays, & disent que tous les autres animaux ne boivent iamais en une fontaine que la Licorne n'y ait trempré sa corne, ains ils attendent tous au bord de l'eau tant qu'elle soit venuë pour cét effect. En fin ie ne touve point de pays en toute l'Inde Orientale, plus abondant en toutes choses necessaires pour le manger, & en richesses & manufacture industrieuse que cestuy-cy, & n'estoit que la navigation y est si dangereuse, c'est bien le plus beau, plaisant, fertile & profitable pays du monde. Ils tiennent d'ordinaire un ambassadeur à Goa. Mais quand i'estois prest à partir de Goa pour venir par deça, il y estoit arrivué un ambassadeur extraordinaire vers le vice-roy, & disoit-on que c'estoit pour demander quelque secours."]. Un des grand trafics qu’on fait en Bengale, c’est d’esclaves, parce que il y a certain païs suiet à ce Roy, dont les peres vendent leurs enfans & en donnent au Roy pour tribut, c’est de la que sont la plus part des esclaves de l’Inde …"

François Pyrard (trans. Albert Gray), "The Voyage of François Pyrard of Laval …" (trans. of 1619 French edition, vol. 1, 1887)

pp327-32: "The country is healthy and temperate, and so wondrous fertile that one lives there for almost nothing; and there is such a quantity of rice, that, besides supplying the whole country, it is exported to all parts of India, as well to Goa and Malabar, as to Sumatra, the Moluccas, and all the islands of Sunda, to all of which lands Bengal is a very nursing mother, who supplies them with their entire subsistence and food. Thus, one sees arrive there every day an infinite number of vessels from all parts of India for these provisions; and I believe it would be still greater, were not the navigation so perilous by reason of the banks and shallows wherewith all this Gulf of Bengal is full. So it happens that when the Bengal ships are behind their time, or are lost, rice is fabulously dear, and there is a cry, as it were, of the extremity of famine. On the contrary, when the navigation is good, the rice is as cheap as if it grew in the country, and fetches no more than four deniers the pound. The country is well supplied with animals, such as oxen, cows, and sheep; flesh is accordingly very cheap, let alone milk-foods and butter, whereof they have such an abundance that they supply the rest of India; and pile carpets of various kinds, which they weave with great skill. There are many good fruits,— not, however, cocos or bananas; plenty of citrons, limes, oranges, pomegranates, cajus [=cashews], pineapples, etc., ginger, long pepper [Footnote: "Long-pepper is derived from two shrubby plants, Piper officinarum and Piper longum, and is to be distinguished from black and white pepper, both of which are obtained from Piper nigrum. Calcutta is still one of the chief ports for the export of long-pepper, the other regions being Malabar and the Archipelago. See Yule, Glossary s.v. 'Pepper'."], of which, in the green state they make a great variety of preserves, as also of lemons and oranges. The country abounds with sugar-cane, which they eat green; or else make into excellent sugar, for a cargo to their ships, the like not being made in any part of India except in Cambaye and the other countries of the Mogor adjacent to Bengal, these countries being of the same climate, language, and fertility. There is likewise exported from Bengal much scented oils, got from a certain grain, and divers flowers: these are used by all the Indians after bathing to rub their bodies withal. Cotton is so plentiful, that, after providing for the uses and clothing of the natives, and besides exporting the raw material, they make such a quantity of cotton cloths, and so excellently woven, that these articles are exported, and thence only, to all India, but chiefly to the parts about Sunda. Likewise is there plenty of silk, as well that of the silkworm as of the (silk) herb [Footnote: "This grass-silk is referred by Linschoten as a kind of linen: 'It is yealowish, and is called the hearbe of Bengalen, wherewith they do most cunningly stitch their coverlits, pavilions, pillowes, carpets and mantles, . . . likewise they make whole peeces or webbes of this hearbe, sometimes mixed and woven with silke, although those of the hearbe it selfe are dearer and more esteemed, and is much fairer than the silke. These webbes are named Sarrijn, and it is much used and worne in India' (Hak. Soc., i, 96)"], which is of the brightest yellow colour, and brighter than silk itself: of this they make many stuffs of divers colours, and export them to all parts. The inhabitants, both men and women, are wondrously adroit in all manufactures, such as of cotton cloth and silks, and in needlework, such as embroideries, which are worked so skilfully, down to the smallest stitches, that nothing prettier is to be seen anywhere. Some of these cottons and silks are so fine that it is difficult to say whether a person so attired be clothed or nude. Many other kinds of work, such as furniture and vessels, are constructed with extraordinary delicacy, which, if brought here, would be said to come from China. In this country is made a large quantity of small black and red pottery, like the finest and most delicate terre sigillé; in this they do a great trade, chiefly in gargoulettes [Footnote: "Port. gargoleta. For a fuller description, see vol. ii. It was an earthenware vessel with a spout, whereby the liquid was poured into the mouth from a distance, to avoid contact. The manner of so drinking is shown in a cut in Knox (Ceylon opposite p.87). The word is used and the practice described by several travellers in Portuguese India, this mode of drinking being adopted by the Portuguese themselves. To be clumsy in the use of a gargoleta at once proclaimed a person to be a reinol or 'griffin', fresh from Europe (Linschoten, Hak. Soc., i, 207; Mandelslo, Eng. trans., p.105; Fryer, 'gurgulets', p.47). The word remains current both in India and Ceylon as 'goglet', a water-bottle. See Yule, Glossary s.v. The Sinhalese, I believe, call it gurulota."] and drinking-vessels, and other utensils. There is a great quantity, too, of huge reeds or canes, as big as a man’s thigh, and six or seven fathoms high, hollow inside, and knotted like those here. They are harder to break than any wood in the world; of these, levers and rods are made to carry over the heaviest weights, and are used throughout India, even at Goa and elsewhere: so much so, that the Portuguese and the Indians use no other poles for their palanquins and litters : these are everywhere called Bambou [Footnote: "There is some doubt whether the word bambu is Malay or Canarese. The question is discussed by Col. Yule (Glossary, s.v.), who remarks that, while Marsden gives it as good Malay, Crawfurd, on the other hand, says that it is only used on the west coast of Sumatra. Col. Yule believes the true origin to be the Canarese banwu. In the Portuguese writers of the latter half of the sixteenth century, it generally appears as mambu (e.g. De Orta and Acosta). I do not find it mentioned in the statistical works of 1525 contained in the Subsidios, etc. The author seems here to refer to the giant bambu, of which it is believed Bengal is the true habitat. It has been planted at the Botanic Gardens at Peradeniya, Ceylon; and there, Dr. Haeckel says, it attains a thickness of two feet. Col. Yule would seem to require corroboration of this statemont. I have seen, though not actually measured, these magnificent specimens, and have been assured that in Ceylon the plant attains greater dimensions than in its native regions."] When one of these is bent into any required curve and heated, it remains so always, and will sooner break than lose its curve. Of these, too, are made their measures for measuring all their goods, such as rice, grain, oil, butter, and the like. Measures of all sizes are made of them. These reeds grow in quantity elsewhere in India; but this is their original home, and here they are found in greatest plenty. These canes will not bend double; and they are mottled black and white. There is another kind [Footnote: "This would seem to be the Malacca cane. Linschoten, in his account of Bengal, describes its appearance and use in much the same terms:— 'There groweth likewise marble-coloured reedes, whereof you may see many sortes in the custodie of Paludanus, which the Portingalles call Canas de Bengala, that is, Reedes of Bengala. Within they are full of pith, and are about the thickness of Spanish reedes, but somewhat thinner, and when they are greene they bowe and bend like willow twigges. They are outwardly of divers colours, and speckled as if they were painted. They use them in Portingall for olde women to beare in their handes when they goe abroad or uppon the stones' {Linschoten, Hak. Soc., i, 97)"], of a different shape and thickness, the largest of this sort being no more than four thumbs’ girth, and very tall. It is porous, hard, and very pliant, so that you can bring the two ends together without its breaking, and yet it is very strong: of this are made walking-sticks and canes for chastisement; they raise the skin wherever they fall, but never break it, however tender it may be. They are neatly shaped, and are naturally of a mottled colour, white, yellow, and black: there is great trade in them to all parts of India, for they are found nowhere else. By rubbing hard two sticks of this cane together, fire is produced as from a match: and they are used for this purpose. There is yet another sort of cane, which never grows thicker than the little finger, of the same form and growth as the other; it is as pliant as an osier, and is called Rotan [Footnote: "Malay, Rotan; Correa, De Orta, and Linschoten all write rota. The English form rattan appears in Fryer (1673)"]. Ships’ cables are made of it, and many kinds of neatly plaited baskets, and other wicker things. In short, it is used as cord, and can be split into any number of strips. It is a fathom and a half in length. It is trafficked in everywhere, and is in great demand for its use in manufacture; it is white, and not mottled. This country abounds with elephants, which are exported hence to all parts of India. There are rhinoceros [Footnote: "I use the word as a plural, as in orig. and in the English version of Linschoten"] also, and some say unicorns, too, which are said to be found in this land only. They say other animals will not drink at a well until a female unicorn has steeped her horn in the water, so they all wait on the bank till she comes and does so [Footnote: "The unicorn localised in those parts was no doubt the rhinoceros itself ..."]. In short, I find no country in all the East Indies more abundantly supplied with all things needful for food, with the riches of nature and art; and were not the navigation so dangerous, it would be the fairest, most pleasant, fertile, and profitable in the whole world. They usually keep an ambassador at Goa; but when I was preparing to leave Goa to come home, there arrived an ambassador extraordinary at the court of the viceroy, and it was said that he had come to ask some assistance. One of the greatest trades in Bengal is in slaves; for there is a certain land subject to this king where fathers sell their children, and give them to the king as tribute; so most of the slaves in India are got from hence. …"

1609: a business challenge in Surat

"Letters received by the East India Company from its servants in the East: Vol. 1, 1602-1613" (1896)

p30: [report from an unnamed British merchant in Surat, 30 Aug 1609] "The prices of Goods in India. ... ... To write of clothing for Priaman and Bantam with the Maluccos &c. were infinite, they being of so many sorts and of such different prices, but are here to be had in great abundance. But note this, that both in these as also in all other kinds of merchandise, little good will be done unless here be left stock to buy them before shipping come, for our shipping being here they will have double their value, or else they will not sell them. They are as 'subtill as the Devill' whose limbs I certainly persuade myself they are." [The suggested solution to the problem, which had also been arrived at by the Portuguese a century earlier for slightly different reasons, would attain its full, epic significance nearly 150 years later!]