FAMINES IN THE INDIAN SUBCONTINENT, WALFORD'S LIST
The complete list of famines in India/Hindustan before the start of British rule in Bengal from "The Famines of the World, Past and Present" by Cornelius Walford (1878) pp21-29 [list originally published in "Journal of the Statistical Society of London" (vol 41, 1878) pp434-42]
| 503-443 BC: During the reign of the Emperor Jei-chund, extending over this period, there was a great pestilence and famine. |
| 1022: (reign of Musaood I). Great drought followed by famine: whole countries entirely depopulated. This year was remarkable for drought and famines in many parts of the world.- DOW's Hindustan |
| 1052-60: There was seven years' drought in Ghar [?Ghore, supposed to be one of the earliest seats of the Afghan race], so that the earth was burned up, and thousands of men and animals perished with heat and famine.- DOW's Hindustan |
| 1291: No rain fell in the provinces about Delhi, and there was in consequence a most terrible famine.- Vide BIRNI's Hist. of Feroze |
| 1342: Famine in Delhi, very severe; few of the inhabitants could obtain the necessaries of life. |
| 1344-45: A famine, supposed to have extended more or less over the whole of Hindustan. Very severe in the Deccan. The Emperor Mahomed, it is said, was unable to procure the necessaries for his household. |
| 1412-13: Great drought, followed by famine, occurred in the Ganges-Jumna delta |
| 1471: A famine in Orissa |
| 1495: A great dearth occurred about this date in Hindustan |
| 1521: A very general famine in Sind |
| 1540-43: A general famine in Sind during these years |
| 1631: A general famine caused by drought and war; and throughout Asia |
| 1661: Famine caused by drought, and supposed to be confined to the Punjab |
| 1703: Famine in Thar and Parkar districts of Sind |
| 1733: Famine; appears to have been confined to North Western provinces |
| 1739: Famine in Delhi and its neighbourhood |
| 1745-52: Famine in Nara districts of Sind, and Thar and Parkar |