2026, Vol. 8, Issue 1, Part C

This paper is an attempt to understand the political economy of famines in British India from 1876-1879. The paper is looking at the ideational factors behind these famines and the policy failures behind them. Among these, the ideas of classical economists like Adam Smith and Thomas Malthus were most influential. Methodologically, the paper treats the empire as a web or ‘bundle of relationships’ wherein ideas flow freely from one part of the empire to another with ease, especially among the elites and the policymakers. The structure of the empire facilitates this flow of ideas, even bad ones in this case and affects the lives of millions of people. I use Karl Polyani’s understanding of impact of economy on native population to criticize and analyze these classical thinkers and their followers in British India.