Tamil Nadu Timeline

DisasterEast India Company rule

Guntur famine strikes the Madras Presidency

· Guntur

Crop failures led to a famine that took roughly 150,000 lives in Guntur district and spread as far south as Madras.

Between 1832 and 1833 the Madras Presidency suffered the Guntur famine, brought on by extensive crop failure and made worse by heavy taxes. Around 150,000 people died, roughly one third of the population of Guntur, and cattle, sheep and goats perished in great numbers. Its effects reached south to Madras. According to the East India Company, the famine cost it more than 2.5 million pounds in lost revenue over the years 1833 to 1848.

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