Gazetteer of the Rohtak district

· 1884 · Public domain (published pre-1930) · archive.org ↗

1iT

2Famine, 1860-61.

3ob CHAP. T.—HISTORY.

4ecenrrenes tnknown before—and grain sold in Rohtak for seme

5time at Beeurs the rupee. In the official report of the Commissioner

6(No. 169 of 17th Anguat 1861) it is stated that uearly 500,000

7people were relieved by distribution of food, and in other ways; that

8neatly 400,000 had been employed on relief works (chiafly tanks,

9andn few roads); and that Be. 64,375 hod been spent on thesa

10objects: Rs, 247,971 of land-revenue were ultimately remitted,

11The number of deathe by famine was put et 144, bot the Commis-

12sioner admitted that it was impossiblg to guess the real number of

13deaths caused by gradual starvation. Tho air (or horil) bosh

14yielded an abundant supply of berries, as it seems.always to do in

15fnmine years, and the peuple lived largely on ite fruit for weeke.

16The stores of the country had been generally exhausted by three bad

17harvests previous to the actual famine yeor, and the villages were

18most severely tried by it, though fortunately not permanently injured ;

19the loseof cattla waa considerable, but nothing likey that in 1877-

2078. The lth paragraph of the Commissioner's Jeiter is well

21worth quoting, and runs thus: “With a very limited amount of

22“moisture, the eoi! of this country is exceedingly prolific; all, how-

23“ever, depends on the rainfall, When rain fails, everything is lost,

24“and the eoil becomes hard ae iron, The feature of afsolude drought

25“and failure of rain is a remarkable one in thean parts, Every ootisi-

26“derable town and village can point to its former site or sites, prior to

27“such and such a famine or drought, which depopulated the country,

28“and these occurrences appear to serve aa eras in the popular record

29“of the past.” The following sayings of the satérah afd! are cote

30monly in the months of the people:—

31Parte kal Jullahe rare, aur bich mon mura Teli,

32Chanen silovadl kopera’ tae ote ko gua aden

33Batra bli alte fan’ ehaliie ka bap “o :

34that t4, In the beginning of the famine died the weavers (menials) ;

35“in tho middle the oil-men (village servants); at the end the traders;

36"and a rupee became worth only linlf ite value; grain sold wh the

37“price of pistachio nuts, and wheat at the price of ruising; the famine

38“of seventeen was more severe than that of forty.” Of tho same

39famine there is « well-known song of somo length, from which

40the following conplets are taken: “The traders collected old anid

41“bed grain, and soll it for an enormous price. The leam of their

42*sealea broke, and their weights were worn away (ly constant nee)

43“the trader lived, and the J4t died. The carts remained useless, for

44_ the oxen wero dead; ond the bride went to her husbanil's howie

45“without tho due formalities.” The last line is moat expressive of

46the intensity of the distress: the poronts being no longer able to

47foed their daughter, she was forced to go in an irregular way

48to her husband's bouse—a terrible breach of marriage etiquette. —

49In the pachiza fumino of 1858-09 the distress in Rolitak was

50Ss severe a8 Inauy part.of the Punjab. In the eatly monthy of

511568 there wae a fiir amount of rain, but the fall of July, Artist,

52and September failed entirely, and before the-end of the year grain

53Was selling ut 10 seers the ei andl reltel works had to be atarted.

54The showers which fell clewhere in January aud February did not