From the late 19th century through the Great Depression, social and economic forces exerted a harmful impact on the structure of Bengal's income distribution and the ability of its … See more

An estimated 0.8–3.8 million Bengalis died, out of a population of 60.3 million. According to Irish historian Cormac Ó Gráda "the scholarly consensus is about 2.1 million".
Contemporary mortality statistics were to some degree under … See more

Aside from the relatively prompt but inadequate provision of humanitarian aid for the cyclone-stricken areas around Midnapore beginning in October 1942, the response of both the Bengal Provincial Government and the Government of India was slow. A "non … See more

Calcutta's two leading English-language newspapers were The Statesman (at the time British-owned) and Amrita Bazar Patrika (edited by independence campaigner Tushar Kanti Ghosh). In the early months of the famine, the government applied … See more

Throughout 1942 and early 1943, military and political events combined with natural disasters and plant disease to place widespread stress on … See more

Despite the organised and sometimes violent civil unrest immediately before the famine, there was no organised rioting when the famine took hold. However, the crisis overwhelmed the provision of health care and key supplies: food relief and medical … See more

The famine's aftermath greatly accelerated pre-existing socioeconomic processes leading to poverty and income inequality, severely disrupted … See more