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| memorial = | preceded = Deccan Famine of 1630–32 | succeeded = Chalisa famine }} The Great Bengal famine of 1770 (Bengali: ৭৬-এর মন্বন্তর, ''Chhiattōrer monnōntór''; lit ''The Famine of '76'') was a catastrophic famine between 1769 and 1773 (1176 to 1180 in the Bengali calendar) that affected the lower Gangetic plain of India. The famine is estimated to have caused the deaths of 10 million people, reducing the population to thirty million in Bengal, which included Bihar and parts of Odisha. The Bengali names derives from its origins in the Bengali calendar year 1176. ("Chhiattōr"- "76"; "monnōntór"- "famine" in Bengali).〔Mazumdar, Kedarnath, ''Moymonshingher Itihash O Moymonsingher Biboron'', 2005, , pp. 46-53, Anandadhara, 34/8 Banglabazar, Dhaka.〕 It was caused due to the widespread forced cultivation of opium (forced upon local farmers by the British East India Company as part of its strategy to export it to China) in place of local food crops, resulting in a shortage of grain for local people in Bengal. ==Background== The famine occurred in the territory which was called Bengal, then ruled by the British East India Company. This territory included modern West Bengal, Bangladesh, and parts of Assam, Odisha, Bihar, and Jharkhand. It was earlier a province of the Mughal empire from the 16th century and was ruled by a ''nawab'', or governor. In early 18th century, as the Mughal empire started collapsing, the nawab became effectively independent of the Mughal rule. In the 17th century, the English East India Company had been given a grant of the town of Calcutta by the Mughal Prince Shah Shuja. At this time the Company was effectively another tributary power of the Mughal. During the following century, the company obtained sole trading rights for the province and went on to become the dominant power in Bengal. In 1757, at the Battle of Plassey, the British defeated the nawab Siraj Ud Daulah and plundered the Bengali treasury. In 1764 their military control was reaffirmed at Buxar. The subsequent treaty gained them the ''diwani'', that is, taxation rights; the Company thereby became the ''de facto'' ruler of Bengal. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Great Bengal famine of 1770」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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