Rice shortage from 1866 to 1870:

Zeroing down to basics

Padma Edirisinghe

Ever heard of the Chandrika Kumaratunga chair? It is there, but not here. It is in the Indian subcontinent. Guests acquainted with its history dare not sit on it. It is baptized as the Chandrika Kumaratunga chair. This President of ours had sat on it when she visited this house inhabited by the Bhatias. The house itself a small size mansion sitting in a University staff residence complex.

Our President Chandrika Kumaratunga had visited this abode to purchase a copy of 'Famines of India' to be used for some research she was doing. If I remember correct the retired professor Bhatia, head of this house was the author of it.

Never having been subject to famines (touch wood) that accounts now for an obesity problem too, very selfishly, I had not been much interested in famines. So news on Books on famines was strange to me.

Further, I have not come across such books here. But I have come across, some touching accounts of famines orchestrated on our soil in ancient times. The most acute was Beminiti Saya. It was very severe and the most victimized were the monks. Not having sufficient food for their consumption, giving alms to the clergy by the average man and woman was naturally a difficult task. So some of the monks who could not sustain themselves had even fled to India. King's power itself was dishevelled due to a foreign invasion, hence no help was possible from the royal quarter.

Yet the more conscientious remained behind for at this time, the Dhamma has still not got recorded at Aloka Vihara and was hence carried to posterity by oral tradition. Were the monks to pass away never to return or to go overseas that meant the extinction of the Dhamma. So according to some chronicles they had fed themselves on edible parts of trees including even roots while committing to memory the doctrinal knowledge. Thus the Dhamma had survived the dreadful famine thanks to the noble endeavours of our robed ones.

Did any body go on to write a book on such famines? No. Not even Buddhagosha who has given some priority to local news. There would have been bouts of famine even in later times with failure of rains and even disastrous political episodes having an effect on the economy. But yet no one went on to write lengthy accounts of them after having survived them.

So while perusing some extracts from old Sinhala newspapers in a quoted source, I was rather surprised (and pardonably amused) at these references to a famine in the 1860s in the colony of Ceylon. Governor at this time was Sir Hercules Robinson who in the Legislative assembly gave the reason for the famine as 'the laziness of the farmers'.

The first newspaper signalling the onset of a famine had been the second Sinhala newspaper Lakrivikirana born in Etun bendi Watte off Wolvendahl. It had boldly listed the factors hindering paddy cultivation mostly due to bad legislation by the British government revolving around taxes and overlooking welfare of cattle almost indispensable in farming activities.

The next Sinhala newspaper that stood in defence of the farmers happened to be Gnanartha Pradeepa, labelled a fanatic Christianity promotion newspaper later. Its editorial of October 11, 1866 presented two main causes for the famine.

1. The export of rice from foreign countries 2. Lack of a positive plan to encourage local farmers. This newspaper began its editions in 1866 and it was but natural that it aligned itself to the burning issue of the times. Examiner, an English newspaper too joined the movement of using the media to open the eyes of the government on the need to foster a more positive attitude to paddy cultivation if a famine is to be averted.

As price of rice kept in rising a petition by the citizens of Colombo on rising rice prices had been forwarded to the governor with no results while some traders themselves had assembled at Malay street and pledged to limit the price of a bushel of rice to 13 shillings in Colombo and 16 shillings. and 6 pence in Kandy.

In the meantime some rich philanthropists within the city had distributed rice free to the poor. Starvation leading to hooliganism, carts transporting rice were often waylaid and robbed and soon stores of rice too had to be closed due to frequent robbery, the situation becoming acute in the areas of Mariyakade, Maradana, Companna vidiya, Kosgaslanga and Nagulu Ganthera (a ford of the Kelani in the city). Situation in Galle too had been very severe, especially in the area of Kaluwella.

Newspapers at the time, mostly the Sinhala newspapers recently sprung, were the most vociferous in highlighting the reasons leading to the malaise. However the rice shortage and escalating prices seem to have continued to the 1870 decade too when royalty itself decided to visit the island incurring additional expenditure on the thinning treasury by way of unlimited extravagance displayed at the reception.

The Rice rebellion had commenced in 1866 and in 1870 England in a bid to strengthen ties between the mother country and the colony while blissfully unaware of the situation in the little colony, had decided to send Prince Alfred, second son of Queen Victoria as a goodwill ambassador. To be fair, queen Victoria seems to have endeared herself to the colony by way of responding to many an issue here very promptly and speedily, almost strange in the context of slow modes of communication in the prevailing times.

Famine forgotten, those who mattered including the Governor and even the Sinhala newspapers seemed to fall head over heals to accord the grandest and most expensive welcome to the prince. But the Lakrivikirana zeroes down to basics, exposing the mentality of the average man by publishing this letter by Hettikande Juan in its popular Letters to the Editor column. "All the folk in Colombo are simply waiting impatiently to catch a glimpse of that" esteemed son of the Maheshika of England arriving at our shores next month. Even the very poor despite empty bellies are among this eager lot. Yet they are miserably wondering how to bear the expenses of travelling to the city to catch an eyeful of His Highness. In fact they might in addition encounter this problem too.

Their women folk on setting eyes on their better halves preening themselves to go the city could parade on the war path and explode, "Ah. Bola ado. So you are on your way to visit the Great One" Have you thought of what we are going to eat in the meantime when the hungry brood begins their howling chorus. Then am I to boil your flesh and feed them. (writing this) Yours sincerely, Juan Fernando, Hettiyakande Incredibly vicious, no doubt and irrational for the man in the house is not there for the woman to boil him. He is out there at the jetty in Mariyawella, gaping at the prince in front of whom local personages of note are just swooning eyeing titles to be bestowed by him.

By the way Hettiyakande could correspond to present Hettiyawatte, the Kande probably flattened to a Watte to gain space for the expanding city. In those far off days one had to cross small hills, streams and even forested areas swarming with jackals mistaken for wolves, to reach the capital from this suburb of Colombo just a few miles away.