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The great Persian famine of 1870–71

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 December 2009

Shoko Okazaki
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Extract

The great famine of 1870–71 was arguably the most tragic event in the modern economic and social history of Persia. Over wide areas of the country almost no rain fell during the winter of 1869/70, and in the following year only the western and southern provinces were blessed with any precipitation. Many areas did not have a single drop of rain during that two-year period. Khurāsān, Isfahān, Yazd and Fārs were particularly hard hit by the drought. In many areas dry-farming crops were wiped out, and harvests of irrigated crops were also very poor as a result of the severe depletion of surface and sub-surface water. Even the Zāyandeh-rūd, which normally contained a large volume of water, dried up.

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Articles
Information
Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies , Volume 49 , Issue 1 , February 1986 , pp. 183 - 192
Copyright
Copyright © School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London 1986

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References

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43 The calculation is as follows: 1,300 chests (=208,000 lbs. of r aw opium) 208,000 lbs. X 3/2 = 312,000 lbs. of opium juice 312,000 lbs. % 6.55 Ibs./jarib = 47,634 jarib = 4,764 ha.

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48 Goldsmid, 96.

49 G., Churchill, Biographical notices of Persian statesmen and notables (Calcutta, 1906), 53. Hoarding and market manipulation by powerful elements were commonplace at the time of other famines as well. For instance, in July 1865 the authorities of Shiraz cornered stocks in the city, releasing them only after prices increased sharply. Riots ensued and continued until the governor was finally removed from office. A consular report of 1885 refers to other cases of market manipulation by grain dealers in Isfahan and Shiraz.Google Scholar

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