Dunes International

School
Academic Year 2025-26

Chapter 11: Famine Tales

1. How did the British East India Company’s rise to power directly affect the daily lives of
Bengal’s peasants and rulers during the famine?
The British East India Company became the new revenue collector of Bengal after defeating
local rulers (as stated: “A new power was emerging… British East India Company”). The
Company “made nawabs and kings their puppets,” meaning traditional leaders lost real power
and control. Peasants suffered most: the comic and the main text show miserable, starving
villagers, forced migration (“most of the people migrated”), and only a handful of families left in
villages. Instead of help, there was often increased taxation and little mercy, as those at the top
of the system took more, while peasants were left in “distress” and “at the bottom of the
system.”

2. The comic describes nawabs and kings as “puppets” of the Company. Why did the artist
choose this metaphor, and what deeper message is being sent about leadership and
autonomy?
The panel literally shows Indian rulers as puppets attached to strings held by the Company. The
metaphor means that these rulers had no real power—they were controlled entirely by the
British. The deeper message is that leadership during the famine was just for show; true
decisions and power lay with outsiders. The metaphor and image criticize the loss of autonomy
and the unfairness of colonial rule, suggesting that those who should have protected the people
were powerless to do so.

3. Do you think the Great Bengal Famine was mainly the result of natural causes, human
choices, or both?
The comic and text point strongly to human choices. While repeated crop failures (“after
repeated crop failures”) are mentioned, the emphasis is on systemic and policy failures—such as
high taxes, poor planning, and government inaction: “Famine is not a spontaneous event. It is
the outcome of a process. It is a process of systematically destroying a stable economic system.”
Images throughout show officials collecting taxes, villagers begging, and empty villages,
demonstrating it was these choices—on top of natural challenges—that made the famine
devastating.

4. Why do you think people were motivated to rebel or resist at this time?
People suffered under unfair taxes, witnessed their leaders become powerless, and faced
starvation and displacement. The mutinies and uprisings (“Sepoy Mutiny took place…”), which
are responses to injustice. The desire to fight back comes when basic needs aren’t met, and
when outside rule ignores the wellbeing of the local people. The visuals of misery and
abandonment further show why resistance felt necessary.

5. How might government policies or leadership decisions have changed the outcome of the
famine? Suggest at least one alternative action and how it could have helped.
Leaders could have suspended or reduced taxes when crops failed, distributed food and
resources fairly, and supported struggling villages. The comic highlights “the company’s poor
policy” and the failing to help, so if leadership had put people over profit, fewer would have
starved or been forced to migrate. Providing direct aid, listening to local needs, and reforming
taxes could have changed history for the better.

6. If you could ask one question to a person living through the famine, what would it be—and
why? What do you hope their answer would reveal about life in that time?
Sample question: “What was the hardest part of life during the famine for you and your
family?”
This would reveal not just facts, but feelings and daily struggles—perhaps about hunger, fear,
loss, or hope. The comic’s detailed visuals of suffering, empty bowls, and desperate faces make
one wonder about the personal stories hidden behind these historical events.

7. Looking at both the written description and the comic’s visual depiction of suffering, what
emotions do you think the author and artist want the reader to experience? Why are these
feelings important for understanding history?
The images of skeletal figures, mourning families, and the words “devastating effects” evoke
sadness, empathy, and even anger. The artist and author want readers to feel sorrow for those
who suffered and outrage at the injustice, making history more than dates and names—it
becomes a real, human story and a warning about what happens when power is misused.

Answers to textbook questions:

Comprehension

1. False. Hunter summoned Mitra to illustrate the columns he planned to write on the Great
Famine of 1770.

2. a. He didn’t leave his name behind.

b. He was a good mapmaker. c. He documented peasants’ lives in detail.

3. a. He is very thin.

4. c. That people were living in famine-like conditions 12 years before the Great Famine.

5. When Hunter and Mitra stopped by the villages, Hunter found out that the farmers were thin
and malnourished. He also found out that the village had had repeated crop failure and there
were only four families who lived there, that too with the help of missionaries.

6. Hunter believed that the cause of the Great Famine was the poor policies of the Company,
and that the farmer’s misery began only after the company got the Dewani rights before he saw
the sketches of the unknown artist. After going through the sketches, he realised that the seeds
of the famine had been sown much before by the local nawabs and the zamindars who did not
take care of the peasants either.

7. A sporadic event is an event that happens once in a while. According to Mitra, the famine was
not a sporadic event because it was the outcome of the process of systematically destroying the
stable economic system of Bengal 100 years ago, instead of being caused immediately just
because of the company’s poor policies.

8. a. peasant, c. dewan, d. zamindar, e. rayat talukdar

Life Skills and Values

1. Suggested answer. No, I don’t think that it is right to make profits at the cost of another
person. The East India Company's greed for profit and power indeed caused a lot of harm to
India. They took advantage of the country's resources, causing suffering to its people. I feel it’s
important to make sure that making money doesn’t come at the expense of hurting others or
looting them. Kindness along with ethics and morals are values that we must practice. We
should work towards creating a better world for all, instead of creating a better world only for
us and at the expense of all.
2. Students should be encouraged to read comics. Different types of comics can be discussed in
class before writing this answer, as well as an activity to read comics from the library is
recommended.

(Refer to pg no. 103 and 104 of textbook for question)