Bengal Famine

There have been a number of significant famines in the history of Bengal (now independent Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal) including:

  • Bengal famine of 1770
  • Bengal famine of 1943
  • Bangladesh famine of 1974
  • Bengal Famine (film), a movie by Bimal Roy

Famous quotes containing the words bengal and/or famine:

    “Warmest climes but nurse the cruelest fangs: the tiger of Bengal crouches in spiced groves of ceaseless verdure. Skies the most effulgent but basket the deadliest thunders: gorgeous Cuba knows tornadoes that never swept tame northern lands.”
    —Herman Melville (1819–1891)

    “I knew the poor,
    I knew the hideous death they die,
    when famine lays its bleak hand on the door;
    I knew the rich,
    sated with merriment,
    who yet are sad.”
    —Hilda Doolittle (1886–1961)