strong places previously conquered by the Muhammadans had 

 fallen into the hands of Poligars and robbers, and the returning 

 cultivators were driven from their villages." In the works 

 of the Hindu astronomer Yaraha Mihira, there are passages 

 tending to show that the theory of the connection between sun 

 spots and droughts was known at the time, and this knowledge 

 must have been the result of obset'vations made during long 

 periods of time. The Muhammadan historian Ferishta records 

 two famines as having occurred in the 15th century. He states 

 that, in 1423 A.D., no rain falling, a grievous famine was 

 experienced throughout the Deccan, and multitudes of cattle 

 died on the parched plains for want of water. The king 

 (Ahmed I of the Bahmini dynasty), in consequence, increased 

 the pay of his troops and opened public stores of grain for the 

 use of the poor. The next year also, there being no rain, the 

 people became seditious, complaining that the present reign 

 was unlucky and the conduct of the prince displeasing to God. 

 The king felt this bitterly, repaired to the mosque and prayed 

 to God for rain. Eain came and the people were satisfied and 

 the king was thenceforward surnamed the " saint." In 1474 

 A.D., there occurred a famine still more terrible. The following 

 account is given of it by Ferishta : " When the royal standard 

 reached the city of Bijapore, Mahomed Shah (Bahmini dynasty), 

 at the request of Khajwa Mahomed Khan, halted to repose his 

 fatigues, and the minister, endeavoured to soothe his grief for 

 the death of his mother. Admiring the situation of Bijapore, 

 the king would willingly have remained there during the rainy 

 season, but so severe a drought prevailed throughout the 

 Deccan that the wells dried up, and the king, contrary to his 

 inclination, moved with his army to Ahmedabad Beder. "No 

 ram fell during the next year either, and the towns in conse- 

 quence became almost depopulated. Many of the inhabitants 

 died of famine and numbers emigrated for food to Malwa, 

 Jajnagger and Guzerat. In Telingana, Maharashtra and 

 throughout the Bahmini, no grain was sown for two years; 

 and, in the third, when the Almighty showered his mercy on 

 the earth, scarcely any farmers remained in the country to 

 cultivate the lands." 



In 1570 a great famine appears (from the records of the 

 Portuguese Mission) to have raged on the Tinnevelly coast. 

 Father Henriques, a Portuguese missionary, established famine 

 relief houses, in some of which 50 persons were daily fed. 

 The records of the Madura Jesuit Mission contain accounts of 

 some famines which occurred in the 17th and 18th centuries. 

 In 1^64 8 there was a famine in the Coimbatore district when a 

 great p^rt of the population died or deserted the country. In 



