A study of the socio-economic context and impact of influenza pandemic of 1918–19 on Bihar

The influenza pandemic of 1918–19 wreaked havoc all over the world, and Bihar, where more than a million people died, was no exception. The pandemic became more lethal in Bihar relative to what we know of other states in eastern India. Why did rural mortality surpass urban mortality? How did the pan...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inThe Indian economic and social history review Vol. 60; no. 1; pp. 81 - 104
Main Author Jha, Sudhanshu Kumar
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published New Delhi, India SAGE Publications 01.01.2023
SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
Subjects
Economic crisis
Inflation
Influenza
Infrastructure
Labor force
Labor migration
Mortality
Pandemics
Population density
Socioeconomic factors
migration
Bihar
health
pandemic
Influenza
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Summary:The influenza pandemic of 1918–19 wreaked havoc all over the world, and Bihar, where more than a million people died, was no exception. The pandemic became more lethal in Bihar relative to what we know of other states in eastern India. Why did rural mortality surpass urban mortality? How did the pandemic worsen the socio-economic crisis in the years that followed? This study examines the socio-economic context of the pandemic in Bihar at a micro-level and investigates how the pandemic became unbearable for the people due to a severe economic crisis that resulted from the war and failed monsoons, among other factors. It seeks to explain the manner in which factors such as agricultural failure, inflation, high population density and poor health infrastructure resulted in higher rural mortality. It also shows how the loss of the younger generation and forced migration during the pandemic resulted in a lower rate of birth in the years following the pandemic, resulting in a loss of the labour force and worsening of the agrarian crisis.
ISSN:0019-4646
0973-0893
DOI:10.1177/00194646221148699