[2] The famine was the result of three consecutive staple crop failures, causing plague and leading to intense hunger, disease, and displacement in the region.
Both Persian and European sources tell the story of this famine, with a subverted cornucopoeia of grotesque consumption patterns: cattle-hide was eaten, dead men’s bones were ground with flour, cannibalism was frequent, and people fed on corpses.
Carts belonging to banjaras (carriers) transporting grain from the more productive regions of Malwa were intercepted and supplies diverted to feed Shah Jahan’s royal army in Burhanpur, who were fighting territorial wars in the Deccan (southern) provinces.
Imperial charitable practices of opening free kitchens and offering land revenue remission had limited effect.
Gujarat was one of the main production centres for calico cloth and this trade was badly affected by the death and migration of weavers.