ABSTRACT
The story of mortality transition in India is truly a remarkable one. Mortality, which was high during the 19th century, started declining from the beginning of the 20th century, doubling the life expectancy at birth in the course of the 20th century. The data for the analyses of trends during the pre-independence period are drawn mainly from published secondary sources. Mortality across British India was strikingly high in the period between 1872 and 1921. The high death rates during 1872–1921 were primarily owing to burgeoning disease mortality, supplemental to famine deaths. Diseases like cholera, smallpox, plague, diarrhoea and respiratory diseases continued to account for the high death toll during 1922–41. Mortality in India declined rapidly after the 1970s, and the life expectancy at birth of both males and females increased in all the states in both rural and urban areas. The life expectancy at birth of both males and females differs significantly between rural and urban areas.
