ABSTRACT
Ecstasy and agony seem to come in tides to peasants because of the rain. Lack of or inadequate rainfall, leading to scarcity of water, has offered moments of agony. When monsoons failed in Tamil country, it brought untold suffering to people owing to non-availability of water. One of the symptoms of the failure of monsoon in Tamil country was the rise in the prices of food-grains. In the absence of state machinery to fight against famines, the sabhas took active role. It has been gleaned from French missionary records that famines were major causes leading to large-scale conversion of many Hindus, including pariahs, to Christianity. The connection between climate, famine and drought continues to be a paradigm in historical research. The data collected from the inscriptional records besides Portuguese, Dutch, German, French and English documents regarding the famine years have been carefully examined.
