The disaster that is forgotten.

It was the year 1876 the wind and water together broke hell on the city of Backerganj taking the lives of more than 2 lakhs and leaving the rest to succumb to death without water and food. The greatest cyclonic disaster that the world had seen was forced to be taken out of the pages of history...

A painting of rebuilding the city after the cyclone struck, one of the few reminders that remain of this disaster; Illustrated by: London news

It was the year 1876 the wind and water together broke hell on the city of Backerganj taking the lives of more than 2 lakhs and leaving the rest to succumb to death without water and food. The greatest cyclonic disaster that the world had seen was forced to be taken out of the pages of history...

Backerganj was a swampy lowland area. It was entirely flat, not a hill in sight. It was the perfect land for cultivation. The picturesque beauty of vast lands of lush greens, the freshness of vegetation was all one could see. The greenery bloomed even more after a drizzle. There wasn't a single time throughout the year this district faced drought.

Backerganj was the home to the World's largest delta formed by the river Ganges and the Brahmaputra. The entire area was dotted with bamboo and palm trees, and in between these trees flowed beautiful dark coloured streams. Sounds like a perfect beach view right?

Along the numerous natural streams there grew long grasses and aquatic plants. The Sunderbans area was covered with forest tracks, being home to the majestic royal tigers and leopards. In places that weren't covered with flora fauna, one could see vast rice fields and among them the scattered huts for people to live in.

It was the year 1876, people living there had no clue what was coming their way. Something that was completely going to destroy the beauty of the place and turn it into a graveyard. On 27 October, unknown to the people of Backerganj a depression was forming in the Bay of Bengal, by 30 October it turned into a full-blown cyclonic storm with a core of hurricane winds. The cyclone moved towards the North Bay. By now people in Backerganj could feel something wrong in the air. The wind speed, the turbulence in the sea wasn't something they had witnessed before. In fact, the storm that was coming their way wasn't something the entire world had seen before.

Even when people realised something troublesome was headed their way, it was too late to do anything. The cyclone landed in Backerganj on 31st October and unleashed hell over the place. With no cyclonic shelters, no warnings, no officials to help the people were completely left alone in the middle of the apocalypse. The wind was recorded up to 220 km per hour (140 km per hour speed can easily blow away tall buildings). The waves that rose on the coast were seen to be as high as 13.6 metres, the tallest storm surges to be recorded by history. Half of the population was drowned in the storm surges.

The cyclone unleashed its fury the entire day of 31st October and when it ended, the entire place remained lifeless. The trees uprooted, not a hut in site, nor a bird could be heard. The real damage by what is now categorised as a super cyclone remains unknown. It wasn't going to be an easy count anyway. The entire landscape that was dotted with greenery was now laid with dead bodies. The estimated count is that around 200,000 people lost their lives which is a huge number, yet an understatement to the real damage.

Unfortunately, the monstrous cyclone wasn't the real monster, it was the famine that followed. The people who survived the day were left to die without food as the cyclone had completely destroyed all the fields and harvest. Not only the British government failed to record the history of this event properly, but there is also no recollection of the relief given to these areas. It took decades for Backerganj to come out of the rubble it was reduced to.

In the years to come, this cyclone goes down as one of the worst cyclones to have hit the world. Unfortunately, without maintaining any proper record or providing relief it seems the then British government has forced history to forget this event. In order to escape from the consequence of their negligence, the plight of the people of Backerganj could never see the pages of history.

Map of Eastern Bengal during the British rule. Backerganj is in division marked 1, at the southernmost point; Image source: Wikipedia Commons