works received ration tickets which they then exchanged for grain at the grain merchant's; the merchant, in turn, recovered the cost of the grain plus his profit by presenting the tickets to the government. Soon, however, it was discovered that the merchants were adulterating the grain rations to fully half their weight with "sand or powdered bones." In April 1838, therefore, the Government took over the distribution of the rations. The table below gives the expenditure in the relief works in one district, Farrukhabad, for the duration of the scarcity. According to , a total of Rs. 2,300,000 was spent on relief throughout the famine-afflicted region. Merchants Merchants as a class were variably affected by the famine, with some wealthier merchants, who had sufficient capital to diversify their holdings, profiteering, even as the poorer ones suffered much distress. At the onset of the famine, the rich salt merchants of the middle Doab were immediately able to switch from salt to grain and make windfall profits. The small salt merchants, especially the itinerant merchants, however, did not have such flexibility. According to , a British military officer observed Banjara merchants—who had traditionally traded salt from their region in Rajputana for grain from Rohilkhand to the north-east—returning "from the northern markets of Farrukabad and Shahjahanpur" with no loads of grain on their cattle; the price of grain had been too high for them to turn a profit. Similarly, the intermediate salt merchants, who had traditionally bought salt in bulk from the big merchants and offered it on credit to the small ones, now found themselves with nothing to buy or sell. The Agra region, had in fact had a serious economic downturn in the decade before, as bullion had become scarce. The smaller merchants, such as those selling "brass vessels, low grade cloths and liquor" had already been in considerable distress, since their patrons, the small farmers, had no surplus income to buy their goods with. See also Ceded and Conquered Provinces Chalisa famine Company rule in India Drought in India Famine in India Timeline of major famines in India during British rule Notes References Further reading Famines in British India Famines in India History of Agra 1837 in British India 1838 in British India 19th-century famines 1837 disasters in India 1838 disasters in India