UPSC Prelims 2018 · Question 52 of 99
UPSC Prelims 2018 question on Colonial Commercialisation Agriculture
- ExamUPSC CSE
- Year2018
- PaperGeneral Studies Paper I
- SubjectModern History
- TopicEconomic Policies of British
- DifficultyEasy
- TypeDirect
Economically, one of the results of the British rule in India in the 19th century was the
Show answer
Answer: C. commercialization of Indian agriculture
Analysis
Commercialisation of Indian agriculture was a result, so the answer is (c).
Option (a) is wrong. Deindustrialisation ruined artisans and handicraftsmen as cheap machine made imports flooded India after the Charter Act of 1813 opened one way free trade for British citizens, while Indian products found European markets virtually closed to them after 1820. Handicraft exports fell rather than rose.
Option (d) is wrong for a related reason. Deindustrialisation brought the decline of many cities and a ruralisation of India, as artisans abandoned their professions, moved to villages and took to agriculture, increasing pressure on land. Urban population did not rise rapidly.
Option (b) is wrong because modern industry developed only in the second half of the century and was largely under British capital.
That leaves commercialisation of agriculture, the shift towards cash crops grown for distant markets, which is the accepted characterisation of the period.
Source
Spectrum, Chapter 8, Economic Impact of British Rule in India, page 274.
How to crack it
Three of the four options can be knocked out by one idea, deindustrialisation, which implies falling handicraft exports and ruralisation rather than urban growth. Learn colonial economic impact as a linked chain rather than as separate facts, and a single concept will clear most of the option grid.