HistoryModern India: Colonialism and the Countryside

In 1861, who asked what could prevent India from supplanting the Slav…

In 1861, who asked what could prevent India from supplanting the Slave States of America as the feeder of Lancashire?

Answer & explanation

Correct answer: option 3

The correct answer is Option (3) → The editor of the Bombay Gazette

Option (1) The Cotton Supply Association — Incorrect. The Cotton Supply Association (1857) was a British body formed to encourage cotton production across the world.

Option (2) The editor of the Illustrated London News — Incorrect. The Illustrated London News printed pictures of how cotton was carried and studied, but this question came from a Bombay paper.

Option (3) The editor of the Bombay Gazette — Correct. The editor of the Bombay Gazette voiced the dream of Indian merchants that India would replace America as Lancashire's supplier.

Option (4) The Manchester Cotton Company — Incorrect. The Manchester Cotton Company (1859) had the same aim of more cotton, but the words belong to the Bombay editor.

NCERT (2026-27): “3.5 Credit dries up
While the boom lasted, cotton merchants in India had visions of capturing the world market in raw cotton, permanently displacing America. The editor of the Bombay Gazette had asked in 1861, “What can prevent India from supplanting the Slave States (of U.S.A.) as the feeder of Lancashire?” By 1865 these dreams were over. As the Civil War ended, cotton production in America revived and Indian cotton exports to Britain steadily declined.”