Which of the following statements about colonial India are correct?
(A) Before colonisation, India was a major supplier of manufactured goods to the world.
(B) After colonisation, India became a source of raw materials and consumer of manufactured goods.
(C) New communities that emerged under colonialism lost economic power after Independence.
(D) New groups, especially Europeans, entered trade and business in colonial India.
(E) Most historians consider the post-Independence period the turning point.
Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → A, B and D only
(A) Before colonisation, India was a major supplier of manufactured goods to the world. — Correct. Before British rule, India sold manufactured goods to the world market on a large scale. The handloom industry is one example of this output, later ruined by cheap cloth from England.
(B) After colonisation, India became a source of raw materials and consumer of manufactured goods. — Correct. Colonisation reversed India's role. India now supplied raw materials and farm products and bought manufactured goods, mostly for the benefit of industrialising England.
(C) New communities that emerged under colonialism lost economic power after Independence. — Incorrect. The feature is reversed. The new communities that rose under colonialism, such as the Marwaris, kept their economic power even after Independence.
(D) New groups, especially Europeans, entered trade and business in colonial India. — Correct. New groups, above all the Europeans, entered trade and business. Sometimes they joined hands with existing merchant communities, and sometimes they forced them out.
(E) Most historians consider the post-Independence period the turning point. — Incorrect. Most historians treat the colonial period as the turning point. In that era India became more fully linked to the world capitalist economy.
NCERT (2026-27): “Colonialism and the Emergence of New Markets … |