A historian lists features of Buchanan's surveys for the East India Company. Which of the following pairs is correctly matched?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → Buchanan's search for valuable minerals - iron ore, mica, granite and saltpetre
Option (1) Cost of Buchanan's travels - borne by the zamindars of the districts visited — Incorrect. The East India Company paid for his travels, because it needed the information he collected.
Option (2) Buchanan's search for valuable minerals - iron ore, mica, granite and saltpetre — Correct. Buchanan looked for commercially valuable minerals and recorded signs of iron ore, mica, granite and saltpetre, the resources the Company wished to control.
Option (3) Buchanan's large party - made up mostly of sepoys and cavalry — Incorrect. His party was of draughtsmen, surveyors, palanquin bearers and coolies, a team for survey work.
Option (4) Buchanan's arrival in a village - welcomed as a Christian missionary — Incorrect. Villagers saw him as an agent of the sarkar, a man of the government, because of his large party.
NCERT (2026-27): “2.3 The accounts of Buchanan … “… As the Company consolidated its power and expanded its commerce, it looked for natural resources it could control and exploit. It surveyed landscapes and revenue sources, organised voyages of discovery, and sent its geologists and geographers, its botanists and medical men to collect information. Buchanan, undoubtedly an extraordinary observer, was one such individual. Everywhere Buchanan went, he obsessively observed the stones and rocks and the different strata and layers of soil. He searched for minerals and stones that were commercially valuable, he recorded all signs of iron ore and mica, granite and saltpetre. He carefully observed local practices of salt-making and ironore-mining.” |