Which of the following statements is true about Colonialism in India?

Answer & explanation

Correct answer: option 2

The correct answer is Option (2) → Colonialism gave birth to Nationalism in India.

Option (1) Parochialism gave birth to Colonialism in India. — Incorrect. Parochialism is a narrow loyalty to one’s own locality or group. Colonialism was the rule of a foreign power over India; it did not grow out of local loyalties.

Option (2) Colonialism gave birth to Nationalism in India. — Correct. Colonial exploitation and domination scarred Indian society, but paradoxically colonialism also gave birth to its own enemy – nationalism. The shared experience of colonial domination helped unify different sections of the community, and an Indian nationalism took shape under British rule.

Option (3) Urban poor were the main carriers of Nationalism in Colonial India. — Incorrect. Colonialism created new classes, and it was the urban middle classes who were the main carriers of nationalism and led the campaign for freedom, with the aid of western style education.

Option (4) Capitalist economic changes in India were not related to Colonialism. — Incorrect. Colonial rule unified India and brought in the forces of modernisation and capitalist economic change, so the two are directly related.

Note: The paragraph on how colonialism gave birth to nationalism, in the section ‘1.1 Introducing an Introduction’ of the chapter ‘Introducing Indian Society’, was there in the pre-rationalised NCERT. It had already been deleted in the 2023-24 NCERT, which NTA followed in 2024, and is not in the NCERT book (2025-26), though the chapter is still there.

NCERT (Pre-rationalised): “1.1 Introducing an Introduction … … Broadly speaking, it was in the colonial period that a specifically Indian consciousness took shape. Colonial rule unified all of India for the first time, and brought in the forces of modernisation and capitalist economic change. By and large, the changes brought about were irreversible – society could never return to the way things were before. The economic, political and administrative unification of India under colonial rule was achieved at great expense. Colonial exploitation and domination scarred Indian society in many ways. But paradoxically, colonialism also gave birth to its own enemy – nationalism. Historically, an Indian nationalism took shape under British colonialism. The shared experience of colonial domination helped unify and energise different sections of the community. The emerging middle classes began, with the aid of western style education, to challenge colonialism on its own ground. Ironically, colonialism and western education also gave the impetus for the rediscovery of tradition. This led to the developments on the cultural and social front which solidified emergent forms of community at the national and regional levels. Colonialism created new classes and communities which came to play significant roles in subsequent history. The urban middle classes were the main carriers of nationalism and they led the campaign for freedom.…”