Which of the following is NOT true in the context of the Marwaris (business community) of India?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → Their accumulated wealth had a negative impact on the commercial expansion of the British in India.
Option (1) They became successful business community during colonial period. — True. They rose as a business community only during the colonial period.
Option (2) They took advantage while settling in colonial cities such as Calcutta. — True. They used the new opportunities of colonial cities such as Calcutta.
Option (3) Their accumulated wealth had a negative impact on the commercial expansion of the British in India. — False. Marwari families who became moneylenders and bankers helped the commercial expansion of the British; their wealth did not hold it back.
Option (4) They transformed themselves into modern industrialists. — True. In the late colonial period and after Independence some families became modern industrialists.
NCERT (2025-26): “…A good example of this process is provided by the Marwaris, probably the most widespread and best-known business community in India. Represented by leading industrial families such as the Birlas, the community also includes shopkeepers and small traders in the bazaars of towns throughout the country. The Marwaris became a successful business community only during the colonial period, when they took advantage of new opportunities in colonial cities such as Calcutta and settled throughout the country to carry out trade and moneylending. Like the Nakarattars, the success of the Marwaris rested on their extensive social networks, which created the relations of trust necessary to operate their banking system. Many Marwari families accumulated enough wealth to become moneylenders, and by acting as bankers also helped the commercial expansion of the British in India (Hardgrove 2004). In the late colonial period and after Independence, some Marwari families transformed themselves into modern industrialists, and even today Marwaris control more of India’s industry than any other community.…” |