HistoryModern India: Colonialism and the Countryside

While the American crisis continued in the 1860s, cotton production e…

While the American crisis continued in the 1860s, cotton production expanded in which of the following regions?

Answer & explanation

Correct answer: option 2

The correct answer is Option (2) → Bombay Deccan

Option (1) Bengal Presidency — Incorrect. The Bengal Presidency is the region of the Permanent Settlement, where zamindars collected revenue; the cotton boom centred on the Bombay Deccan.

Option (2) Bombay Deccan — Correct. Cheap credit from merchants and sahukars made the ryots of the Bombay Deccan plant more cotton, so production there grew.

Option (3) Rajmahal hills — Incorrect. The Rajmahal hills were home to the Paharias and the Santhals, who lived by shifting and settled cultivation far from the Deccan cotton tracts.

Option (4) Burdwan — Incorrect. Burdwan was a zamindari in Bengal, known for the auction of the Raja's estates under the Permanent Settlement.

NCERT (2026-27): “3.4 Then came the cotton boom …
These developments had a profound impact on the Deccan countryside. The ryots in the Deccan villages suddenly found access to seemingly limitless credit. They were being given Rs 100 as advance for every acre they planted with cotton. Sahukars were more than willing to extend long-term loans.”

“While the American crisis continued, cotton production in the Bombay Deccan expanded.”

“Between 1860 and 1864 cotton acreage doubled. …”