Target Exam

CUET

Subject

History

Chapter

Medieval India: Through the Eyes of Travellers

Question:

Which Indian manufactured goods were highly demanded in international markets, according to Ibn Battuta?

Options:

Weapons and armor

Jewelry and flowers

Textiles such as cotton cloth, muslins, silks, brocade, and satin

Spices and medicinal herbs

Correct Answer:

Textiles such as cotton cloth, muslins, silks, brocade, and satin

Explanation:

The correct answer is option 3: Textiles such as cotton cloth, muslins, silks, brocade, and satin

Indian textiles, especially cotton and fine muslins, were highly valued in global markets and fetched high profits.

While Ibn Battuta was not particularly concerned with explaining the prosperity of towns, historians have used his account to suggest that towns derived a significant portion of their wealth through the appropriation of surplus from villages. Ibn Battuta found Indian agriculture very productive because of the fertility of the soil, which allowed farmers to cultivate two crops a year. He also noted that the subcontinent was well integrated with inter-Asian networks of trade and commerce, with Indian manufactures being in great demand in both West Asia and Southeast Asia, fetching huge profits for artisans and merchants. Indian textiles, particularly cotton cloth, fine muslins, silks, brocade and satin, were in great demand. Ibn Battuta informs us that certain varieties of fine muslin were so expensive that they could be worn only by the nobles and the very rich.