In the given question, a statement of Assertion is followed by a statement of Reason. Mark the correct answer.

Assertion: Britishers were highly interested in acquiring the territory of Awadh.

Reason: Soil there was good for producing indigo and cotton, and the region was ideally located to be developed into the principal market of Upper India.

Both the Assertion and the Reason are correct and the Reason is the correct explanation of the Assertion.

The correct answer is Option 1 - Both the Assertion and the Reason are correct and the Reason is the correct explanation of the Assertion.

Assertion: Britishers were highly interested in acquiring the territory of Awadh. (Correct)

Reason: Soil there was good for producing indigo and cotton, and the region was ideally located to be developed into the principal market of Upper India. (Correct)

In 1851 Governor General Lord Dalhousie described the kingdom of Awadh as “a cherry that will drop into our mouth one day”. Five years later, in 1856, the kingdom was formally annexed to the British Empire. The conquest happened in stages. The Subsidiary Alliance had been imposed on Awadh in 1801. By the terms of this alliance the Nawab had to disband his military force, allow the British to position their troops within the kingdom, and act in accordance with the advice of the British Resident who was now to be attached to the court. Deprived of his armed forces, the Nawab became increasingly dependent on the British to maintain law and order within the kingdom. He could no longer assert control over the rebellious chiefs and taluqdars. In the meantime the British became increasingly interested in acquiring the territory of Awadh. They felt that the soil there was good for producing indigo and cotton, and the region was ideally located to be developed into the principal market of Upper India. By the early 1850s, moreover, all the major areas of India had been conquered: the Maratha lands, the Doab, the Carnatic, the Punjab and Bengal. The takeover of Awadh in 1856 was expected to complete a process of territorial annexation that had begun with the conquest of Bengal almost a century earlier.