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

Assertion: From the mid-eighteenth century, commercial centres such as Surat, Masulipatnam and Dhaka, which had grown in the seventeenth century saw a decline.
Reasoning: As the British gradually acquired political control after the Battle of Plassey in 1757, and the trade of the English East India Company expanded, colonial port cities such as Madras, Calcutta and Bombay rapidly emerged as the new economic capitals.

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

From the mid-eighteenth century, there was a new phase of change. Commercial centres such as Surat, Masulipatnam and Dhaka, which had grown in the seventeenth century, declined when trade shifted to other places. As the British gradually acquired political control after the Battle of Plassey in 1757, and the trade of the English East India Company expanded, colonial port cities such as Madras, Calcutta and Bombay rapidly emerged as the new economic capitals. They also became centres of colonial administration and political power.