Which statement is not correct in regards to the Deccan Riots?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → Sahukars in Maharashtra were keen on extending long-term credits after ending of American civil war
When the American Civil War broke out in 1861, Britain looked to India for raw cotton, and the cotton boom brought easy credit to the ryots of the Deccan. The end of the war ended the boom, and the debt and anger that followed fed the Deccan Riots of 1875.
Option (1) After ending of American civil war, cotton production in America revived — A correct statement (not the answer). As the Civil War ended, cotton production in America revived and Indian cotton exports to Britain steadily declined.
Option (2) Sahukars in Maharashtra were keen on extending long-term credits after ending of American civil war — Incorrect statement (the answer). It was the other way round: export merchants and sahukars were no longer keen on extending long-term credit. They could see the demand for Indian cotton falling and prices sliding downwards.
Option (3) Export merchants restricted their advances to peasants and demanded repayments of outstanding debts after 1865 — A correct statement (not the answer). By 1865 the merchants decided to close down their operations, restrict their advances to peasants and demand repayment of outstanding debts.
Option (4) The ryots came to see the moneylenders as devious and deceitful — A correct statement (not the answer). When credit dried up and the revenue demand rose, the ryots came to see the moneylender as devious and deceitful, and complained of him manipulating laws and forging accounts.
NCERT (2025-26): “3.5 Credit dries up … By 1865 these dreams were over. As the Civil War ended, cotton production in America revived and Indian cotton exports to Britain steadily declined. Export merchants and sahukars in Maharashtra were no longer keen on extending long-term credit. They could see the demand for Indian cotton fall and cotton prices slide downwards. So they decided to close down their operations, restrict their advances to peasants, and demand repayment of outstanding debts.… 3.6 The experience of injustice … The ryots came to see the moneylender as devious and deceitful. They complained of moneylenders manipulating laws and forging accounts.… 4. The Deccan Riots Commission … When the revolt spread in the Deccan, the Government of Bombay was initially unwilling to see it as anything serious. But the Government of India, worried by the memory of 1857, pressurised the Government of Bombay to set up a commission of enquiry to investigate into the causes of the riots. The commission produced a report that was presented to the British Parliament in 1878. This report, referred to as the Deccan Riots Report, provides historians with a range of sources for the study of the riot.…” |