Before the railway age, the town of Mirzapur was a collection center for cotton from the ____________.
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → Deccan
This question comes from the caption of a picture from the Illustrated London News of 13 December 1862. It shows a fleet of boats carrying cotton bales down the Ganges from Mirzapur, and the caption adds that before the railway age, Mirzapur was a collection centre for cotton from the Deccan. These were the years of the cotton boom, when the American Civil War cut supplies to Britain and cotton production in the Deccan expanded fast.
Tip: A picture’s caption is part of the chapter too. When you revise, read the line under every illustration, not only the picture.
NCERT: Themes in Indian History Part III — Chapter 9: Colonialism and the Countryside (2025-26)
Fig. 9.18 A fleet of boats carrying cotton bales down the Ganges from Mirzapur, Illustrated London News, 13 December 1862. Before the railway age, the town of Mirzapur was a collection centre for cotton from the Deccan. |
