Assertion (A): Colonial cities were the prime link between the economic centre or core in Britain and the periphery or margins in colonised India.

Reason (R): Cities during the colonial period were the concrete expression of global capitalism.

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

The correct answer is Option 1: Both Assertion and Reason are true, and Reason is the correct explanation of the Assertion.

Assertion (A): Colonial cities were the prime link between the economic centre or core in Britain and the periphery or margins in colonised India. — Correct. Colonial cities such as Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai served as major trading centres through which raw materials were exported from India to Britain and manufactured goods were imported into India. Thus, they connected the economic core (Britain) with the colonial periphery (India).

Reason (R): Cities during the colonial period were the concrete expression of global capitalism. — Correct. Colonial cities were developed to facilitate international trade and promote British capitalist interests. They functioned as centres through which the global capitalist system operated, making them the concrete expression of global capitalism.

Assertion–Reason Relationship: The Reason correctly explains the Assertion. Colonial cities became the prime link between Britain and colonised India because they functioned as centres of global capitalism. Their role in exporting raw materials to Britain and importing manufactured goods into India connected the economic core with the colonial periphery, thereby making them the concrete expression of global capitalism