HistoryMedieval India: Peasants, Zamindars and the State

Which of the following forest products became a major item of oversea…

Which of the following forest products became a major item of overseas export from India in the seventeenth century?

Answer & explanation

Correct answer: option 2

The correct answer is Option (2) → Gum lac

Option (1) Honey — Incorrect. Honey was a forest product in great demand. The major overseas export of the time was gum lac.

Option (2) Gum lac — Correct. Gum lac, a forest product, became a major item of overseas export in the seventeenth century, as commercial agriculture and trade reached the forests.

Option (3) Beeswax — Incorrect. Beeswax was in great demand too, but within the trade that reached the forests; gum lac is the one that went overseas in large amounts.

Option (4) Musk — Incorrect. Musk was carried from the northern mountains to the plains of Awadh, in trade between the hills and the plains.

NCERT (2026-27): “4.2 Inroads into forests …
The spread of commercial agriculture was an important external factor that impinged on the lives of those who lived in the forests. Forest products – like honey, beeswax and gum lac – were in great demand. Some, such as gum lac, became major items of overseas export from India in the seventeenth century. Elephants were also captured and sold. Trade involved an exchange of commodities through barter as well. Some tribes, like the Lohanis in the Punjab, were engaged in overland trade, between India and Afghanistan, and in the town-country trade in the Punjab itself.”