Civil Services Prep

Prelims 2018 · Modern History and the Freedom Struggle · Question 68

The staple commodities of export by the English East India Company from Bengal in the middle of the 18th century were

  1. Raw cotton, oil-seeds and opium
  2. Sugar, salt, zinc and lead
  3. Copper, silver, gold, spices and tea
  4. Cotton, silk, saltpetre and opium

Answer

Cotton, silk, saltpetre and opium

  • (a) Raw cotton, oil-seeds and opium — Incorrect. Bengal was not chiefly exporting raw cotton and oil-seeds as staple Company exports in the mid-18th century.
  • (b) Sugar, salt, zinc and lead — Incorrect. These were not the principal export staples of the English East India Company from Bengal.
  • (c) Copper, silver, gold, spices and tea — Incorrect. Silver and gold were more often imported bullion for trade; tea was not a staple Bengal export of the Company in this period.
  • (d) Cotton, silk, saltpetre and opium — Correct. The Company’s major Bengal exports in the mid-18th century included textiles (cotton goods), silk, saltpetre, and opium.
  1. Consider the following statements : I. Pali texts contain the first definite references to coins, e.g.,…
  2. Consider the following statements relating to the use of the place-value system in India : 1. The earliest…
  3. Consider the following statements about the archaeological findings in Harappan towns : I. There is wide…
  4. Which one of the following statements about the Eka Movement and Bardoli Satyagraha is correct ?
  5. Consider the following statements about the Rigvedic period : I. Irrigation from wells allowed agriculture to…
  6. Which of the following pairs of the king and his dynasty in early historical Tamilakam is/are **not**…