AI-generated practice question — model-generated for extra practice, not a previous-year CBSE board question.
This shift reveals that India was reduced to a supplier of raw materials and a consumer of British manufactured goods — a classic colonial economic relationship.
Britain imposed high tariffs on Indian textiles to protect its own industries, causing India's textile exports to collapse. Simultaneously, British manufacturers used India as a captive market for their machine-made cloth. India was thus deindustrialised — forced to export cheap raw cotton to feed British mills and import expensive finished cloth. This generated a trade surplus for Britain, which it used to balance deficits elsewhere, making India financially exploited within a global colonial system.
Source: The Making of a Global World, chapter 3; Industries, chapter 4
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Examiners look for three connected ideas: (1) deindustrialisation of India, (2) India's role as raw-material supplier and market for British goods, and (3) how this served British economic interests (trade surplus, home charges). Avoid vague phrases like "India was exploited" without specific evidence — cite the export/import figures from the passage to show you understand the mechanism. Three clear points earns full marks.