Q1. [3] deep thorough-understanding
An Indian merchant in the 1820s argues: 'India has always dominated global textile trade — our cloth is unrivalled and our weavers are skilled. No foreign power can displace us.' Using evidence from the collapse of India's textile exports between the 1810s and 1850s, critically examine this claim, identifying the forces the merchant failed to anticipate.
Generated by claude-sonnet-4-6 · 2026-06-26 15:00 · grounding rag
Model Answer
The merchant's confidence was misplaced. He failed to anticipate three key forces:
- British protectionism: Britain imposed tariffs on Indian cotton imports, shutting out fine Indian textiles from European markets.
- Manchester competition: British mills produced cheap machine-made cloth, flooding Indian markets. Indian piece-goods exports fell from 33% (1811–12) to just 3% (1850–51).
- Colonial trade policy: The East India Company pressured Indian markets to absorb British manufactures, simultaneously killing India's export and domestic markets.
India shifted from exporting finished cloth to exporting raw cotton — a reversal that exposed complete deindustrialisation of the weaving sector.
Source: The Making of a Global World, Chapter 4 (Sections 3.2, 3.3)
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Explanation
- The question asks you to critically examine — so don't just narrate; use the data (33% → 3%) to directly challenge the merchant's claim.
- Three forces = three points: tariff barriers, machine competition, and colonial policy. Cover all three briefly.
- The examiner rewards use of specific figures and the term deindustrialisation.
- Don't waste words praising India's past glory — get straight to what went wrong and why the merchant was wrong.