Economic Impact of British Rule in India FAQs

1. Under British rule, the era of one-way free trade for British citizens began with which legislation?

2. Approximately what tariff was imposed on Indian textiles entering European markets, making Indian cloth uncompetitive?

3. By which year had European markets become virtually closed to Indian exports?

4. What share of the world economy did India account for at the beginning of the eighteenth century, according to historians?

5. The process by which artisans, losing their traditional livelihood, moved to villages and took up agriculture is termed:

6. Consider the following statements regarding deindustrialisation under British rule: (I) It was accompanied by rapid modern industrialisation within India. (II) It occurred alongside a reintensified Industrial Revolution in Europe. (III) Indian artisans had already lost patronage from princes and nobility before this phase. Which of the above is/are correct?

7. Which land settlement system, enforced by the British government, caused great insecurity to tenants by making land transferable?

8. In the impoverishment of the peasantry, the peasant is described as suffering under a "triple burden" of the Government, zamindar, and:

9. By 1815, roughly what proportion of the total land in Bengal had passed into the hands of merchants, moneylenders, and other moneyed classes?

10. Approximately how many people are estimated to have died in famines in India between 1850 and 1900?

11. The slump in cotton prices that hit Indian cultivators hard, leading to heavy indebtedness and agrarian riots in the Deccan in the 1870s, occurred in which year?

12. Which sector is described as having reached the highest level of development of commercialisation, being mostly owned by Europeans and producing for a wider market?

13. A British law of 1813 restricted the Indian shipping industry by prohibiting ships below what tonnage from sailing between India and Britain?

14. Under an 1814 law, Indian-built ships were refused recognition as:

15. Indian steel firms such as the Tatas were restricted by being forced to produce steel of what kind for British use?

16. Who set up the first cotton textile mill in India, in Bombay in 1853?

17. The first jute mill in India came up in 1855 at which location?

18. Who is known as the "Grand Old Man of India" and put forward the theory of economic drain?

19. Dadabhai Naoroji put forward the drain theory in which book?

20. Which economic analyst is associated with the work "The Economic History of India"?

21. Consider the following statements on the components of the "economic drain" from India: (I) Salaries and pensions of civil and military officials. (II) Interest on loans taken by the Indian Government from abroad. (III) Profits on foreign investment in India. Which of the above is/are correct?

22. According to nationalist estimates, the economic drain, in terms of savings, amounted to roughly what share of the total savings of the time?

23. Which Marxist historian identified three overlapping stages in the history of British imperialist rule in India?

24. Consider the following stages of colonialism in India and their approximate periods: (I) Period of Merchant Capital – 1757 to 1813 (II) Colonialism of Free Trade – 1813 to 1860s (III) Era of Foreign Investment and International Competition – from the 1860s Which of the above pairs is/are correctly matched?

25. During the first stage of colonialism (Merchant Capital), the drain of wealth from India constituted roughly what share of Britain's national income at the time?

26. Which act, marking the start of the second stage of colonialism (Colonialism of Free Trade), removed or drastically reduced import duties in India?

27. During the second stage of colonialism, India absorbed roughly what percentage of Britain's total textile exports?

28. In the third stage of colonialism, British colonial policy shifted from liberal imperialism to reactionary imperialism, reflected in the viceroyalties of Lytton, Dufferin, Lansdowne, and:

29. In the third stage of colonialism, British capital invested in India was directed most heavily into:

30. The notion of training Indians for self-government, which had vanished during the third stage of colonialism, was revived only after which year, due to pressure from the national movement?

54. Economic Impact of British Rule in India