UPSC World History — previous-year questions

The Industrial Revolution

• 2020UPSC

  Which of the following statements correctly explains the impact of the Industrial Revolution on India during the first half of the nineteenth century?

  1. Indian handicrafts were ruined✓ Answer
  2. Machines were introduced in the Indian textile industry in large numbers
  3. Railways lines were laid in many parts of the country
  4. Heavy duties were imposed on the imports of British manufactures

  Why

  The flood of cheap machine-made British textiles destroyed traditional Indian handicraft industries, especially handloom weaving, in the first half of the 19th century.

• 1999UPSC

  There was no independent development of industries in India during British rule because of the:

  1. Absence of heavy industries✓ Answer
  2. Scarcity of foreign capital
  3. Scarcity of natural resources
  4. Preference of the rich to invest in land

  Why

  The absence of a heavy industrial base, iron, steel and machinery, meant that Indian industry could not develop independently because it lacked the foundational infrastructure for industrialisation.

• 1999UPSC

  The term "imperial preference" was applied to the:

  1. Special privileges on British imports in India✓ Answer
  2. Racial discrimination by the Britishers
  3. Subordination of Indian interest to that of the British
  4. Preference given to British political agents over Indian Princes

  Why

  "Imperial preference" referred to the preferential tariff treatment granted to British goods in Indian markets, allowing them to undercut local produce and entrench British commercial dominance.