QUESTION 12
GS1
15 marks
Examine how the decline of traditional artisanal industry in colonial India crippled the rural economy.
WRITE IN
11 min
250 words
What the examiner wants
Examine how the colonial collapse of crafts damaged India's rural economy.
ExamineGo into the details, test each point against evidence, and conclude on what it shows.
Demand-wise check
- 1Causes of decline: cheap British machine goods, one-way free trade, loss of princely patronage, Company coercion of weavers, railways opening markets≈50 words
- 2Effects: artisans pushed to agriculture, pressure on land, smaller holdings, landless labour≈50 words
- 3Breakdown of village self-sufficiency and jajmani links; rise in rural debt and poverty≈50 words
- 4Wider: famines hit harder; deindustrialisation debate≈50 words
Open in about 30 words and close in about 30.
Answer plan
Causes of declineShift to landRural consequencesHistoriographyConclusion
Where marks usually go
- Only describing the decline without linking to the rural economy
- No evidence like Dacca muslin's decline or rising British cotton imports
Draw this
- Flowchart: British imports → artisan unemployment → overcrowding in agriculture → rural poverty
Value addition
- DataAmiya Bagchi found the share of industrial population in Gangetic Bihar fell from 18.6% (1809–13) to 8.5% (1901).Amiya Kumar Bagchi, 1976
- Quote'The bones of the cotton weavers are bleaching the plains of India' (1834).Attributed to Governor-General William Bentinck
Mapped topper copies
Reviewed public-source references related to this PYQ. Same-syllabus references are labelled separately.
- Ajay R Raj · AIR 109 · Page 13 ↗Reviewed PYQ reference
- Akansh Dhull · AIR 3 · Page 3 ↗Same syllabus reference
- Monika Srivastava · AIR 16 · Page 3 ↗Same syllabus reference
- Ajay R Raj · AIR 109 · Page 3 ↗Same syllabus reference
Links open original public sources. MainsBuddy does not host these answer sheets.
Next: plan for one minute, write it in 11 minutes, then get it checked.