UPSC Prelims 2020 · GS Paper I

Question 23: History and Culture

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

aIndian handicrafts were ruined.

bMachines were introduced in the Indian textile industry in large numbers.

cRailway lines were laid in many parts of the country.

dHeavy duties were imposed on the imports of British manufactures.

AnswerUPSC’s answer is (a).

After the Industrial Revolution, cheap machine-made British goods entered India on low duties while Indian goods faced heavy duties in Britain. Indian handicrafts, above all spinning and weaving, collapsed, and displaced artisans fell back on the land. Machines in Indian textiles (the first cotton mill, Bombay) and railways (first line 1853) came from the 1850s, so after the first half of the century.

Why each option is right or wrong

(a) Right: Indian handicrafts were ruined by cheap British machine goods.
(b) Wrong: large-scale machine mills in Indian textiles began from the 1850s.
(c) Wrong: railway building began in 1853 and spread in the second half of the century.
(d) Wrong: it was the reverse; British goods entered India on low duties.

Answer: UPSC’s key. Explanation: written by UPSC Grade, not by UPSC.

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Source: UPSC, Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination 2020, General Studies Paper I, Series A. The paper on upsc.gov.in.