2020 GS Paper I, all questions
UPSC Prelims 2020 · GS Paper I
Question 33: History and Culture
Indigo cultivation in India declined by the beginning of the 20th century because of
apeasant resistance to the oppressive conduct of planters
bits unprofitability in the world market because of new inventions
cnational leaders’ opposition to the cultivation of indigo
dGovernment control over the planters
AnswerUPSC’s answer is (b).
Natural indigo lost its market when German chemists developed cheap synthetic indigo, produced commercially from the late 1890s, which made planting unprofitable in the world market. The planters' oppression and the revolt of 1859 to 1860 shook the system, but they did not end indigo cultivation. The cheap synthetic dye was the decisive reason for the decline by the early twentieth century.
Why each option is right or wrong
- (a) Wrong: resistance such as the 1859-60 revolt hurt the planters but did not end cultivation.
- (b) Right: synthetic indigo made natural indigo unprofitable.
- (c) Wrong: leaders took up peasants' grievances, as at Champaran in 1917, but this was not the main cause.
- (d) Wrong: government control did not end cultivation; it largely backed the planters.
Answer: UPSC’s key. Explanation: written by UPSC Grade, not by UPSC.
Source: UPSC, Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination 2020, General Studies Paper I, Series A. The paper on upsc.gov.in.