Question

The British colonial policies in India proved most ruinous for Indian ..............................................
(A) Agriculture
(B) Trade
(C) Industry
(D) Handicrafts

Answer 1

Hint: Britain profited hugely in terms of economics by ruling India. Most of the profit generated was not spent back into the country. The economic growth in India from 1860 to about 1920 was very slow - much slower than in America or Britain. Under British rule, India faced decline in India's local manufacturing industries.

Complete step by step answer:
The Indian handicrafts collapsed under the British rule. This was largely due to the competition imposed by machine made goods that were imported from British. The mass production of machine made goods helped to flood the Indian markets with cheaper products. Even railways facilitated the supply of these goods to remote areas of India and the procurement of raw materials from these places. The traditional handicrafts went through tough competition from readymade goods. The policy of free trade forced by East India Company also helped British rule to dictate their terms of trade. They made the Indian craftsmen to sell their goods lower than the market price. This caused many craftsmen to leave their ancestral trade.
So, the correct answer is Option D.

Note: Indian handicrafts faced a huge challenge from the foreign goods in the market. India started exporting their raw materials to British industries and import machine made goods from Britain. This phenomenon is most well known as Deindustrialization. This destroyed the economy of self-sufficient villages due to destruction of traditional industries. De-industrialization had a large impact on various sectors of the economy.