History · Negotiating the Sources
UGC NET June 2020 History
In 1850, on the eve of the rise of large-scale industry in India, which of the following was the most prominent community engaged in the trade of the two principal exportable goods from the western coast, cotton and opium?
AEuropean capitalists
BBengali traders
CParsis ✓ Correct
DChettiars
Correct answer: (C) Parsis — The community of the western coast cotton and opium trade was the Parsis, so the answer is the Parsis.
Explanation
★The community of the western coast cotton and opium trade was the Parsis, so the answer is the Parsis.
★The two principal exports from the western coast were cotton and opium, centred on Bombay.
★The Parsis were the most prominent community in this trade in the mid-nineteenth century.
★They built large fortunes that later flowed into Indian industry.
★The Chettiars were a mercantile community of the south, not the western coast cotton and opium trade.
★So the most prominent community of this western coast trade was the Parsis.
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