Many poor farmers had been compelled to take up indigo cultivation

Many poor farmers had been compelled to take up indigo cultivation when the British settlers were given the right to purchase and cultivate land in India. Many whites, therefore, either acquired land or advanced loans to poor farmers and pressurized them to forsake the farming of food-grains and other cash crops for indigo cultivation. Indigo export to Europe was lucrative for the British settlers who held a monopoly of this business. Within a few years, most of the fertile lands had undergone forcible indigo cultivation, resulting in a famine situation in Bengal. When the farmers declined to cultivate indigo, they were tortured, jailed and even killed.

1. British settlers bought land in Bengal in order to

  1. introduce cultivation of cash crops in India
  2. cultivate indigo
  3. settle down in India
  4. promote export business in Bengal

2. Indigo export was profitable for the British settlers because

  1. they could oppress the farmers
  2. they had no competitors
  3. the labour was cheap
  4. the crop yield was good

3. The poor farmers in Bengal took up indigo cultivation because

  1. the government encouraged them to do so
  2. this was the only crop that would grow in that region
  3. they were forced to do so
  4. it was a money earning crop

Answers

  1. D
  2. B
  3. C