question_answer

?The silk routes are a good example of vibrant pre-modern trade and cultural links between distant parts of the world.? Explain how.

Or

Describe any three main reasons for the decline of textile exports from India in the 19th century.

Or

How did the development or expansion of Bombay (Mumbai) differ from London? State any three points of difference between the two.

Answer:

?The silk routes are a good example of vibrant pre-modern trade and cultural links between distant parts of the world.? This can be justified through the following points:

(i) The routes on which cargoes carried Chinese silk to the west were known as. Silk routes. Historian? Have discovered several silk routes over land and by sea, covering vast regions of Asia and connecting Asia with Europe and Northern Africa.

(ii) Even pottery from China, textile and spices from India and South Asia also travelled the same route In return, precious metals like gold and silver flowed from Europe to Asia.

(iii) Culturally, Buddhism emerged from Eastern India and spread in several directions through the silk route. Thus, silk route not only played a major role in linking distant parts of the world but also helped in the promotion of trade.

Or

Three main reasons for the decline of textile exports from India in the 19th century, are:

(i) As cotton industries developed in England, industrial groups began to pressurise the Government to impose import duties on cotton textiles so that Manchester goods could sell in Britain without facing any competition from outside.

(ii) At the same time industrialists persuaded the East India Company to sell British manufactures in Indian market as well. Exports of British cotton goods increased dramatically in the early 19th century.

(iii) The export market for the Indian cotton weavers collapsed and the local market shrank, being glutted with Manchester imports. The imported cotton goods were cheap and Indian weavers could not compete with them.

Or

Difference between the expansion of Bombay and London:

(i) Town planning in London emerged from fears of social revolution and planning in Bombay came     about as a result of fears about the plague epidemic

(ii) Bombay was a crowded city. Every Londoner in 1840s enjoyed an average space of 155 square yards while Bombay had a mere 9.5 square yards. By 1872 when London had an average of 8 persons per house, the density of Bombay was as high as 20.

(iii) The city of Bombay began to develop along with the development of trade in agricultural goods whereas London began to develop after the industrial revolution.