Question

Question 8 Write a paragraph on why the British insisted on farmers growing opium in India.

Class 9 - Social science - Peasants and Farmers Page 137

Answer 1

The Portuguese had introduced opium is Southeast Asia in early 16 century. Opium was however used only for its medicinal properties. The British send large amount of opium illegally to China in late 18th and 19 centuries.

England at that time produce nothing that could be easily sold in China. Opium cultivation and production in India increased by the British on large scale. The British got large amounts of the tea & silk from China to export them to Europe.

British merchants wanted to balance their trade so they searched for a commodity they could sell in China. So to balance their trade and to earn huge profits they  induced  Indian farmers in Bengal to grow opium so that the British traders could sell it in China.

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