• What were some new technological
developments and food items introduced in
India by the traders and the rulers?
Answers
Explanation:
Horticulture was patronized by the rulers as well as nobles. Pineapple was brought to India by the Portuguese from Latin America. Papaya, cashew nuts, Leechi and Guava were known to them. Potato and tomato were introduced in the 17th century and thereafter.
Explanation:
Cultivation of tobacco also began in India during the 16th century and it was introduced into India by the Portuguese. The cultivation of coffee was known from the 17th century. The beverage tea does not figure in the records of this period; oil was extracted from rapeseed, castor, and linseed which were grown extensively. The cultivation of other oil seeds was relatively less. Sericulture was undertaken in the provinces of Bengal, Assam, Kashmir and Western Coast. Horticulture was patronized by the rulers as well as nobles. Pineapple was brought to India by the Portuguese from Latin America.
Papaya, cashew nuts, Leechi and Guava were known to them. Potato and tomato were introduced in the 17th century and thereafter. Cattle played a significant role in agricultural operations and production. The contemporary European travelers refer to a large number of cattle in Indian fields. Butter or ghee was consumed daily even by ordinary people as a part of the regular diet. Oxen were used for transporting goods as pack animals or for bullock carts.
It is no exaggeration to surest that there was abundance of agricultural products which enabled even the common people to fill their belly satisfactorily. Besides agricultural production, non-agricultural production of textiles, indigo, sugar, oil and various crafts received new heights. Abul Fazl provides a list of important centres of production of cotton textiles like Gujarat, Rajasthan, UP, Bengal, Bihar and Orissa, Masulipatnam and the Coromandal Coast.
According to Hameeda Naqui, forty-nine varieties of clothes were produced in five major production centres of the Mughal Empire. The European accounts mention more than one hundred varieties. Woodcraft and metal craft also received patronage from the royalty, nobility and the commoners. We can justifiably say that the salt produced in India at that time was sufficient to meet the needs of the domestic sector and saltpetre was exported on a large scale.