NCERT Solutions Chapter 2- From Trade to Territory, Class 8th, SST PDF Download

Chapter 2- From Trade to Territory

Let's Recall

1. Match the following:

2. Fill in the blanks: (a) The British conquest of Bengal began with the Battle of ___________.

► Plassey

(b) Haidar Ali and Tipu Sultan were the rulers of ___________.

► Mysore

(c) Dalhousie implemented the Doctrine of ____________.

► Lapse

(d) Maratha kingdoms were located mainly in the __________ part of India.

► South-Western

3. State whether true or false:

(a) The Mughal empire became stronger in the eighteenth century.

► False

(b) The English East India Company was the only European company that traded with India.

► False

(c) Maharaja Ranjit Singh was the ruler of Punjab.

► True

(d) The British did not introduce administrative changes in the territories they conquered.

► False Let's Discuss

4. What attracted European trading companies to India?

Answer European trading companies were attracted to India because of a number of reasons:

→ Trading with India was highly profitable and fruitful to the businessmen in Europe.

→ The European trading companies purchased goods at cheaper and sold them in Europe at the higher prices.

→ The fine qualities of cotton and silk produced in India had a big market in Europe.

→ Indian spices like - pepper, cloves, cardamom and cinnamon were in great demand in Europe.

5. What were the areas of conflict between the Bengal nawabs and the East India Company?
Answer In the 18th century, after the death of Aurangzeb, the Bengal nawabs asserted their power and autonomy. Through the eighteenth century, the conflicts between them and the East India Company intensified. The nawabs refused to grant the Company concessions, demanded large tributes, denied it the right to mint coins, and stopped it from extending its fortifications. They claimed that the Company was depriving the Bengal government of huge amounts of revenue, and also undermining their authority by refusing to pay taxes, writing disrespectful letters, and humiliating them and their officials. On the other hand, the Company declared that its trade was getting ruined because of the unjust demands of the local officials. It believed that trade could only flourish if the duties were removed. To expand trade, it wanted to enlarge its settlements, buy up villages, and rebuild its forts.

6. How did the assumption of Diwani benefit the East India Company?

Answer
The Diwani right to the East India Company benefitted it in several ways:
→ The Diwani allowed the Company to use the vast revenue resources of Bengal.
→ The East India Company monopolized trade and began direct plunder of India’s wealth.

→ Revenues from India financed Company expenses. These revenues were used to purchase cotton and silk textiles in India, maintain Company troops, and meet the cost of building the Company fort and offices at Calcutta.

→ The company used its political power to monopolize trade & dictate terms. They could impose their own prices that had no relation to the costs of production.

→ The company used revenue of Bengal to finance exports of Indian goods.

7. Explain the system of "subsidiary alliance".

Answer After the battle of Plassey in 1757, the battle of Buxar in 1764 and gaining the Diwani of Bengal, the company began to expand its rule in many parts of India. For that it had devised several plans, one among them was the “Subsidiary Alliance”. According to the terms of this alliance -

→ Indian rulers were not allowed to have their independent armed forces.

→ They were to be protected by the company but pay for the Subsidiary Forces, that the company was supposed to maintain for the purpose of their protection.

→ If the Indian rulers failed to make payment, then that part of territory was taken away by the company as penalty. For example, in 1801, the nawab of Awadh was forced to give over half of his territory to the Company for failing to pay for the “subsidiary forces”.

8. In what way was the administration of the Company different from that of Indian rulers?

Answer → British territories were broadly divided into administrative units called Presidencies. There were three Presidencies like - Bengal, Madras & Bombay whereas under the Indian rulers administration was divided into four parts - District (Zila), Paragana, Tehsil and Villages.

→ Each administrative unit was ruled by a Governor.

→ The supreme head of the administration was the Governor-General, whereas under the Indian Administrative system the supreme head was King or Nawab.

→ Warren Hastings introduced the new system of justice. Each district was to have two courts- civil & criminal court.

→ The European District Collector presided over civil courts.

→ The criminal courts were still under a Qazi and a Mufti.

→ Under the Regulating Act of 1773, a new supreme court was established.

→ The main figure in an Indian District was Collector.

→ According to his title Collector, his main job was to collect the revenue and the taxes and maintain law & order in his district with the help of judges, police officers and darogas.

9. Describe the changes that occurred in the composition of the Company's army.

Answer During the eighteenth century, when the East India Company began recruitment for its own army, it started recruiting peasants and began training them as professional soldiers. Like the Mughal army, the Company's army was also
composed of the cavalry and the infantry regiments, with the cavalry dominating the army. However, as warfare technology changed during the nineteenth century, the cavalry requirements of the Company's army declined. As the soldiers had to be armed with muskets and matchlocks, the infantry regiments became more important.