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Q58 (CAPF/2009) History & Culture › Medieval India › Medieval Indian economy Answer Verified

Consider the following statements about Indian trade and commerce in the medieval period : 1. India exported cotton piece goods to the wider world in the medieval period. 2. India received gold and silver from the wider world in lieu of her cotton goods. 3. India also supplied raw materials to the European industries in the medieval period. Which of the statements given above is/are correct ?

Result
Your answer: —  Â·  Correct: A
Explanation

In the medieval period, India was a global manufacturing hub, particularly for textiles. Statement 1 is correct as India exported a wide range of cotton piece goods, from calicoes to muslins, across the Indian Ocean and later to Europe [t1, t4, t8]. Statement 2 is correct because India maintained a favorable balance of trade; foreign merchants, including Europeans, typically paid for these high-demand textiles with precious metals like gold and silver (specie) [t3, t7]. Statement 3 is incorrect for the medieval period. While India became a major exporter of raw materials (like raw cotton) during the 19th-century British colonial era to feed the Industrial Revolution, in the medieval era, India was primarily an exporter of finished manufactured goods rather than raw materials for European industries [c1, c2, c4].

Sources

  1. [1] http://indianculture.gov.in/node/2730146
  2. [2] https://warwick.ac.uk/arts/history/people/staff_index/griello/riello_giorgio.pdf
  3. [3] https://www.lse.ac.uk/Economic-History/Assets/Documents/Research/GEHN/GEHNConferences/conf8/PUNEWashbrook.pdf
  4. [4] India and the Contemporary World – II. History-Class X . NCERT(Revised ed 2025) > Chapter 3: The Making of a Global World > The testimony of an indentured labourer > p. 66
  5. [5] Geography of India ,Majid Husain, (McGrawHill 9th ed.) > Chapter 11: Industries > COTTON TEXTILE INDUSTRY > p. 8
  6. [6] India and the Contemporary World – II. History-Class X . NCERT(Revised ed 2025) > Chapter 3: The Making of a Global World > 2.6 Indian Trade, Colonialism and the Global System > p. 65
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