Any four Economic Causes of the Revolt.

(1) The DRAIN OF WEALTH — India’s resources were exploited for Britain’s benefit; revenue raised in India paid for British wars and administration, and wealth flowed out with nothing given in return. (2) The DESTRUCTION OF INDIAN INDUSTRY — heavy duties on Indian goods entering England, while British machine-made goods entered India almost free, ruined the handicrafts and textile industry and threw thousands of artisans and weavers out of work. (3) HEAVY LAND REVENUE and its harsh collection — revenue was demanded in cash on fixed dates regardless of the harvest, driving peasants into the hands of moneylenders and off their land; rent-free lands were resumed, ruining many landholders. (4) UNEMPLOYMENT among the aristocracy and their dependents — the annexation of states threw rulers, nobles, soldiers, artisans and court musicians out of employment, and Indians were excluded from all the higher posts in the administration.

Four marks, four distinct economic causes. Give each a heading so the examiner sees at once that they are different. The organising idea, worth one line: British policy turned India from an EXPORTER of manufactures into a SUPPLIER of raw materials and a MARKET for British goods — every grievance here follows from that. The unemployment point is what links economics to the Revolt itself, since the displaced nobility and soldiery supplied much of its leadership.