Mention any four economic causes of the Revolt.

(1) The DRAIN OF WEALTH — India’s resources were exploited for the benefit of Britain; revenue collected in India was spent on British wars and administration, and wealth flowed out of the country without any 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 thousands of artisans and weavers were thrown out of work. (3) HEAVY LAND REVENUE and its harsh collection — the new settlements demanded high revenue payable in cash on fixed dates regardless of the harvest, which drove peasants into the hands of moneylenders and off their land. (4) UNEMPLOYMENT among the aristocracy and their dependents — the annexation of states threw rulers, nobles, soldiers and the artisans and musicians who served their courts out of employment, and the resumption of rent-free lands ruined many landholders.

Four marks, four distinct economic causes. Number them and give each a heading, so the examiner can see at once that they are different. The organising idea worth stating in one line: British policy turned India from an exporter of manufactures into a supplier of raw materials and a market for British goods — every one of these grievances follows from that. The unemployment point is the one that links economics to the Revolt itself, since the displaced nobility and soldiery provided much of its leadership.