The staple commodities of export by the English East India Company from Bengal in the middle of the 18th century were
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Answer: D. In the mid-18th century, the East India Company's main exports from Bengal were cotton textiles, silk, saltpetre (for gunpowder) and opium. So option D.
Watch for: Raw cotton exports grew after the Industrial Revolution, which misleads students about the earlier period.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. Wrong because raw cotton and oil-seeds became major exports only later.
- B. Wrong because sugar, salt, zinc and lead were not the staple exports.
- C. Wrong because gold and silver were brought into India to pay for goods, not exported.
Source to check: NCERT Class 12 'Themes in Indian History Part III'; Sekhar Bandyopadhyay, 'From Plassey to Partition', Chapter 2
Answer from the official UPSC key. Written and fact-checked by AI against the official key. Spotted a mistake? Report it.