UPSC Prelims 2020 Question:

Indigo cultivation in India declined by the beginning of the 20th century because of

Explanation:

• The Indigo plant was being used by cloth manufacturers in Europe to dye clothes.
  
  
• By the end of the eighteenth century, with the existing supplies from the West Indies and America collapsed, there was a rise in demand for Indian indigo. The British East India Company started its early indigo production in Bengal and Bihar.
  
  
• Indigo supplied by British traders was highly priced. To overcome the high cost of Indian indigo, German chemists formulated a synthetic dye which was much cheaper than the naturally produced Indian indigo. This new invention led to the unprofitability of Indian indigo traders in the world market. Thus, by the beginning of the twentieth century, Indigo cultivation in India declined.
  
  

Therefore, option (2) is the correct answer.

Subject: History | Miscellaneous(hist)