Question

What were the reasons for the expansion of cultivation in the colonial period? Explain any two.

Answer 1

In the colonial period, cultivation expanded rapidly for a variety of reasons of which two are given below:
(i) British directly encouraged the production of commercial crops like jute, sugar, wheat, and cotton. The demand for these crops increased in $19th$ century Europe where foodgrains were needed to feed the growing urban population and raw materials were required for industrial production.
(ii) In the early $19th$ century the colonial state thought that forests were unproductive. They were considered to be wilderness that had to be brought under cultivation so that the land could yield agricultural products and revenue and enhance the income of the state.