2022 · Q52
Which of the following statements about ‘Agency Houses’ is/are correct?
- 1They were important commercial formations in the late eighteenth and nineteenth century India.
- 2The operation of managing agencies remained confined to Calcutta.
Select the correct answer using the code given below.
history-of-indiaeuropeans-british-expansion
- A1 only
- B2 only
- CBoth 1 and 2
- DNeither 1 nor 2
Explanation
Statement 1 is correct: Agency Houses (such as Palmer & Co. and Alexander & Co.) were important commercial formations of late-eighteenth and nineteenth-century India — financial and trading firms that mobilised capital, managed trade in indigo, tea and jute, and later ran plantations and joint-stock industry. Statement 2 is incorrect: although Calcutta was their original home, managing-agency operations did not remain confined to Calcutta — the system spread to Bombay and Madras to meet the managerial needs of the colonial economy. Therefore only statement 1 is correct — option A (1 only).