2024 · Q78
Consider the following statements about the Dutch trade in Mughal period:
- 1The Dutch transported silk goods from Bengal through Hooghly
- 2Cloves and nutmegs were collected at Surat by the Dutch and exported to Europe Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
history-of-indiaeuropeans-british-expansion
- A1 only
- B2 only
- CBoth 1 and 2
- DNeither 1 nor 2
Explanation
Statement 1 is correct: the Dutch established factories in Bengal (notably at Chinsurah on the Hooghly and at Kasimbazar, a major silk centre) in the mid-17th century and were active traders in Bengal silk, which they shipped out through the Hooghly. Statement 2 is NOT correct: cloves and nutmegs are native to the Moluccas (Spice Islands) in Indonesia, where the Dutch held a monopoly through their Batavia headquarters — these spices were not collected at Surat (the Dutch factory at Surat, founded in 1616, dealt chiefly in textiles and indigo) for export to Europe. With only statement 1 correct, the answer is A.