History · Modern Indian History

Given below are two statements: one is labelled as Assertion A and the other is labelled as Reason R. Assertion A: By the first decades of the nineteenth century, British imperialist policy fundamentally altered India's economic structure, converting it from a major exporter of cotton textiles into a dependent importer of British industrial goods and an exporter of agricultural raw materials. Reason R: The emergence of industrial capitalism in England precipitated a shift from merchant capitalist interests, which originally promoted the import of Indian industrial manufactures, to a new strategy requiring export markets for mass-produced British goods and the sourcing of agricultural commodities. In light of the above statements, choose the most appropriate answer from the options given below: