WORLD HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -The need for indigo to feed the British cotton textile industry-whose tremendous growth had been spurred by the Industrial Revolution-led the British East India Company to pursue an exploitative system of indigo cultivation in Bengal and Bihar.

Detailed explanation-2: -Indigo planting in Bengal dates back to 1777, when Louis Bonnaud, a Frenchman, introduced it to the Indian subcontinent. He became the first indigo planter in Bengal, starting to cultivate the crop at Taldanga and Goalpara near Hooghly.

Detailed explanation-3: -The French began cultivating indigo in St Domingue in the Caribbean islands, the Portuguese in Brazil, the English in Jamaica, and the Spanish in Venezuela. Indigo plantations also came up in many parts of North America.

Detailed explanation-4: -Ryoti was the predominant form of indigo cultivation in Bengal. The ryots sowed indigo under a contract system. It extended to a period of either one, three to five or ten years. At the inception of the contract, the planter made an advance payment to the ryot to meet the expenses of cultivation.

Detailed explanation-5: -Indigo cultivation started in Bengal in 1777. Indigo was in high demand worldwide. Trade in indigo was lucrative due to the demand for blue dye in Europe. European planters enjoyed a monopoly over indigo and they forced Indian farmers to grow indigo by signing fraudulent deals with them.