Economically, one of the results of the British rule in India in the 19th century was the

1. A

   increase in the export of Indian handicrafts

   (a) Increase in the export of Indian handicrafts. Nineteenth-century deindustrialisation cut handloom and craft exports as mill cloth from Britain flooded the market. Handicrafts shrank rather than expanded, so this is the opposite of the economic result asked. This option is not the key.

2. B

   growth in the number of Indian owned factories

   (b) Growth in the number of Indian owned factories. Modern factory industry under Indian ownership remained thin until late in the century and was not the characteristic 19th-century outcome of Company and Crown rule. This option is not the key.

3. C

   commercialization of Indian agriculture

   (c) Commercialization of Indian agriculture. Cash crops—indigo, opium, cotton, jute, tea—were pushed onto the peasant for export and Company revenue, tying the village to world prices. That commercialisation is the standard economic result of 19th-century British rule. This option is the official key.

4. D

   rapid increase in the urban population

   (d) Rapid increase in the urban population. India stayed overwhelmingly rural; towns did not absorb a rapid urbanisation comparable to industrial Britain. This option is not the key.

Summary. Official key is (c) commercialization of Indian agriculture. British demand and land-revenue pressure shifted large tracts into indigo, opium, cotton, jute and tea for the world market. Handicraft exports declined under mill competition, Indian-owned factories were still few, and urbanisation was slow. The distinctive 19th-century result is therefore commercial agriculture, not industry or cities. That is why (c) is stored as the Set A key.