During British colonial rule in Bengal, the authorities often persuaded or forced local cultivators to grow which major commercial crop for export instead of food crops?

Introduction / Context:
Under British colonial rule, many regions of India were drawn into global markets through the cultivation of commercial crops. Bengal, with its fertile alluvial plains and river systems, became a key area where peasants were encouraged or compelled to shift from subsistence agriculture to cash crops needed by British industries. Understanding which crop dominated this process in Bengal helps students see how colonial economic policies reshaped rural life.

Given Data / Assumptions:

- The region named is Bengal under British rule. - The question mentions cultivators being persuaded or forced to grow a particular crop. - The options are jute, tea, sugarcane and wheat. - We assume standard associations of crops with Indian regions in colonial economic history.

Concept / Approach:
Jute is a long, soft, shiny fibre that can be spun into coarse, strong threads and was in great demand to make sacks and gunny bags during the age of industrial expansion. Bengal, especially areas around the Ganga and Brahmaputra river systems, offered ideal conditions for jute cultivation and easy transport to mills and ports. British policies and middlemen encouraged peasants to grow jute as a lucrative cash crop, often at the cost of food security. Tea plantations were concentrated mainly in Assam and parts of North Bengal, sugarcane is grown in several regions including Uttar Pradesh, and wheat is a staple grain rather than a specialist cash crop in this context.

Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Identify the geographic focus: Bengal, not the entire subcontinent. Step 2: Recall from history that Bengal became a major centre of jute cultivation for export to European industries. Step 3: Recognise that tea is more strongly associated with plantation economies in Assam and Darjeeling rather than with ordinary cultivators in most of Bengal. Step 4: Note that sugarcane and wheat are important crops but do not match the specific colonial export boom that Bengal experienced with jute. Step 5: Conclude that jute is the only option that fits both the region and the description of a commercial crop promoted by the British.

Verification / Alternative check:
Textbooks and historical studies on colonial India highlight the jute boom in Bengal, mentioning how peasants were drawn into cycles of credit and fluctuating world prices. The demand for raw jute from mills in and around Calcutta and from industries abroad made it extremely valuable. Accounts of rural distress also point out how dependence on cash crops like jute made peasants vulnerable when world prices crashed. Tea, by contrast, was produced mostly on European owned plantations and did not rely on peasant cultivation in the same way. This evidence confirms that jute is the correct answer.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:
Tea: Mainly associated with plantations in Assam and specific hill tracts, not with widespread peasant cultivation in Bengal in the way jute was.
Sugarcane: An important crop in regions like the Ganga plain, but the question emphasises the colonial export drive in Bengal, where jute dominated.
Wheat: A staple foodgrain without the same export driven colonial pattern in Bengal that jute experienced.

Common Pitfalls:
Students sometimes select tea because they associate British rule in eastern India with tea gardens, forgetting that tea is strongly tied to Assam and hill areas. Another pitfall is to think of any major crop as a colonial cash crop, without checking which one had a special export oriented boom in a particular region. Remembering the simple pairing of Bengal and jute helps to answer many economic history questions correctly.

Final Answer:
During British rule in Bengal, cultivators were widely encouraged or compelled to grow jute as a commercial crop for export.