Study the following extract (Source 1) mentioned in NCERT textbook (page 85) and answer the questions that follow:

“We must starve for food”

In 1823 the Company government in India received a petition from 12,000 weavers stating:

Our ancestors and we used to receive advances from the Company and maintain ourselves and our respective families by weaving Company’s superior assortments. Owing to our misfortune, the aurangs have been abolished ever since because of which we and our families are distressed for want of the means of livelihood. We are weavers and do not know any other business. We must starve for food, if the Board of Trade do not cast a look of kindness towards us and give orders for clothes.

Proceedings of the Board of Trade, 3 February 1824

Questions:

(i) Who had received the petition and from whom?

(ii) What did the petition state?

Answer

(i) The company government in India received a petition from 12,000 weavers.

(ii) The petition stated the miserable condition of the weavers. As the Company had abolished the arrangs (warehouses) they had to face a situation of starvation. They did not know any other business and were destined to die for want of food if the Company did not timely intervene.