‘The history of opium production in India was linked up with the story of British trade with China.’ Elaborate.
The history of opium production in India was linked up with the story of British trade with China. The English East India Company was buying tea and silk from China for sale in England. As tea became a popular English drink, tea trade became more and more important. This created a problem.
England at this time was producing nothing that could easily be sold in China. How to finance the tea trade? They searched for such a commodity. The Portuguese had introduced opium into China.
Western merchants began an ** trade in opium. While the English cultivated a taste for ** tea, the *** became addicted to opium.
