(a) peasant resistance to the oppressive conduct of planters
(b) its unprofitability in the world market because of new inventions
(c) national leaders’ opposition to the cultivation of indigo
(d) Government control over the planters
27. Answer: (b)
Option (b) is correct: New inventions took place in Germany where the invention of scientific techniques like modern synthetic chemistry took place. By the late 19th century, nearly all indigo came from indigo bush plantations in India. The Germans succeeded in making it in the laboratory in 1878, but it took nearly three decades for the large-scale production of synthetic indigo. The breakthrough came in 1890, when Karl Heumann in Zurich found a way of making indigo from aniline. A lucky accident at the German firm had a revelation that mercury was a catalyst for a key part of the synthesis which led to production of synthetic indigo in 1897. The synthetic dye was much cheaper and the final blow to the naturally produced indigo dye. Hence, indigo crop became a part of history for its unprofitability in the world market because of new inventions.
