NCERT Solutions for Class 8th Social Science Chapter 4 Returning to the painting with clues (Fig. 4.14) — THINK ABOUT IT
Book page 98–99 Updated on2026-09-19
Q1.
Let us return to this painting (Fig. 4.14), but now with some clues to its symbolism. Note how Britannia (a symbolic figure for Britain) sits higher than the colonies, pointing to her superior power; contrast with the lower position and bent posture of the colonies. Did they really ‘offer’ their wealth? Or did Britain seize it by force or ruse? Note also the Indians’ dark complexion (in contrast with that of Britannia), reflecting the belief in the superiority of white people over the dark-skinned ‘natives’.
The same oval painting as on the chapter’s first page, printed again on page 99 with eight yellow arrows and labels added by the book:
“Britannia, with the lion symbolising power” → the fair-skinned woman in white and rose robes seated high on the rocky bank at the upper left, with the lion’s head below her and winged children holding a red-cross banner behind her.
“‘Old Father Thames’, symbolising London” → the reclining old man with a long white beard at the lower left, his arm on a tipped urn pouring water.
“India offering pearls and jewels” → the dark-skinned woman at the centre, leaning forward and holding out a round dish heaped with pearls.
“The East India Company’s naval power” → the flagged sailing ship in the middle distance behind her.
“China offering a precious jar” → the figure in the yellow and blue robe, kneeling with the back bent low and lifting a decorated jar.
“God Mercury, symbolising commerce and travel” → the pale young man in a red cloak and plumed helmet at the right, holding a staff with two snakes twined round it.
“Animals from India” → the loaded animal and the tall trees behind Mercury at the top right.
“Two dark figures (Indians?) offering bales of cotton” → two arrows pointing to the two dark-skinned men stooping under large pale bales at the far right.
Fig. 4.14, page 99 — ‘The East offering its riches to Britannia’, with the book’s own labels on the painting’s symbolism. The painting is described here; see the textbook for the picture itself.
Answer
No — the wealth was not offered. It was taken, and the chapter has already shown both methods: force and ruse. The painting’s title is a claim, and the pages you have just read are the test of it.
Taken by force
Taken by ruse
Portuguese
Vasco da Gama seized, tortured and killed Indian merchants and bombarded Calicut from the sea; ships without a cartaz were seized
The cartaz itself — dressing up a naval blockade as a system of ‘permits’
French
Dupleix captured Madras in 1746
Indirect rule through puppet rulers installed by intervening in succession disputes
British
Annexation of Punjab (1848–49); the punitive campaign after 1857 that burned villages and destroyed crops
Plassey (Mir Jafar’s betrayal); the Doctrine of Lapse; the subsidiary alliance; revenue targets kept high through a famine
Read the composition itself as an argument. Every visual choice in the painting says the same thing twice — once about power and once about race:
Height. Britannia is seated above; India and China are below her. In European painting, height is rank. The eye is told who commands before it is told anything else.
Posture. Britannia is upright and still; the colonies lean, bend and carry. One figure receives; the others perform.
Complexion. Britannia is painted pale, the Indian figures dark. This was not accidental. It reflects the belief, common among colonisers, in the superiority of white people over dark-skinned ‘natives’ — the same belief that let colonised peoples be called ‘savage’, ‘primitive’ or ‘barbaric’ and made the ‘civilising mission’ sound respectable.
The word ‘offering’. If the wealth were freely given, no army, no cartaz, no Doctrine of Lapse and no Resident would have been needed. The painting removes exactly the things that made the transfer possible.
Why a picture is a historical source: a painting cannot tell you what happened, but it tells you reliably what its owners wanted believed. Hung in the Company’s London headquarters in 1778, this one taught every visitor a story: the East is grateful, Britain is generous, and commerce is the natural bond between them. Set that beside W.W. Hunter’s account of Bengal in 1770 — farmers selling their cattle, their tools, their seed-grain and finally their children — and you can see exactly what the painting was built to hide.