Maize (makka) was introduced into India via

The correct answer is B, Africa and Spain. Maize is a crop of the Americas, and it reached India in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries via Africa and Spain; by the seventeenth century it had become one of the major crops of western India. Maize, or makka, was first domesticated in Mexico. After the voyages of Columbus, it was carried to Europe and Africa and then, along the trade routes, to Asia. In the Mughal period, Indian agriculture changed as several New World crops arrived; vegetables such as tomatoes, potatoes and chillies, and fruits such as pineapple and papaya, also came this way. Studies of Mughal agrarian history record that maize came through Africa and Spain. Option A is wrong because England was not the route by which maize reached India; the crop had spread long before British influence grew. Option C is wrong because France and Russia played no part in bringing maize to India. Option D is wrong because Portugal brought crops like chillies and tobacco by sea, but the route recorded for maize is Africa and Spain, and Italy had no role. Exam tip: maize came to India via Africa and Spain; New World crops include tomato, potato, chilli.