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Why did India become a major market for British cotton goods during the 19th century?

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Map of North America in 1763 using color coding to show colonial territories: the 13 American colonies in red along the Atlantic coast, other British territory in orange across much of present-day Canada, Spanish territory in purple covering most of the southern and western regions, Russian territory in green in the northwest, and large areas of unclaimed land in white. Major bodies of water such as the Atlantic Ocean, Pacific Ocean, Gulf of Mexico, and Hudson Bay are labeled. — Western colonialism North America during the colonial period.

During the 19th century, India became a major market for British cotton goods primarily due to the systematic undermining of indigenous handicraft industries by machine-made imports from Britain.1

This transition was facilitated by several key factors:

Technological Infrastructure: The rapid expansion of the railroad network after 1858 allowed for the efficient distribution of cheap, mass-produced British textiles from imperial port cities into inland towns and villages.23
Economic Displacement: These imported goods were able to undersell the products of local craftsmen. As a result, traditional handicraft industries were destroyed, forcing many artisans to abandon their looms and spinning wheels to rely on agriculture for their livelihood.23
Colonial Economic Policy: India was increasingly integrated into a colonial economy that functioned as a supplier of raw materials and a captive market for British manufactured articles, a process that benefited foreign interests at the expense of local economic development.1

By the end of the 19th century, this shift had significantly increased the proportion of the Indian population dependent on agriculture, further cementing India's role within the British imperial economic system.23