ASSIGNMENT I HISTORY CHAPTER 4

CLASS X THE AGE OF INDUSTRILISATION

Proto-Industrialisation:

Proto-industrialisation refers to the early phase of industrialisation in Europe and England

where production was mainly done by hands.

The pace of Industrial change:

 Cotton and iron and steel industries were the most dynamic industries.
 New industries could not displace traditional ones.
 Technological changes occurred slowly.
 Steam engine invented by James Watt had no buyers for years.
 New technologies were slow to be accepted.

Hand labor and stream power:

 In Victorian Britain there was no shortage of human labor.

 In many industries the demand for labor was seasonal.
 Range of products could be produced only with hand labor.
 There was a demand for intricate designs.
 Upper classes preferred things produced by hand.

Life of the worker:

 Abundance of labor affected the life of workers badly.

 Labour was seasonal.
 Fear of unemployment made workers hostile to new technology.
 Women labors protested against the introduction of the Spinning Jenny.
 Introduction of railways opened greater opportunities.

Gomasthas:
The Gomasthas were paid servants whose job was to supervise weavers, collect
supplies and examine the quality of cloth.

Manchester comes to India:

 By 1950s, India began to import Manchester cotton from Britain.

 With the rise in Manchester imports, Indian export and local market declined.
 Supply of raw cotton in India decreased.
 Weavers were forced to buy cotton at high prices.
Factories come up:

 Industries were set up in different regions.

 First cotton mill came in Bombay in 1854.
 The first jute mill came up in Bengal in 1855.
 1830s-1840s—Dwarakanath Tagore setup six-joint stock companies in Bengal.
 Capital was accumulated through other trade networks.
 Till the First World War European managing agencies in fact controlled large
sectors of Indian industries.

Q1 Why did the technological changes occur slowly in Britain ? Give one reason.
Answer:
Technological changes occurred slowly in Britain because it was expensive and merchants and
industrialists were cautious about using it.

Q2 By whom the cotton mill was created ?

Answer:
Richard Arkwright.

Q3 Who produced the steam engine ? Who improved it ?

Answer:
The steam engine was produced by Newcomen. It was improved by James Watt.

Q4 Why did some industrialists in nineteenth century Europe prefer hand labour over
machines ? State any one factor.
Answer:
In industries such as gas works, breweries, where production fluctuated with the
season, industrialists usually preferred hand labour over machines.

Q5 By whom was Spinning Jenny devised ?

Answer:
Spinning Jenny was devised by James Hargreaves in 1764.

Q6 What was the advantage of Spinning Jenny ?

Answer:
Spinning Jenny speeded up the spinning process and reduced labour demand. By
turning one single wheel a worker could set in motion a number of spindles and spin
several threads at the same time.

Q7 What was the importance of Surat port in the sixteenth century ?

Answer:
A vibrant sea trade operated through Surat on the Gujarat coast. It connected India to
the Gulf and Red Sea Ports.

Q8 Name a few leading early Indian entrepreneurs of India in the 19th century.
Answer:

1. Dwarkanath Tagore
2. Dinshaw Petit
3. Jamsetjee Nusserwanjee Tata
4. Seth Hukumchand.

Q9 Name any two European Managing Agencies which till the First World War
controlled a large sector of Indian industries.
Answer:

1. Bird Heiglers and Co.

2. Jardine Skinner and Co.

Q10 Generally from where did the workers come from to work in factories ?
Answer:
In most industrial regions workers came from the districts around e.g., the mills of
Kanpur got most of their textile workers from the villages within the district of Kanpur.

Q11Who established six joint-stock companies in India during 1830-40 ?

Answer:
Dwarkanath Tagore.

Q12 What type of restrictions were imposed on the Indian merchants in the 19th century
? Mention any two.
Answer:

1. They were debarred from trading with Europe in manufactured goods.

2. They were gradually edged out of the shipping business.

Q13 What does publisher E.T. Pauli want to convey by the picture ‗Dawn of the Century‘
on the cover page of his music book ?
Answer:
Publisher E.T. Pauli wants to convey the ideas as mentioned below :

1. Glorification of machines and technology.

 2. At the center of the picture is a goddess-like figure, the angel of progress, bearing
the flag of the new century. She is gently perched on a wheel with wings,
symbolising time.
3. Her (Goddess) flight is taking her into the future. Floating about behind her, are
the signs of progress – railway, camera, machines, printing press and factory.
This figure thus gives us a triumphant account of the modern world that is
associated with rapid technological change and innovations, machines, factories,
railways and steam ships and computers.

Q14 What was proto-industrialisation ? Explain the importance/features of proto-

industrialisation.
Answer:
(a) Proto-industrialisation – This was the early phase of industrialisation in Europe
and England when there was large-scale industrial production for an international
market. This was not based on factories. Many historians refer to this phase of
industrialisation as proto¬industrialisation.

(b) The features of proto-industrialisation were as mentioned below :

1. It was a decentralised system of production. It was part of a network of

commercial exchanges.
2. Control of production was in the hand of merchants.
3. Goods were produced by a vast number of producers working in their family
farms, not in factories.
4. Whole of the family was involved. It allowed peasants a fuller use of their family
labour resources.
5. At each stage of production – spinning, dying etc., 20 to 25 workers were
employed by each merchant. This meant that each clothier was controlling
hundreds of workers.
6. By working for the merchants, workers could remain in the countryside and
continue to cultivate their small plots. Income from proto-industrial production
supplemented their income from cultivation.

Q15 Describe the main features of the pace of industrial change in Britain in the
nineteenth century.
Answer:
The main features of the pace of industrial change were as mentioned below :

1. The most dynamic industries in Britain were clearly cotton and metals.
2. Growing at a rapid pace, cotton was the leading sector in the first phase of
industrialisation up to the 1840s.
3. After cotton, the iron and steel industry led the way because with the expansion of
railways, the demand for iron and steel increased rapidly. By 1873 Britain was
 exporting iron and steel worth about 77 million double the value of its cotton
export.
4. The new industries could not easily displace traditional industries.
Ordinary and small innovations were the basis of growth in many non-
mechanised sectors such as food processing, building, pottery glass work,
tanning, furniture making and production of implements.
5. Technology changes occurred slowly as these were expensive and their repair
was too costly

Q16 ‗Technological changes occurred slowly in Britain.‘ Give three reasons for this.
Answer:
Technological changes occurred slowly in Britain due to the following reasons :

1. New technology was expensive so the merchants and industrialists were cautious
about using it.
2. The machines often went out of order and repair was costly.
3. The machines were not as effective as their inventors and manufacturers claimed.
For example, take the case of the steam engine. James Watt improved the steam
engine produced by Newcomen and patented the new engine in 1781. His
industrialist friend Mathew Boulton manufactured the new model. But at the
beginning of the 19th century, there were no more than 321 steam engines all
over England. So even the powerful new technology that enhanced the
productivity of labour manifold was slow to be accepted by the industrialists.

Q17 Explain how the condition of workers steadily declined in the early 20th century
Europe.
Answer:
The factors were as follows :

1. Abundance of labour and wait for jobs : There was abundance of labour in the
market. Job-seekers had to wait for weeks. They had to spend nights under
bridges or in the night Shelters or in Night Refuges or Casual Wards maintained
by the Poor Law authorities. One could get a job quickly if he had social
connections.
2. Seasonal work : Work in many industries such as gas works, breweries was
seasonal. There were, therefore, long periods without work. As a result of this,
some returned to the countryside while other did odd jobs.
3. Low wages and less period of employment : Wages were increased to some
extent in
the early mid-nineteenth century but as the period of employment was less, the
average income was low. About 10 per cent of the urban population was very
poor. In periods of economic slump, like the 1830s, the proportion of unemployed
went up to between 35 and 75 per cent in different regions
 4. Introduction of new technology : The workers were against the introduction of
new technology due to fear of unemployment. So, when the Spinping Jenny was
introduced in the woolen industry, women workers attacked the new machines.

Q18 Why did the network of export trade in textiles that was controlled by Indian
merchants, break down by the 1750s ? What were its effects ?
Answer:
(a) Causes : Following were the causes for breaking down of the network of
export trade :

1. The European companies gained power by securing a variety of concessions from

local courts (rulers or officials).
2. They got the monopoly rights to trade.
3. European companies started their operations from new ports of Bombay and
Calcutta.
4. Trade through the new ports was controlled by the European companies and was
carried in European ships.

(b) Effects :

1. Old ports of Surat and Hoogly declined.

2. Exports from these ports fell, the credit that had financed the earlier trade dried up
and the local bankers went bankrupt. The gross value of trade at Surat fell from ?
16 million in the last years of the seventeenth century to ? 3 million in 1740s.
3. Export from Bombay and Calcutta grew with the growth of colonial power. Trade
was now controlled by European companies and was carried out in European
ships.
4. It also led to collapse of old trading houses.

Q19 How did East India Company ensure regular supply of cotton and silk goods from
Indian weavers ? Explain.
Or
How did East India Company develop a system of management and control that would
eliminate competition, control costs, and ensure regular supplies of cotton and silk
goods ? What were its results ?
Answer:
(a) Before establishing political power, the East India Company had found it difficult to
ensure regular supply of goods for exports due to tough competition with the French,
Dutch, Portuguese and local traders. The weaver and the supply merchants used to sell
the produce to the best buyer. But once the company established political power, it
could assert a monopoly right to trade. Therefore, the East India Company took the
following steps :
 1. It appointed a paid servant called the gomastha to supervise weavers, collect
supplies, and examine the quality of cloth.
2. It prevented Company weaver from dealing with other buyers by system of
advances because the weavers who took loans had to hand over the cloth they
produced to the gomastha.

(b) Results : The condition of weavers became bad. They took advances to earn more.
In the process they had to devote all their time to weaving and had to lease out their
small plots of land. The weavers had to sell their cloth only to the Company. They could
not bargain. The prices they got were low and the advances tied there to the Company.
At many places weavers deserted villages and migrated to other villages. Some took to
agricultural labour.

Q20 Who were gomasthas ? Explain any three reasons for the clashes between the
weavers and the gomasthas.

Answer:
(a) Gomastha was a paid servant of the East India Company. After establishing their
political power, the company could assert a monopoly right to trade. So it proceeded to
develop a system of management and control that would eliminate competition, control
costs and ensure regular supplies of cotton and silk goods.

1. The new gomasthas were outsiders. They had no social link with the village.
2. Gomasthas acted arrogantly. They punished weavers for delay in supply. They
often beat and flogged them.
3. The weavers could not bargain for prices or sell to different buyers and the price
paid by the Company was low.

Q21 Describe the contribution of Dwarkanath Tagore as an entrepreneur of Bengal.

Or
Analyse the contribution of Dwarkanath Tagore in the field of industrial development.
Answer:
The contribution of Dwarkanath Tagore was as mentioned below :

1. He made his fortune in the China trade before he turned to industrial investment.
2. He set up six joint-stock companies in the 1830s and 1840s.
3. Tagore‘s enterprises sank along with those of others in the wider business crises
of the 1840s.

Q22 Where did the workers come from to work in factories in India ?
Answer:
With the expansion of factories, the demand for workers increased. In 1901, there were
584,000 workers in Indian factories. By 1946, the number increased to 2,436,000. This
large number of workers came from the places as mentioned below :

1. In most industrial regions the workers came from the districts around because
peasants and artisans who found no work in the village went to the industrial
centers in search of work. For example in the Bombay cotton industries in 1911,
over 50 per cent workers came from the neighbouring district of Ratnagiri.
2. Sometimes, workers came from distant places in search of work in the mills. For
example, many workers from the United Provinces went to work in the textile mills
of Bombay and in the jute mills of Calcutta.

Q23 Who was a jobber ? Describe his functions and position.

Answer:
He was a person who was employed by the industrialists to get new recruits. He was
generally an old and trusted worker.
Functions and position of a jobber :

1. His main function was to get new recruits.

2. He generally got people from his village and ensured them jobs.
3. He helped them settle in the city and provided them money in times of crisis.
4. He was a person with some authority and power.
5. He often began demanding money and gifts for his favour and controlling the lives
of workers. For example, Vasant Parkar, a millworker said, ―The workers would
pay the jobbers money to get their sons work in the mill.‖

Q24 Describe major peculiarities of industrial growth in India in the 19th century.
Answer:
Major peculiarities of industrial growth in India were as given below :

1. European Managing Agencies dominated the industrial production in India.

2. The agencies were interested in certain kind of products only.
3. They established tea and coffee plantations, acquiring land at cheap rates from
the colonial government.
4. They invested in mining, indigo and jute.
5. These products were required primarily for export trade and not for sale in India.
6. When Indians set up industries they avoided competition with Manchester goods
in the Ihdian market. So, the early cotton mills in India produced coarse cotton
yarn rather than fabric. This yarn was used by handloom weavers in India or
exported to China.

Q25 How a series of changes affected the pattern of industrialisation by the first decade
of the 20th century ?
Answer:
 The various changes that affected the pattern of industrialisation in India were
as given below :

1. During Swadeshi Movement, people boycotted foreign cloth.

2. Industrial groups put pressure on the government to increase tariff protection and
grant other concessions.
3. From 1906, Chinese market was flooded with Chinese and Japanese mills‘
products. This resulted in decline of export of Indian yarn to China.

Q26 What steps were adopted by the producers in India to expand the market for
their goods in the 19th century ?

Or
Explain the ways which were adopted to persuade the people to use the new
products.
Answer:
People were persuaded by the following ways to use the new products :

1. Advertisements : Advertisements played an important part in expanding

markets for products and in shaping a new consumer culture. Now-a-days the
advertisement appear in newspapers, magazines, television screen etc.
2. Labels : Labels are needed to tell the consumer, the place of manufacture and
the name of the company and about the quality of the product. If a buyer is
familiar to the company and is confident about it, he will buy that product.
Generally, a person buys a branded shirt or any other product because he
knows that a particular company is a company of repute. So, label do help in
attracting consumers to buy a product.
3. Printing of calendars : Calendars are also printed to popularise the products.
They are hung in tea shops, homes and other places. People see the calendars
daily and slowly they are attracted towards that product.
4. Figures of important persons, emperors etc. : These figures are used to
convey the message that if you respect the royal figure, then respect this
product too. If the royal person is using a product, its quality cannot be
questioned. So, use of a royal figure popularise that product.
5. Advertisement of nationalist message : In such advertisement, people are
told that if
you love your country then use that product. Such advertisements were used
by Indian manufacturers. ‘
Thus, various ways were adopted to persuade people to buy new products.
.