History

Ch - 4 The Age of Industrialisation

1. What is meant by proto-industrialization? Why was it successful in the

countryside in England in the 17th Century?
Proto-industrialization was the early phase of industrialization in Europe
and England when there was large scale industrial production for an
international market which was not based on factories.

It was successful in the countryside in England due to the following

reasons:
(i) The peasants had been shut out of village commons due to enclosure
movement.
(ii) They now looked for alternative source of income.

2. Why did technological changes occur slowly in Britain in the early

nineteenth century? Explain any three reasons.
(i) New technology was expensive and merchants and industrialists were
cautious about using it.
(ii) The machines often broke down and repairs were costly.

(iii) They were not much effective as compared to cheap labour.

3. “The upper classes, during Victorian period, preferred things produced

by hands.” Explain.
(i) They symbolised refinement and class.
(ii) They were better finished.
(iii) They were individually produced and carefully designed.

4. Explain the role played by advertisements in creating new consumers

for the British products.
(i) Advertisements have played a part in expanding the markets for
products, and in shaping a new consumer culture.
(ii) Advertisements make products appear desirable and necessary.
(iii) They try to shape the minds of people and create new needs.

5. Mention any three restrictions imposed by the British Government

upon the Indian merchants in the 19th Century?
(i) The colonial control over Indian trade tightened and space within
which Indian merchants could function became limited.
(ii) They were barred from trading with Europe in manufactured goods,
and had to export mostly raw materials and food grains, raw cotton,
opium, wheat and indigo required by the British.
(iv) They were also gradually edged out of the shipping business.

6. Who were the Jobbers? Explain their main functions.

The jobber was a person with some authority and used to help the
industrialists to get workers. His role was to ensure job to workers. His
functions were:
(i) He got people from his village.
(ii) He ensured them jobs.
(iii) He helped the workers to settle in the cities.

7. Explain with examples the importance of advertisement in the

marketing of the goods.
(i) Advertisements play a very vital role in the marketing of any product.
(ii) New consumers are created is through advertisements.
(iii) Advertisements make products appear desirable and necessary to
the customers.
(iv) They try to shape the minds of the people and create new needs.
(v) The advertisement appear in newspapers, magazines, hoardings,
street walls, television screens which have played a part in expanding
the markets for products, and in shaping a new consumer culture.
8. How did the Indian and British merchants and manufacturers
advertise their products in India to promote their sale?
(i) The Manchester industrialists put ‘Made in Manchester’ label in bold
which assured the buyers of the quality of the cloth.
(ii) The British manufacturers used images of Indian Gods and
Goddesses on the labels which symbolized the divine approval for the
commodity. It also created familiarity with the Indian buyers.
(iii) Manufacturers were printing calendars to popularise their products
which were used even by people who could not read. They were hung in
tea shops and in poor people’s homes just as much as in offices and
middle-class apartments.
(iv) The figures of important personages, of emperors and nawabs from
the past were also displayed on advertisements and calendars which
carried messages such as if you respect the royal figure, then respect
this product and also when the product was being used by kings, or
produced under royal command, its quality could not be questioned.
(v) The Indian manufacturers printed the image of Bharat Mata and a
nationalist message on the labels. They also printed ‘Made in India’ on
the labels thus appealing to the nationalist sentiments. The imprinted
image of Krishna or Saraswati on labels was also intended to make the
manufacture from a foreign land appear somewhat familiar to Indian
people.

9. Why were there frequent clashes between Gomasthas and weavers in

the villages? Explain five reasons.
(i) Earlier supply merchants often belonged to the same villages and had
a close relationship with the weavers.
(ii) The company’s appointed Gomasthas were outsiders, with no long-
term social link with the villagers.
(iii) They acted arrogantly, marched into villages with sepoys and peons,
and punished weavers for delays in supply often beating and flogging
them.
(iv) The weavers lost the space to bargain for prices and sell to different
buyers.
(v) The price they received from the Company was miserably low and
the loans they had accepted tied them to the Company.

10.What were guilds? How did they make it difficult for new merchants to
set business in towns of England? Explain.

Guilds were the associations of artisans or merchants who controlled the

practise of their craft and trade in a particular city. They were very
powerful as they were granted monopoly rights by the rulers to produce
and trade in specific product. They themselves trained the people in their
trade or craft. They regulated competition and restricted the entry of new
people in the trade. This made it difficult for the new merchants to set up
their business in towns of England.

11.Describe any three functions of gomasthas.

Gomasthas were connecting links between the British and the weavers.
The following were the main functions of the Gomasthas.

• Supervision of weavers for their work

• Collection of finished products
• Examination of quality of products
• Giving punishments to weavers and information to British

12.Who were the jobbers? Explain their main functions.

Jobbers were the paid workers of the industrialists. They were old and
most trusted workers. The following were the main functions of the
jobbers.

• Jobbers got the people from villages, ensured their jobs and helped
them to settle in the city.
• They often helped the workers by providing them money in time of
crises.
13.Why did the upper classes in Victorian period preferred things
produced by hand?

The upper class in Victorian period preferred things produced by hand

because of the following reasons.

• Handmade products symbolized refinement and class.

• They were better finished and carefully designed.
• Handmade products are of different designs.

14.What was Proto-industrialization ? Explain the importance of proto-

industrialization.

Proto-industrialization refers to the earliest phase of industrialisation,

whereproduction was mainly done by hands. It was controlled by
merchants or trade guilds having monopoly over production and trade.
Household members carried out the production process. The production
units were set up in countryside. Proto-industrialization was important
because of the following reasons.

• It enabled the efficient utilisation of work force in productive work.

• Income from production supplemented the meagre income of poor
peasants and weavers.
• Global demands were fulfilled.
• It led to the base for proper industrialization in the coming years.

15.Explain any three problems faced by the Indian weavers in 1850s.

The following problems were faced by Indian weavers by the turn of the
19th century.

• Because of heavy import duty on Indian cotton textile, export

market in India collapsed. Local market was flooded with
Manchester textile. Being produced by machines, it was cheaper
than Indian-made textile. Weavers could not compete with this
situation. Weaving regions declined and were desolated.
 • Weavers were not able to procure good-quality raw cotton as most
of it was exported. The low-quality raw cotton stood nowhere in the
market.
• With the increase of raw cotton export, price of raw cotton also shot
up. Thus, the weavers could not afford to buy it and starved of
supplies.
• Apart from that, factory production in India had started, Machine-
made Indian goods also flooded the market. Weavers, thus, could
not survive in a situation where there were problems all around.

NCERT SOLUTIONS

1. Explain the following:

(a) Women workers in Britain attacked the Spinning Jenny.
(a) Women workers in Britain attacked the Spinning Jenny because it speeded up
the spinning process, and consequently, reduced labour demand. This caused a
valid fear of unemployment among women working in the woollen industry. Till
date, they had survived on hand spinning, but this was placed in peril by the new
machine.

(b) In the seventeenth century merchants from towns in Europe began employing
peasants and artisans within the villages.
(b) The trade and commerce guild controlled the market, raw materials, employees,
and also production of goods in the towns. This created problems for merchants
who wanted to increase production by employing more men. Therefore, they
turned to peasants and artisans who lived in villages.

(c) The port of Surat declined by the end of the eighteenth century.
(c) The port of Surat declined by the end of the eighteenth century on account of
the growing power of European companies in trade with India. They secured many
concessions from local courts as well as the monopoly rights to trade. This led to a
decline of the old ports of Surat and Hoogly from where local merchants had
operated. Exports slowed and local banks here went bankrupt.
(d) The East India Company appointed gomasthas to supervise weavers in India.
(d) The English East India Company appointed Gomasthas for:
→ To eliminate the existence of traders and brokers and establish a direct control
over the weavers.
→ To eliminate weavers from dealing with other buyers by means of advances and
control. In this manner, weavers who took loans and fees in advance were
obligated to the British.

2. Write True or False against each statement:

(a) At the end of the nineteenth century, 80 per cent of the total workforce in
Europe was employed in the technologically advanced industrial sector.
► False

(b) The international market for fine textiles was dominated by India till the
eighteenth century.
► True

(c) The American Civil War resulted in the reduction of cotton exports from India.
► Flase

(d) The introduction of the fly shuttle enabled handloom workers to improve their
productivity.
► True

3. Explain what is meant by proto-industrialisation.

Proto-industrialisation is the phase of industrialisation that was not based on the
factory system. Before the coming of factories, there was large-scale industrial
production for an international market. This part of industrial history is known as
proto-industrialisation.
DISCUSS

1. Why did some industrialists in nineteenth-century Europe prefer hand labour

over machines?
Some industrialists in nineteenth-century Europe prefer hand labour over machines
because:
→ Machines were costly, ineffective, difficult to repair, and needed huge capital
investments.
→ Labour was available at low wages at that period of time.
→ In seasonal industries only seasonal labour was required.
→ Market demands of variety of designs and colour and specific type could not be
fulfilled by machine made clothes. Intricate designs and colours could be done by
human-skills only.
→ In Victorian age, the aristocrats and other upper class people preferred articles
made by hand only.

2. How did the East India Company procure regular supplies of cotton and silk
textiles from Indian weavers?
The English East India Company used different means to procure silk and cotton
from the weavers:
→ Appointment of paid supervisors called Gomasthas. They also collected
supplies and examined cloth quality of the weavers.

→ Prevention of Company weavers from dealing with other buyers through a

system of advances and loans.

4. Why did industrial production in India increase during the First World War?
India witnessed increased industrial production during the First World War due to
following reasons:
→ British industries became busy in producing and supplying war-needs. Hence,
they stopped exporting British goods or clothes for colonial markets like that in
India.
→ It was a good opportunity for Indian industries to fill in empty Indian markets
with their products. It was done so. Therefore, industrial production in India
increased.
→ Also the British colonial government asked Indian factories to supply the war
needs like - jute bags, cloth or army uniforms, tents and leather boots, horse and
mule saddle, etc.
→ The increased demands of variety of products led to the setting up of new
factories and old ones increased their production.
→ Many new workers were employed and everyone was made to work longer
hours.