The Age of Industrialization ‌Class‌ ‌10‌ ‌Notes History‌ Chapter 4 with Video Explanation

The Age of Industrialization Class 10

CBSE Class 10 History Chapter 4 The Age of Industrialisation Notes with Video Explanation and Question Answers

‌The Age of Industrialisation Class 10 Notes – Here is the CBSE‌ ‌Class‌ ‌10‌ ‌History‌ ‌Chapter‌ 4 ‌‌The Age of Industrialisation Notes with a detailed‌ ‌‌explanation‌‌ ‌of‌ ‌the‌ ‌chapter‌ ‌ Given‌ ‌here‌ ‌is‌ ‌The Age of Industrialisation Class 10 ‌Notes ‌of‌ ‌the‌ ‌lesson,‌ ‌along‌ ‌with‌ ‌all‌ ‌the‌ ‌exercises,‌ ‌‌Questions ‌and‌ ‌Answers‌‌ ‌are given ‌at‌ ‌the‌ ‌back‌ ‌of‌ ‌the‌ ‌lesson.‌‌

Topics Covered in The Age of Industrialisation Class 10 are The Age of Industrialization, Hand Labour and Steam Power, Factories Come Up, The Peculiarites of Industrial Growth and Market for Goods.

Class‌ ‌10‌ ‌History‌ ‌Chapter‌ ‌4‌ ‌The Age of Industrialization

By Puneet Kaur

Today we all are familiar with the term ‘Industrialisation’. This term has become a part of our daily life. We read about various industries and industrialists in newspapers and journals. But the question arises as to how did the industries come into being.

How did the age of industrialization start?

All these things will be discussed in our chapter ‘The Age of Industrialisation’. So let’s begin with our chapter

dawn of the century

To begin with we will discuss this picture. This artwork was basically a cover page of a music book. In 1900, a famous music publisher E.T Paull had produced this book. If we look into the picture, we will see an image of a goddess. She is picturised as an angel of progress who bears a flag of the new century. She is standing on a wheel with wings that will take her to the future. Behind her are the symbols of progress such as railways, camera, machines etc.

Not only this, there were some more examples and depictions of glorification of machines and technology by the people. One such was the picture that appeared on a trade magazine, titled the two magicians. On the top is Aladdin from the Orient who has built a beautiful palace with the help of his magic lamp and below him is the picture of a mechanic, he is the one who with his modern tools has built bridges, ships, towers and tall buildings. Aladdin is shown as the symbolic representation of East and past. On the other hand the mechanic symbolizes the West and its modernity.

two magicians

This kind of image offers us a victorious account of the modern world. As per this account today’s world is closely located with technological change and various innovations. The use of machines, railways and steamships narrates us a story of industrialization and development.

These images have become a part of popular imagination. Industrialization spread to railways and the construction of various buildings and bridges is a symbol of society’s development.

So, now the question arises as to how we can relate ourselves to these images and ideas.

Is industrialization a rapid process?

Is it possible for us to continue this glorious journey?

All these questions will be answered in our chapter.

So, to begin with we will discuss about Britain which is considered as the first industrial nation and then we will discuss about India where industrial changes took place because they were imposed by the colonial rule on our country.

Before the Industrial Revolution

Generally,we associate industrialization with the growth of factories. Whenever we talk about industrial production or industrial workers we generally relate it to the factory and factory workers. Histories of industrialization should have commenced with the setting up of the first factory.

The Age of Industrialization Part 1 Video Explanation

But there is a problem with this notion too. It is so because, even before factories began to work in England and Europe, there was a large-scale industrial production for an international market. Therefore, many historians consider this period as proto industrialisation.

So, if we talk about the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, merchants in Europe began moving to the countryside where they used to supply money in order to persuade the rural peasants and artisans to produce for the international market. As the world trade expanded and colonization of various parts of the world began, it led to the increase of demand of goods. Here the problem arose that the merchants were not able to expand the production in the towns. It was so because the urban crafts and trade guilds were more powerful. These were the powerful groups or associations of the producers. They used to train the crafts people and maintain control over production, regulate the competition and prices and even restricted the entry of new businessmen into the trade. Even the Kings too granted monopoly to few of the associations. No one other than these associations could produce or deal in particular products. So, here we can say that there was a great competition for any of the new merchant. Due to this most of them turned towards the villages.

So, the peasants of the countryside who were earlier dependent on the common fields for their survival where they used to gather firewood, berries, vegetables, hay and straw started looking for some alternative sources of income. Most of them had tiny plots, which could not provide employment to all the members of the family. Therefore, they easily gave their consent to work for the merchants. The main benefit to work for the merchants was that it allowed them to stay in the countryside and take care of their fields while they were working for the proto industries. Working for such industries, not only provide them with some income but also facilitated them to make full use of their family labour resources.

Soon a close relationship formed between villages and towns due to this system. Merchants were generally based in towns whereas the work was done mostly in the countryside. A merchant dealing in clothes would buy wool from a wool stapler, then take it to the spinners, from there the thread was taken in subsequent stages of production to weavers, fullers and then to dyers. The final finishing was done in London before exporting the cloth to the international market. Soon London emerged as a finishing centre.

proto industrial system

(source:Ncert)
Hence this proto industrial system was a part of a network of commercial exchanges. It was controlled by merchants and the goods were produced by a vast number of producers who were working at their homes and not in factories. There were around 20 to 25 workers employed by each merchant at each stage. So, here we can say that each merchant had around 100 workers working under him.

The Coming Up of the Factory

The factories though came up by the 1730s in England but it was only in the late eighteenth century that the number of factories increased.

The first sign of the new era was cotton. The cotton production increased in the late nineteenth century. In 1760 Britain was importing 2.5 million pounds of raw cotton to use it as a raw material for its cotton industry. So, here the question arises as to what led to this increase in the production of cotton. Let’s have a look at this.

cotton production

The multiple inventions during the eighteenth century led to the increase in the efficacy of each step of the production process. These inventions increased the output per worker and enable them to produce more. Not only this, they could now produce stronger threads and yarn. Later on Richard Arkwright invented the cotton mill. So, now a new change was seen in the production process earlier cloth production was spread all over the countryside and carried out within village households but now the merchants started purchasing machines and setting up of the mills. This facilitated the whole process which was now carried under one roof.

This led to a more careful supervision of the whole production process. Now one could take care of various functions such as:

Keeping a watch over quantity.
Regulation of a labour.

Such things were not possible when the work was carried out in the countryside.

In the beginning of the nineteenth century, factories became an important part of the English landscape.

So, now we will see how rapid was the process of industrialization and did it only meant setting up of the new factories? Let’s see it in some stages

The Pace of Industrial Change
First, the industries that gained popularity in Britain were that of the cotton and the metal. In 1840s, Cotton industry was the leading industry in Britain. Later on came the iron and steel industry. But with the expansion of the rail network in England during the 1840s and in colonies during 1860s the demand for iron and steel started gaining pace. So, by 1873 Britain was exporting iron and steel worth 77 million pound and it was double the value of its cotton exports.
Second: The new industries were not able to replace traditional industries fully. It can be seen in the end of the nineteenth century also that less than 20 percent of the total workforce was working in the technically advanced industries. Textiles, for example was a dynamic sector still much of its products were produced in the household units and not the factories.

Third: The speed of change in the traditional industries was not set by the steam powered cotton mills or the metal industries but we can’t say that these industries became motion less. Though, some small innovations served as the basis of growth in many non mechanized fields for example food processing, pottery, building, furniture making etc.

Fourth: The technological changes occurred slowly due to some reasons. For example buying such machines was a costly affair so many of the industrialists were not in favor of this. Moreover, the repair of these machines was also costly and they were not as good as it was claimed by the inventors or makers.

This could be easily understood in the context of the steam engine. James Watt improved the steam engine produced by Newcomen and got its patent rights in 1781. His industrialist friend Mathew Boulton manufactured the new engine by Watt. But the problem occurred when they didn’t find any buyer for years. During the beginning of the nineteenth century, there were no more than 321 steam engines all over England.

Out of these, 80 were being used in the cotton industry, nine were being used by the wool industries. The left ones were utilized either in mining or in canal and iron works.

So, here we can say that a most advanced technology of that era that had increased productivity of labour manifold was not readily accepted by industrialists.

As per Historians we can say that the mid nineteenth century worker was basically a traditional craftsperson and not a machine operator.

So, now that we know how industrial revolution took place and how industries were set up, new inventions were taking place. Now we will discuss about the labourers and the steam power. So, let’s see

Hand Labour and Steam Power

During the era of Queen Victoria, there was a large supply of labourers available in Britain. A large number of poor peasants moved from one city to another in search of work. We all know that when large numbers of workers are available for work then the wages paid to these workers is generally low. Hence, the industrialists had no problem of shortage of labourers or high wages. They could easily find cheap labourers to work for them. This was one of the major reasons why these industrialists were not ready to invest large amounts of money in buying the machines.
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The Age of Industrialization Part 2 Video Explanation

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There were a number of industries where demand for labor was seasonal. For example, gas works and breweries were generally busy through the cold months. So, during this time period, the requirement of workers was more. Even bookbinders and printers, catering to Christmas demand, too needed extra hands before December. Not only this, if we talk about the shipping sector, they were generally repaired and spruced up during the winter season. So, here we can say the industries which were handling the seasonal type of business relied much on hand laborers for the particular season.

Various products were produced only with hand labor. Machines during those days were used in the production of either uniform or for some standardized goods for the mass market. But the demand for those goods which had intricate designs or specific shapes was in huge demand. For example in mid-nineteenth-century Britain, 500 varieties of hammers and 45 types of axes were produced. Such type of production required skilled labor so mechanical technology was not preferred.

In Britain, the upper classes such as the aristocrats and the bourgeoisie preferred handmade things. Hand-made things were treated as a symbol of eliteness. Handmade goods were better finished and were designed carefully. On the other hand, machine goods were meant for export to the colonies.

If we talk about countries where there was less manpower. The industrialists preferred the usage of machines for production purpose. This was visible in the case of America but Britain had no such issue as it had great manpower or supply of labor.

So, now we know that in some countries there was a large number of workers available whereas in some countries production was dependent on the machines as there were no availability of the workforce. But now the question comes what type of life did these workers lead. Let’s see

Life of the Workers

The large supply of workers in the market had a greater impact on the lives of these laborers. If the news about any new employment comes to the villages, large number of people would then shift to the cities in search of work. It was easy to find a job if you had any friends or relatives working in a factory. But sometimes the job seekers had to wait for weeks to find a job. They had to spend nights under bridges or in night shelters. The other places to stay were the night refuges setup by individuals or the casual wards managed by the law authorities.

life of workers

(source: NCERT)

On the other hand, the nature of work in many industries was seasonal which meant prolonged periods of unemployment. When the season was over, the workers were left on the streets without work and money. Some of them used to return back to the countryside and some others tried to find odd jobs for their survival.

In the early nineteenth century there was an increase in the wages. But they were sufficient for the welfare of a worker is not known. The fluctuation in trade used to have an impact on the worker’s wages so was when the state was in war. For example during the Napoleonic war, the wages given to the workers were not sufficient enough because the prices of goods had increased which made them unable to buy the required things. Even the wage of the workers was not dependent on the wage rate alone. The thing that played an important role was the period of employment. The number of work was used as a base to determine the average daily income of the workers. So in the mid nineteenth century, about 10 percent of urban population was extremely poor. But during the time of depression the situation got worse and unemployment rose to 75 percent from 35 percent in different regions.

The problem of unemployment created a fear among the workers. This fear made them hostile to the new technology. So, when spinning wheel was introduced in woolen industry. Many women who used to work for these factories turned jobless. So, the workers start attacking these factories. This conflict continued for a long time.

After the 1840s building activity grew stronger in the cities. Various construction work such as widening of roads, construction of bridges, digging tunnels and river embankment were carried on. This led to the generation of job opportunities. The number of employed workers in the transport industry doubled in the 1840s and doubled again in the subsequent years.

So, now we will move on to know how Industrialisation started in colonies

Industrialization in the Colonies

When we talk about colonies, it means those areas that were colonized by the European powers. Here we will discuss about India. India was a colony of Britain.

So now we will see how does a colony get industrialized?

The Age of Indian Textiles

Indian textiles especially silk and cotton goods were very famous in the international market. So, before the invention of various types of machines, Indian textiles dominated the international market. Though various countries were producing cotton but it was coarse. The finest quality of cotton was produced in India. Armenian and Persian merchants took the goods from Punjab to Afghanistan which were then taken to eastern Persia and central Asia. The transportation of bales of fine textiles was done on camels via the North West frontier, through mountain passes and across deserts. On the other hand, it was also exported through sea routes of Surat and Gujarat to the Gulf and Red Sea Ports, Masulipatnam on the Coromandel Coast and Hooghly in Bengal had trade links with Southeast Asian ports.

Various Indian merchants were involved in the whole process of export trade- For example the financing production, carrying goods and supplying exporters. There were supply merchants who linked the port towns to the inland regions. They used to give advances to the weavers and procure woven cloth from weaving villages. Next they would carry the supply to the ports. At the port, there were the export merchants and the big shippers who had brokers to make deals by negotiating the prices so that they can buy goods from the supply merchants operating inland.

But by 1750 the whole network of export which was under Indian merchants started breaking down.

It was so because the European companies had now arrived at the scene. They started gaining power by securing a variety of concessions from local courts and then establishing monopoly over trade. All this led to the decline of old ports of Surat and Hooghly which were used by the local merchants. The exports started declining and soon the situation became so bad that the local bankers turned bankrupt. In the last year of the seventeenth century the trade of Surat fell down to Rs 3 million from 16 million.

Though old ports like Surat and Hooghly had come to their decline ports of Bombay and Calcutta started growing. This shift was a clear sign of growth of the colonial power. All trade activities were controlled by the European powers. Any Indian trader who wanted to survive had to work under their control.

When all these changes were taking place, there were some more changes that took place in the lives of weavers and artisans. How did this happen? Let’s see

What Happened to Weavers?

weavers

source:NCERT

The East India Company was able to have a good grip over India after 1760 but this did not affect the weavers of our country. In the beginning, the British cotton industry had not grown, so the demand of Indian textile was high in the international market. Therefore, Britishers initially focused only on expanding textile exports from India.

The company was able to gain political power over Bengal and Carnatic in the 1760s and 1770s but before this the East India Company was facing great difficulty in ensuring an uninterrupted supply of goods for export. It was so because at that time there were so many other European companies which were present with the same intentions such as the French, Dutch, Portuguese and even the local traders. So, here we can say that there was a great competition among the buyers. Whereas it was a golden period for the weavers and the supply merchants as they could earn best price for their product. During those days the company officials had to send letters to London describing their difficulty of supply and high prices of the goods.

Soon the company was able to establish its political control over the area. This led to the practice of monopoly by the company for particular trade. It developed a system in which it could nullify the competition, control costs and ensure the regular supply of textiles. All these things were done in a process. Few steps were followed let’s check that

First: The Company removed the local leaders and brokers from the whole process. They established direct contact with the weaver. A paid servant known as gumastha was appointed to supervise, collect supplies and examine the quality of the cloth.

Second: The Company also made this rule that the Company weavers will not contact any other buyer. So, in order to materialize this they started giving them advances. After placing order some loans were provided to the weavers which they had to use for weaving a cloth which was later on handed over to the gomastha. By doing this they could not deal with any other person.

As weavers were getting loans and the demand of Indian textile was increasing, So, the weavers leased out their small holdings in order to carry the weaving. Their families also helped them as it required great man force to do the job.

But soon the whole scenario changed. The reports of clashes between gomastha and the weavers started coming from the weaving villages. Earlier, the merchants were the local residents who had good relationships with the weavers. They used to help them in their hour of need. But the gumastha were the outsiders, they were harsh and arrogant. They used to take help of peons and sepoys in order to punish the weavers if they make any delay in their work. Moreover, weavers started facing various problems as they were bind to only single buyer because of the loans received from the Company. Their incomes were very low and life was miserable.

In many places in Carnatic and Bengal, weavers left their villages and migrated to the villages where their relatives were residing or they revolted against the Company and its officials. Later on many of the weavers refused to work as a weaver and joined back their agricultural work.

But this was not the end, by the nineteenth century a new set of problems arrived for them.

Manchester Comes to India

It is said that Henry Patullo who was a Company official in 1772 declared that demand of Indian textile will never reduce but later on it was found that Indian exports declined. In 1811-12 India’s share in the trade was 33 percent which reduced to 3 percent in 1850-51.

So, the question arises: why did this happen? What were its implications?

With the growth of cotton industries in England, the industrialists there started worrying about the imports which could affect their trade. So, they pressured the government to impose import duties on cotton textiles. This would help them to sell Manchester goods easily without any competition. On the other hand, the industries also requested East India Company to sell Manchester textile in India. This led to the increase of British exports. So, during 1850, due to an increase in trade of British cotton, the Indian textile started declining and this led to the decline of the Indian weavers.

By 1860 a new problem was waiting to come for the Indian weavers. The problem was the lack of supply of raw cotton. When the civil war broke in America which was a huge supplier of raw cotton. So, the Britishers now turned towards India for supply of raw cotton. This led to an increase in the price of raw cotton in India. Buying cotton at high price was not a profitable venture for them. Not only this, a new problem came in front of them in the form of factories. All this made it difficult for them to survive. But by 1850, cotton piece-goods constituted over 31 per cent of the value of Indian imports; and by the 1870s this figure was over 50 per cent. Cotton weavers in India thus faced two problems at the same time: their export market collapsed, and the local market shrank, being glutted with Manchester imports.

Factories Come Up

The first cotton mill in Bombay came into being in the year 1854. The production work in this factory started after two years. By 1862 there were 4 mills that were producing around 94000 spindles and 2150 looms. Even Bengal witnessed the coming up of factories during that time. The first factory in Bengal was setup in 1855 and the second one in year 1862. In north India a mill was set up in Kanpur in the 1860s. It was known as Elgin Mill. Soon Ahmedabad also got its first mill. Madras also got its first mill in 1874.

The Age of Industrialization Part 3 Video Explanation

So, we can see that so many factories or mills came into being between the years 1854 to 1874. But the question here is that

Who set up the industries? Where did the capital come from and who came to work in the mills?

So, let us know about those people who established these mills. They were known as entrepreneurs.

The Early Entrepreneurs

dwarkanath-tagore

(Dwarkanath Tagore: Source NCERT)

When we talk about the various business groups in India, History shows their trade connection with China. In the late eighteenth century, the British in India started trade of Opium and tea with China. Many Indians became part of this trade though as a junior players. They used to provide finance, procure supplies and ship the consignments. They earned handsome amount out of this and thought of developing industrial enterprises in India. Like for example in Bengal, Dwarkanath Tagore made his fortune in the China trade before he turned to industrial investment, setting up six joint stock companies in the 1830s and 1840s. But in the business crises of 1840s Tagore’s business sank down. But later in the nineteenth century, many who were dealing with China became successful industrialists. Coming to Bombay, Parsi businessmen like Dinshaw Petit and Jamsetjee Nusserwanjee Tata were able to set up their empire buy earning wealth partly from the exports to China and partly from export of raw cotton to England. Not only this, some others like Seth Hukamchand a Marwari businessman setup first Indian jute mill in Calcutta in 1917 also traded with China and so did the father as well as grandfather of the famous industrialist G.D Birla.

China was not the only trade link that could earn money for the business men but there were so many other countries which had trade links with India that enabled Indians to earn more. Like for example some merchants from Madras traded with Burma while some had links with the Middle East and east Africa. Not each and everyone was involved in foreign trade. There were some who operated within India. Their work included carrying goods from one place to another, banking money, transferring funds between cities and financing traders. When opportunities of investment in industries opened up, many of them set up factories.
But when the British gained political power in India, they left a limited space for the Indian merchants. So, now the Indian merchants were not allowed to trade in manufactured goods with Europe. They could only deal in raw materials and food grains such as raw cotton, opium, wheat and indigo. Later on they were edged out of the shipping business too.

The British control over Indian business sector could be ascertained by the fact that till the First World War, European managing Agencies were controlling Indian industries. Three of the biggest ones were Bird Heiglers & Co., Andrew Yule, and Jardine Skinner & Co.. These agencies mobilized capital, set up joint stock companies and managed them. In most cases European agencies made all investments and business decisions. They had their own commerce chambers in which Indian businessmen were not allowed.

So, now that we know about entrepreneurs and the source of capital. Let’s now talk about the workers who worked in these factories. Who were they and where did they come from?

Where Did the Workers Come From?

As we all know that when factories are set up they need workers to carry all the activities in the factories. With the expansion of factories this demand increased. In 1901, there were 584000 workers in Indian factories. By 1946 the number was over 2436000.

All these workers were generally those who were residents of the nearby districts, where these factories were set up. So, if we talk about Bombay cotton industries in 1911, most of the workers were supplied by Ratnagiri district and workers in the Kanpur mill were from villages within Kanpur district. Generally, the villagers moved between village and the city, returning to their village homes during harvests and festivals.
So, whenever a news about a job opening came to the workers, they used to travel long distances in search of work in the mills. People from united provinces (Uttar Pradesh) would go to Bombay or Calcutta in search of work.

Getting a job was not an easy task, though numbers of mills were coming up but the number of jobseekers was more. Apart from this, one more problem was that it was not easy to get a job in the mill. The mill owners used to assign jobbers for this task. A Jobber was some trusted worker who generally used to favor his known for jobs. He got people from his village, ensured them jobs, helped them settle in the city and provided them money in times of crisis. The jobber, therefore, became a person with some authority and power.Very soon they gained an authority and acquired some status. They started taking gifts and money from those who wanted to take a job in the mills.

Till now we have come to know about how factories were setup in India. Now we will talk about the growth of industries in India.

The Peculiarities of Industrial Growth

When we talk about industrial growth in India during British rule, we can see a strange sign of growth of some particular industries. It was so because the European managing agencies were interested in certain kinds of products. So, they established tea and coffee plantations, invested in mining, indigo and jute. These were those products which were generally exported to Europe.

The Age of Industrialization Part 4 Video Explanation

When Indian businessmen began establishing industries during the late nineteenth century, they were not interested in having any sort of competition with the Manchester goods. Therefore, these industries produced coarse yarn and not the fabric. This yarn was generally used by the handloom weavers in India or was exported to China.

cotton production

During the first decade of the twentieth century, various changes took place that led to change in the pattern of industrialisation. With the growth of national movements like Swadeshi movement that mobilized people to boycott foreign cloth. Industrial groups organized in order to protect the interests of business class. They started pressurizing the government to decrease tariffs and grant other concessions. Also from 1906, the export of Indian yarn to China declined because the demand of supply of yarn was now being fulfilled by the Chinese and the Japanese cotton mills. So, the Indian industries shifted their production from yarn to fabric or the cotton pieces. This led to the doubling up of the goods production between 1900-1912.

Though Indian industries were on the path of growth but it was slow up till the First World War. The war created a new situation. As British mills were occupied with the production of war related goods, the imports from Manchester to India declined. This served as a great opportunity for growth of the Indian industries. As the war continued for a long time, Indian factories were called to supply war needs such as jute bags, army uniforms, tents and leather boots etc.

So now, new factories were setup and old ones ran in multiple shifts. More and more workers were hired. The production grew over the war years.

After the war was over, the Manchester goods were not able to gain its position in the Indian market. The British economy was not able to compete with the modern economies of US, Germany and Japan so it lagged behind. Within the colonies the local Industrialists grew stronger and started producing substitutes of the foreign goods.

So, we can see how changes were taking place. Now we will discuss about the small scale industries in India

Small Scale Industries Predominate

Though we can see how industries were shifting their production pattern which led to their growth but the interesting fact is that large industries formed only a small segment of the economy. So, in 1911 about 67 percent of the large industries were located in Bombay and Bengal. Over the rest of the country, small scale production continued to predominate. A very small number of industrial workers were working in registered factories. In 1911 it was 5 % and in 1931 it was 10%. The rest were working either in small workshops or the household units located in alleys and bylanes.

If we talk about the handloom and handicraft industry, these industries grew in the twentieth century. Though cheap thread made with machine wiped out the spin industry the handloom industry was able to survive though there were some hardships too for the weavers. In the twentieth century a nice growth was seen in the handloom industry as it grew its three times between 1900-1940.

So, now the question arises as to how did the handloom industry grow?

Well, half of the credit goes to the fact that handicraft artisans adopted new technologies. This helped them to increase production without increasing their cost of production. So, by the twentieth century, weavers started using looms with a fly shuttle. Till 1941, over 35 percent of handlooms were having fly shuttles. In regions like Travancore, Madras, Mysore, Cochin, Bengal the ratio was 70-80%. There were some other innovations too that helped in increasing production by the weavers.

Some of the weavers, due to their better position, were able to survive the competition with mill industries. Amongst them some produced coarse cloth. This type of cloth was generally purchased by the poor people and it had fluctuating demand. It was so because during famines or bad harvests these people didn’t have enough money to purchase the cloth. On the other hand, there were some other weavers who used to produce fine cloth which was bought by the rich Indians. Famines did not affect the demand of finer cloth such as Banarasi or Baluchari Saris. Moreover, mills could not copy the specialized weavers. Saris with woven borders ro the famous lungis and handkerchiefs of Madras dominated the market and were not displaced by mill production.

Weavers and other crafts people who continued to carry with the expansion of their work were not able to prosper. These people had to face a number of hardships. Generally, all the family members had to work.
Till now we have read how industrialisation started in Britain and then in India. We also read about the miserable life of labourers that started either due to the invention of machines or due to imperialism. But later on, things changed a bit and colonized countries also saw a rise in the local industries and their production levels. Now the question arises where these products were sold and were there any marketing strategies. Let’s check this.

Market for Goods

We have already read about the British establishing control over the Indian market and also about the resistance of Indian weavers, traders and industrialists who demanded tariff protection and how they made their own way to generate market space for their product.

The Age of Industrialization Part 5 Video Explanation

Now we will study about how the industrialists persuaded customers to buy the new products, produced by them.

One way to create customers for your product was to advertise the product. As we all know that advertisements make products appear necessary. The advertisements focused on preparing the minds of people for their product and creating new demands. Today we can find advertisements almost everywhere in the newspapers, television, streets and magazines etc. But if we talk about the past when the industrialisation in India was at its budding stage, there also we see the use of advertisements play a vital role in generating the demand for the products.

Manchester industrialists started this by using labels on their cloth bundles. The main aim to put labels was to make the customer familiar with the name of the company. Therefore, a label written as “Made in Manchester” was put on the bundle which ensured the customer of the quality of the cloth that would make him confident in buying the cloth.

The labels used for advertisement not only carried words and texts. They also had images on them which could tell how calculative the manufacturers were.

indian gods

Source:NCERT

Images of Indian gods and goddesses were generally used to attract the customers. The images of Krishna or Saraswati were used to make the foreign manufacturer appear somewhat familiar to Indian people.

By the late nineteenth century, the use of calendars for advertisement began. Manufacturers started printing calendars which could be hung in the homes, offices and middle class apartments. In these calendars too one can see use of Indian god figures.

Just like images of god, images of important persons, kings or nawabs were also used. These images gave a message that if you respect your king then you should respect the product too. Moreover, it was a sign of quality assurance too because the product was shown as the choice of Kings, which means that the product was of good quality.

On the other hand, when Indian manufacturers advertised for their products, the message was clear that if you are a true nationalist, you should buy Indian products. Advertisements mobilized the idea of nationalism or swadeshi.

Conclusion

So, we have come to a conclusion that the age of industries meant technological advancement, growth of industries and making a new industrial labour force. However, small scale and handloom industry remained an important part of the whole process.

NCERT Solutions Class 10 The Age of Industrialization Question Answers

Q1- Explain the Following:

a) Women workers in Britain attacked the Spinning Jenny?

Ans: Many rural women used to support their families by working on the spinning wheel. The introduction of spinning jenny was a threat to their job and income. Moreover, the spinning jenny was introduced at a time when poor peasants were already facing hardships therefore this turned the women workers hostile towards the spinning jenny and hence they attacked it.

b) In the seventeenth-century merchants from towns in Europe began employing peasants and artisans within the villages?

Ans: During the 17th century the demand for goods increased in the international market due to the expansion of world trade. The merchants who wanted expand trade in the urban areas were not allowed to do so because of the urban crafts and the trade guilds. These guilds had their monopoly over the markets. Hence, they had to turn towards the villages and employ peasants to carry out the production activities for these town merchants.

c) The port of Surat declined by the end of the eighteenth century?

Ans: When European companies came to India, they preferred carrying all the export activities from Bombay and Calcutta port. This led to fall of exports from Surat, also the Europeans tried to establish a strong hold over Indian market which made Indian merchants bankrupt as their finances dried up. All such things led to the decline of Surat port.

d) The East India Company appointed gomasthas to supervise weavers in India?

Ans: Gomasthas were the supervisors appointed by the East India Company. The reasons behind appointing gomastha are as follows:

Their main duty was to supervise the weavers and collect the produce from them.
Through this system the British established a system of management that would eliminate competition from existing local traders.
The company used to give advances through gomastha which tied the weavers into a condition to sell the produce to Britishers only.

Q2-Write True or False against each statement:

a) At the end of the nineteenth century, 80 percent of the total workforce in Europe was employed in the technologically advanced industrial sector.

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

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

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

Ans:

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. False

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

Q3- Explain what is meant by proto-industrialization?

Ans: When we talk about Proto industrialisation, it means we are talking about the period when production was not carried in industries or factories. It was rather carried out in the households in the villages. During the 17th and 18th century town merchants started establishing contact with the village peasants in order to persuade them to produce for the international market. The merchant had to do various types of activities such as he used to purchase wool from the wool stapler then carry it to the spinner. Yarn was then carried to the weaver and after that to dyers. In each stage of this process 25 workers on an estimate were employed by the merchant making him the employer of around 100 workers.

Also See :
Class 10 Social Science History Lessons

Class 10 Social Science Civics Lessons