Class 10 Social Science Notes Chapter 5 (The age of industrialisation) – India and Contempory World-II Book

Detailed Notes with MCQs of Chapter 5, 'The Age of Industrialisation'. This is a crucial chapter, not just for understanding historical shifts but also because questions frequently appear from this section in various government exams. Pay close attention to the key terms, timelines, and the contrasting experiences of Britain and India.

Chapter 5: The Age of Industrialisation - Detailed Notes

1. Before the Industrial Revolution: Proto-Industrialisation

• Definition: This was a phase before the establishment of factories in England and Europe. It involved large-scale industrial production for an international market, but it was not based in factories. Production was carried out in decentralised units, mostly in the countryside.
• System:
  • Merchants from towns supplied money to peasants and artisans in the countryside.
  • These rural workers produced goods (often textiles) for the merchants.
  • Finished goods were brought back to towns for finishing (e.g., dyeing) and then exported.
• Why the Countryside?
  • Urban crafts and trade guilds were powerful in towns. They restricted entry of new producers and regulated production and prices.
  • Merchants found it difficult to expand production within towns and turned to the countryside.
  • Poor peasants and artisans, with small plots of land that couldn't sustain their families, eagerly took advances from merchants, supplementing their meagre incomes. It allowed fuller use of family labour.
• Merchant Control: The system was controlled by merchants, linking the countryside producers to the urban markets and export networks.

2. The Coming Up of the Factory

• Earliest Factories: Emerged in England by the 1730s, multiplying significantly by the late 18th century.
• Key Industry: Cotton textile production was the first major sector to be industrialised.
• Inventions:
  • Series of inventions increased the efficiency of production steps (carding, twisting, spinning, rolling).
  • Richard Arkwright: Credited with creating the first cotton mill. Expensive new machines could now be installed and maintained under one roof.
• Factory Advantages:
  • Centralised production allowed careful supervision over the production process.
  • Easier to monitor quality and regulate labour.
• Pace of Change: Initially slow. Cotton and metals were dynamic industries, but traditional industries remained important.

3. The Pace of Industrial Change

• Gradual Process: Industrialisation did not happen overnight. It was a gradual process.
  • Dominance of Traditional Sectors: Even by the mid-19th century, large portions of output came from non-mechanised sectors (e.g., food processing, building, pottery, glass work, furniture).
  • Slow Technological Spread: New technologies were expensive, and industrialists were cautious about adopting them. Machines often broke down, and repairs were costly. (e.g., James Watt improved Newcomen's steam engine, but for years there were few buyers).
  • Coexistence: Traditional craftspeople and labourers continued to work alongside factory production.

4. Hand Labour and Steam Power

• Why Hand Labour Persisted (Victorian Britain):
  • Labour Surplus: There was no shortage of human labour. Poor peasants and vagrants moved to cities in large numbers seeking work.
  • Low Wages: Wages were low, making the cost of human labour cheaper than investing in expensive machinery, especially machines requiring heavy capital investment and maintenance.
  • Seasonal Industries: Many industries (e.g., gas works, breweries, bookbinding, printing, ship repair) had seasonal demand for labour. In these, production fluctuated with the season, and industrialists preferred employing hand labour only when needed.
  • Variety & Specificity: Machines were good for producing standardized, uniform goods. But the market also demanded goods with intricate designs and specific shapes (e.g., certain types of hammers, axes, fine textiles). These required human skill, not mechanical production.
  • Status Symbol: In Victorian Britain, the upper classes preferred things produced by hand as they symbolised refinement and class.

5. Life of the Workers

• Abundance of Labour: Led to job insecurity. Getting a job depended heavily on existing networks of friendship and kin relations.
• Seasonality of Work: Many were unemployed for long periods after the seasonal work ended.
• Low Wages & Poverty: Wages were low, and periods of unemployment exacerbated poverty.
• Poor Living Conditions: Workers often lived in overcrowded slums with poor sanitation and health conditions.
• Technological Unemployment: Introduction of new technology (like the Spinning Jenny) sometimes led to unemployment and worker hostility towards machines.

6. Industrialisation in the Colonies: India

• A. The Age of Indian Textiles (Before British Rule):

  • India dominated the international textile market before the age of machine industries.
  • Finer Indian cottons were in high demand globally.
  • Armenian and Persian merchants took goods from Punjab to Afghanistan, Eastern Persia, and Central Asia.
  • Major pre-colonial ports like Surat (Gujarat), Masulipatnam (Coromandel Coast), and Hooghly (Bengal) thrived, connecting India to the Gulf and Red Sea ports and Southeast Asian ports respectively.
  • A network of Indian bankers and exporting merchants financed trade and production.

• B. What Happened to Weavers? (Impact of East India Company):

  • Decline of Old Ports: As European powers gained control, the old ports (Surat, Hooghly) declined. Exports shifted to new ports controlled by Europeans like Bombay and Calcutta. This indicated the growing colonial power.
  • Breakdown of Networks: The shift weakened the old trading houses and broke down the network of Indian merchants and bankers.
  • Monopoly & Control: After establishing political power (post-1760s), the East India Company (EIC) tried to eliminate competition, control costs, and ensure regular supplies of cotton and silk.
  • The Gomastha System:
    • EIC appointed paid servants called Gomasthas to supervise weavers, collect supplies, and examine quality.
    • Weavers were prevented from dealing with other buyers.
    • A system of advances (loans) was introduced to tie weavers to the Company. Weavers taking loans had to sell their cloth to the Gomastha at a dictated price.
    • This led to clashes between weavers and Gomasthas (who were outsiders, often arrogant, and used force). Weavers lost bargaining power and space to sell to different buyers. Many fell into debt traps. Some deserted villages or migrated.

• C. Manchester Comes to India:

  • Flooding of Indian Markets: As cotton industries developed in England, industrial groups pressured the government to impose import duties on Indian textiles entering Britain. Simultaneously, they pushed the EIC to sell British manufactured goods (especially machine-made cloth) in Indian markets.
  • Impact on Indian Weavers:
    • Collapse of Export Market: Indian textiles lost their overseas markets.
    • Shrinking Local Market: The local market was flooded with cheap, machine-made goods from Manchester.
    • Problem of Raw Cotton Supply: When American Civil War broke out (1860s), US cotton supplies to Britain were cut off. Britain turned to India for raw cotton. Raw cotton exports from India increased, pushing up prices. Indian weavers were starved of raw cotton and forced to buy it at exorbitant prices, further crippling their production.
  • By the end of the 19th century, factory production surged in India, further harming the traditional weaving sector, though some specialised weaving traditions survived.

7. Factories Come Up in India

• First Mills:

  • First cotton mill in Bombay set up in 1854.
  • First jute mill in Rishra (Bengal) came up in 1855.
  • Elgin Mill (cotton) started in Kanpur in 1860s.
  • First cotton mill of Ahmedabad started around the same time.

• Early Entrepreneurs:

  • Indian: Many came from trading backgrounds involved in trade with China (like opium), Burma, Middle East, East Africa.
    • Dwarkanath Tagore (Bengal): Involved in China trade, set up six joint-stock companies in the 1830s-40s.
    • Parsis like Dinshaw Petit and Jamsetjee Nusserwanjee (J.N.) Tata (Bombay): Built huge industrial empires, accumulated capital partly from exports to China and raw cotton shipments to England.
    • Seth Hukumchand: A Marwari businessman who set up the first Indian jute mill in Calcutta in 1917. Also traded with China.
    • Fathers/grandfathers of G.D. Birla were also involved in trade.
  • European: Capital was also mobilised by European Managing Agencies, which controlled a large sector of Indian industries. They invested, managed businesses, and made key decisions. (e.g., Bird Heiglers & Co., Andrew Yule, Jardine Skinner & Co.). Indians often supplied finance while Europeans made investment and business decisions.

• Where Did the Workers Come From?

  • Mostly from surrounding districts. Peasants and artisans who found no work in villages migrated to industrial centres.
  • Over 50% workers in Bombay cotton mills (by 1911) came from neighbouring Ratnagiri district.
  • Mills of Kanpur got workers mostly from villages within the district.
  • The Jobber: Industrialists usually employed a jobber to get new recruits. The jobber was typically an old, trusted worker. He got people from his village, ensured them jobs, helped them settle, and provided money in times of crisis. Jobbers became powerful figures, often demanding money or gifts for their favour.

8. The Peculiarities of Industrial Growth in India

• Dominance of European Agencies: European Managing Agencies controlled major industries like tea/coffee plantations, mining, indigo, and jute. Indian financiers often provided capital but had less control over the business.
• Limited Role of Indian Industrialists: Early Indian cotton mills produced coarse cotton yarn (thread) rather than fabric. Yarn was exported to China or used by handloom weavers in India. They avoided competing directly with Manchester fabrics.
• Impact of Swadeshi Movement (Early 20th Century): Nationalists mobilised people to boycott foreign cloth. This gave some impetus to Indian textile production.
• Shift in Production: From 1906, Indian yarn exports to China declined as Chinese and Japanese mills flooded the Chinese market. Indian industrialists shifted from yarn to cloth production.
• Impact of First World War (WWI):
  • British mills became busy with war production. Manchester imports into India declined dramatically.
  • Indian mills suddenly had a vast home market to supply.
  • Indian factories were also called upon to supply war needs: jute bags, cloth for army uniforms, tents, leather boots, etc.
  • New factories were set up, old ones ran multiple shifts. Industrial production boomed.
• Post-War Scenario: After the war, Manchester could not recapture its old position in the Indian market. Local industrialists consolidated their position, substituting foreign manufactures and capturing the home market.

9. Market for Goods: Creating Consumers

• Producers (both British and Indian) used various methods to expand their markets and persuade people to buy their products.
• Advertisements: Became crucial.
  • Labels: Made in Manchester labels on cloth bundles gave buyers confidence in quality. Images (gods, goddesses, important persons like Nawabs/Emperors) were used on labels to make products familiar and appealing.
  • Calendars: Printed calendars were widely used for advertising, hung in homes, shops, offices. They featured appealing images alongside the product advertisement.
  • Nationalist Message: Indian manufacturers often advertised with nationalist messages, implicitly criticising British goods and urging purchase of Indian products (e.g., during Swadeshi movement).

Conclusion:

The age of industrialisation was complex. In Britain, it involved technological change, factory production, but also the persistence of hand labour and significant social costs for workers. In colonial India, industrialisation was shaped by colonial policies. While it led to the decline of traditional crafts and weavers, it also saw the rise of new industrial centres and Indian entrepreneurs, particularly boosted by events like the First World War. Marketing and advertising played key roles in shaping consumer preferences in both contexts.

Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs)

1. The system of industrial production before the rise of factories, where merchants supplied artisans in the countryside, is known as:
   a) Guild System
   b) Factory System
   c) Proto-industrialisation
   d) Mercantilism

2. Who among the following is credited with creating the first cotton mill?
   a) James Watt
   b) Richard Arkwright
   c) James Hargreaves
   d) Matthew Boulton

3. In Victorian Britain, why did some industrialists prefer hand labour over machines?
   a) Machines were not easily available.
   b) There was a shortage of capital to buy machines.
   c) Human labour was cheap and available in plenty, especially for seasonal work.
   d) Workers refused to operate machines.

4. Which pre-colonial Indian port declined with the rise of European colonial power and the shift to ports like Bombay and Calcutta?
   a) Calcutta
   b) Bombay
   c) Surat
   d) Madras

5. What was the role of the 'Gomastha' appointed by the East India Company?
   a) To finance weavers
   b) To supervise weavers, collect supplies, and check quality
   c) To export finished textiles
   d) To train weavers in new techniques

6. The first cotton mill in India was established in:
   a) Calcutta in 1818
   b) Ahmedabad in 1861
   c) Kanpur in 1862
   d) Bombay in 1854

7. Who was a 'Jobber' in Indian industries during the early 20th century?
   a) A British official supervising factories
   b) An Indian merchant financing trade
   c) An old trusted worker who recruited new labour from villages
   d) A European owner of a Managing Agency

8. How did the First World War impact Indian industries?
   a) It led to a severe decline due to lack of British support.
   b) It caused widespread closure of factories due to labour shortages.
   c) It provided a boost as British imports declined and war demands increased.
   d) It had no significant impact on Indian industries.

9. Which of the following was a common method used by manufacturers (both British and Indian) to advertise their products in India?
   a) Radio jingles
   b) Television commercials
   c) Printed labels and calendars with images
   d) Public speeches

10. Early Indian industrialists primarily produced _______ before shifting focus later, especially after 1906.
    a) Fine fabrics for export to Britain
    b) Heavy machinery
    c) Coarse cotton yarn mainly for export or local handlooms
    d) Luxury silk goods

Answer Key:

1. c) Proto-industrialisation
2. b) Richard Arkwright
3. c) Human labour was cheap and available in plenty, especially for seasonal work.
4. c) Surat
5. b) To supervise weavers, collect supplies, and check quality
6. d) Bombay in 1854
7. c) An old trusted worker who recruited new labour from villages
8. c) It provided a boost as British imports declined and war demands increased.
9. c) Printed labels and calendars with images
10. c) Coarse cotton yarn mainly for export or local handlooms

Make sure you revise these notes thoroughly. Understand the connections between events in Britain and their impact on India. Good luck with your preparation!