The Age of Industrialisation

Industrialisation did not begin only with factories. Even before factories appeared in England and Europe, merchants in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries gave money to peasants and artisans in the countryside to produce goods for an international market. Historians call this phase proto-industrialisation. This chapter traces the coming of factories, such as Richard Arkwright's cotton mill, inventions like the spinning jenny and James Watt's improved steam engine, and the slow pace of change, since hand labour remained cheap in Victorian Britain. In India, fine textiles from Surat, Masulipatnam and Hoogly once dominated world trade. The East India Company controlled weavers through paid servants called gomasthas, and later British cotton goods flooded Indian markets. The chapter describes the first cotton mill in Bombay in 1854, the first jute mill in Bengal in 1855, and Indian industrialists such as Dwarkanath Tagore, Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy and J.N. Tata. It ends with the growth of Indian industries during the First World War, the survival of handlooms, and how advertisements and labels created markets for new goods.

Detailed Worksheet: The Age of Industrialisation Section A - Definitions (10 marks) 1. What is proto-industrialisation? (2 marks) 2. Who were gomasthas? Why did weavers clash with them? (2 marks) 3. What is a 'jobber'? What was his role? (2 marks) 4. Who invented the spinning jenny? Why did some women attack it? (2 marks) 5. What was the fly shuttle? How did it help weavers? (2 marks) Section B - Calculations and Applications (15 marks) 6. British imports of raw cotton rose from 2.5 million pounds in 1760 to 22 million pounds in 1787. Calculate the increase and the growth factor. What does this show about the cotton industry? (3 marks) 7. In 1811-12, cotton piece-goods made up 33% of India's exports; by 1850-51 the share had fallen to 3%. Calculate the fall in percentage points and the fraction of the original share that remained. Explain the reasons. (3 marks) 8. The number of workers in Indian factories rose from about 5,84,000 in 1901 to about 24,36,000 in 1946. Calculate the increase and the percentage increase. Why did industry grow slowly before the First World War? (3 marks) 9. Arrange in chronological order and give the years: James Watt patents his improved steam engine; the first cotton mill in Bombay is set up; the first Indian-owned jute mill is set up in Calcutta by Seth Hukumchand; the first jute mill starts in Bengal; Tata Iron and Steel Works is set up. (3 marks) 10. At the beginning of the nineteenth century there were only 321 steam engines in England, of which 80 were in cotton industries and 9 in wool industries. Calculate the percentage in each, and the number used in other industries. What does this tell us about the spread of steam power? (3 marks) Section C - Diagrams (10 marks) 11. Draw a flowchart showing the stages of proto-industrial production, from the merchant to the final consumer in the international market. (4 marks) 12. Draw an outline map of India and mark Surat, Masulipatnam, Hoogly, Bombay, Ahmedabad, Kanpur and Calcutta. (3 marks) 13. Draw a timeline showing major events in the growth of Indian industry from 1854 to 1917. (3 marks) Section D - Analysis and Higher-order Thinking (15 marks) 14. 'In Victorian Britain there was no shortage of human labour.' Explain why industrialists preferred hand labour to machines in many industries. (5 marks) 15. Explain how the East India Company established control over Indian weavers, and the impact of Manchester imports on Indian handloom production. (5 marks) 16. How did the First World War help Indian industries grow? Explain why handloom production expanded in the twentieth century despite competition from mills. (5 marks) Instructions: Time allowed 2 hours. Attempt all sections. Use dates and examples carefully. Draw maps and flowcharts neatly with labels.