NCERT Solutions for Class 10 History Chapter 4 The Age of Industrialisation
Here you will find NCERT Solutions for Class 10 History Chapter 4 The Age of Industrialisation which will help you in finding accurate answers of every questions. These answers will also help you in knowing the important points provided in the chapter. We detailed every answers so you can get in depth concepts of every question that will ultimately help you in framing your own answers. Class 10 History Chapter 4 The Age of Industrialisation will help you improving your marks in the board examinations.

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Page No: 126
1. Explain the following:
(a) Women workers in Britain attacked the Spinning Jenny.
(b) In the seventeenth century merchants from towns in Europe began employing peasants and artisans within the villages.
(c) The port of Surat declined by the end of the eighteenth century.
(d) The East India Company appointed gomasthas to supervise weavers in India.
Solution
(a) When the Spinning Jenny was introduced in the woollen industries of Britain, the workers opposed it. By turning one single wheel, a worker could set in motion a number of spindles and spin several threads at the same time. It reduced the demand for labour. The workers feared that they would be deprived of their jobs. Therefore, women workers in Britain, who were mostly handspinners, attacked the Spinning Jenny machines.
(b) In the seventeenth century, merchants from the towns in Europe began moving to the countryside, supplying money to peasants and artisans, persuading them to produce for an international market. The merchants were not able to expand production within towns. Crafts and trade guilds in towns were very powerful. These were associations which trained people, regulated production and prices, as well as protected the interests of skilled labour. The rulers and nobles had granted monopoly rights to the guilds to produce and trade in specific products. It was, therefore, difficult for new merchants to set up their businesses in towns. Therefore, the merchants began employing peasants and artisans within the villages. These local artisans were persuaded to produce quality goods for the international markets.
(c) The port of Surat declined by the end of the eighteenth century due to the factors as mentioned below:
• The European companies gradually gained power, securing a variety of concessions from local courts and monopoly rights over trade.
• With the growth of colonial power, ports of Bombay and Calcutta grew.
• Trade started through new ports controlled by European companies and was carried in European ships.
(d) • After establishing political power, the East India Company could assert over monopoly Indian trade. So it took various steps to eliminate competition, control costs and ensure supplies of cotton and silk goods.
• One of the steps was to appoint a paid servant called the gomastha to supervise weavers, collect supplies and examine the quality of cloth.
• The weavers who had taken advances from the Company had to hand over the cloth they produced to the gomastha.
• However, the gomasthas were outsiders with no long-term social link with the village. They acted arrogantly and punished weavers for delays.
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.
► False
(d) The introduction of the fly shuttle enabled handloom workers to improve their productivity.
► True
3. Explain what is meant by proto-industrialisation.
Solution
The word ‘proto’ means the first or early form of something. 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?
Solution
• The machines needed capital investments. They were costly, difficult to repair and ineffective.
• Labours were available at lower wages.
• Seasonal labour was required in seasonal industries only.
• The demands of the market for a specific length, variety of colours and designs could not be fulfilled by the machine-made clothes. Handmade clothes were preferred by the elite.
2. How did the East India Company procure regular supplies of cotton and silk textiles from Indian weavers?
Solution
The East India Company tried to break the monopoly of the existing traders and brokers who traded in cloth by establishing direct control on the weavers.
• It appointed a paid servant called the gomastha to supervise weavers, collect supplies, and examine the quality of cloth.
• It prevented Company weavers from dealing with other buyers. One way of doing this was through the system of advances.
• Once an order was placed, the weavers were given loans to purchase the raw material for their production. Those who took loans had to hand over the cloth they produced to the gomastha. They could not take it to any other trader.
3. Imagine that you have been asked to write an article for an encyclopaedia on Britain and the history of cotton. Write your piece using information from the entire chapter.
Solution
During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, cloth production in Britain was widespread in the countryside. It was mainly carried out in village households. A clothier would buy wool from a wool stapler, carry it to the spinners, and then, take the yarn to the weavers, fuller and dyers for further levels of production. London was the finishing centre for these goods. This phase in British manufacturing history is known as proto-industrialisation.
After the Industrial Revolution occurred in Britain, the production of cotton increased manifold. It was a result of a number of changes that occurred in the production process. The newly-invented machines and equipment began to be used in each step of the production process - carding, twisting, spinning and rolling. They not only enhanced the output per worker, but also made the production of strong yarns and threads possible.
Most inventions in the textile production sector were met with disregard and hatred by the workers because machines implied less hand labour and lower employment needs. The Spinning Jenny was one such invention. Before such inventions, cotton and silk goods were imported from India in vast numbers. There was a high demand of fine textiles of India in England. After the East India Company gained political power, they exploited the weavers and textile industry in India to its fuller potential. Manchester became the hub of cotton production and India turned into a major buyer of British cotton goods.
During the First World War, the British were in a rush for providing for war needs. Hence, the demand for Indian textile rose again. There was a fluctuation in the demand and supply in textile production.
4. Why did industrial production in India increase during the First World War?
Solution
There was an increase in industrial production during the First World War in India due to:
• British industries were involved in the production and supply of the war needs. Therefore, they stopped exporting British goods or clothes to the colonised countries like India.
• Indian industries utilised that opportunity and started selling its goods, which led to the rise of industrial production in India.
• Indian factory owners also played a main role in providing war supplies to the British colonial government like jute, cloth or army uniform, leather boots, and tents, horse and mule saddles, etc.
• This led to the increase in production of the old industries and the increased demands of various products led to setting up of new industries.
• Due to the increase in production, new workers were employed and there was an increase in working hours.
(c) The port of Surat declined by the end of the eighteenth century due to the factors as mentioned below:
• The European companies gradually gained power, securing a variety of concessions from local courts and monopoly rights over trade.
• With the growth of colonial power, ports of Bombay and Calcutta grew.
• Trade started through new ports controlled by European companies and was carried in European ships.
(d) • After establishing political power, the East India Company could assert over monopoly Indian trade. So it took various steps to eliminate competition, control costs and ensure supplies of cotton and silk goods.
• One of the steps was to appoint a paid servant called the gomastha to supervise weavers, collect supplies and examine the quality of cloth.
• The weavers who had taken advances from the Company had to hand over the cloth they produced to the gomastha.
• However, the gomasthas were outsiders with no long-term social link with the village. They acted arrogantly and punished weavers for delays.
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.
► False
(d) The introduction of the fly shuttle enabled handloom workers to improve their productivity.
► True
3. Explain what is meant by proto-industrialisation.
Solution
The word ‘proto’ means the first or early form of something. 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?
Solution
• The machines needed capital investments. They were costly, difficult to repair and ineffective.
• Labours were available at lower wages.
• Seasonal labour was required in seasonal industries only.
• The demands of the market for a specific length, variety of colours and designs could not be fulfilled by the machine-made clothes. Handmade clothes were preferred by the elite.
2. How did the East India Company procure regular supplies of cotton and silk textiles from Indian weavers?
Solution
The East India Company tried to break the monopoly of the existing traders and brokers who traded in cloth by establishing direct control on the weavers.
• It appointed a paid servant called the gomastha to supervise weavers, collect supplies, and examine the quality of cloth.
• It prevented Company weavers from dealing with other buyers. One way of doing this was through the system of advances.
• Once an order was placed, the weavers were given loans to purchase the raw material for their production. Those who took loans had to hand over the cloth they produced to the gomastha. They could not take it to any other trader.
3. Imagine that you have been asked to write an article for an encyclopaedia on Britain and the history of cotton. Write your piece using information from the entire chapter.
Solution
During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, cloth production in Britain was widespread in the countryside. It was mainly carried out in village households. A clothier would buy wool from a wool stapler, carry it to the spinners, and then, take the yarn to the weavers, fuller and dyers for further levels of production. London was the finishing centre for these goods. This phase in British manufacturing history is known as proto-industrialisation.
After the Industrial Revolution occurred in Britain, the production of cotton increased manifold. It was a result of a number of changes that occurred in the production process. The newly-invented machines and equipment began to be used in each step of the production process - carding, twisting, spinning and rolling. They not only enhanced the output per worker, but also made the production of strong yarns and threads possible.
Most inventions in the textile production sector were met with disregard and hatred by the workers because machines implied less hand labour and lower employment needs. The Spinning Jenny was one such invention. Before such inventions, cotton and silk goods were imported from India in vast numbers. There was a high demand of fine textiles of India in England. After the East India Company gained political power, they exploited the weavers and textile industry in India to its fuller potential. Manchester became the hub of cotton production and India turned into a major buyer of British cotton goods.
During the First World War, the British were in a rush for providing for war needs. Hence, the demand for Indian textile rose again. There was a fluctuation in the demand and supply in textile production.
4. Why did industrial production in India increase during the First World War?
Solution
There was an increase in industrial production during the First World War in India due to:
• British industries were involved in the production and supply of the war needs. Therefore, they stopped exporting British goods or clothes to the colonised countries like India.
• Indian industries utilised that opportunity and started selling its goods, which led to the rise of industrial production in India.
• Indian factory owners also played a main role in providing war supplies to the British colonial government like jute, cloth or army uniform, leather boots, and tents, horse and mule saddles, etc.
• This led to the increase in production of the old industries and the increased demands of various products led to setting up of new industries.
• Due to the increase in production, new workers were employed and there was an increase in working hours.
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