Short Answers Questions (SAQs) for Chapter 4 The Age of Industrialisation Class 10 History
Important Questions1
What is meant by proto-industrialization? Why was it successful in the countryside in England in the 17th Century?
Answer
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.
Answer
(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.
Answer
(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.
Answer
(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?
Answer
(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.
Answer
The jobber was a person with some authority and used to help the industrialists to get workers. His role was to ensure job to worker and workers to industrialists. 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
Why did East India Company appoint Gomasthas in India?
Answer
(i) Before 1760s, British cotton industries had not expanded and Indian fine textiles were in great demand in Europe.
(ii) The East India Company wanted to expand exports from India but French, Dutch, Portuguese and local traders competed in the market.
(iii) The weavers and supply merchants could bargain and try selling the products to the best buyer. Hence they appointed Gomasthas to supervise and collect supplies.
8
Why did industrial production in India increase during the First World War? Give any three reasons.
Answer
(i) Manchester imports into India declined as British mills were busy with war production.
(ii) Indian industries were also called upon to supply war needs such as jute bags, cloth for the army uniform, tents and leather boots, horse and mule saddles and a host of other items.
(iii) After the war, Manchester could never recapture its old position in the Indian market.
9
Explain any three problems faced by Indian weavers in 1850s.
Answer
(i) By the 1860s, weavers faced a new problem. They could not get sufficient supply of raw cotton of good quality.
(ii) When the American Civil War broke out and cotton supplies from the US were cut off, Britain turned to India.
(iii) As raw cotton exports from India increased, the price of raw cotton shot up. Weavers in India were starved of supplies and forced to buy raw cotton at exorbitant prices. In this situation weavers couldn’t pay.
10
“The typical worker in the mid 19th century was not a machine operator but the traditional crafts person and labourer.” Support the statement with examples.
Answer
(i) Technological changes occurred slowly.
(ii) Machines broke down and repairs were costly.
(iii) Machines were not as effective as inventors and manufacturers claimed them to be.
(iv) Technology was slow to be accepted by the industrialists.
11
Explain any three major problems faced by new European merchants in setting up their industries in towns before the Industrial Revolution.
Answer
(i) The urban crafts and trade guilds were powerful. These were associations of producers that trained craftspeople and maintained control over production.
(ii) They regulated competition and prices and restricted the entry of new people into the trade.
(iii) Rulers granted different guilds monopoly right to produce and trade in specific products.
12
Describe the functions performed by supply merchants in export trade.
Answer
(i) Supply merchants linked the port towns to the inland regions.
(ii) They gave advances to weavers, procured the woven cloth from wearing villagers and carried the supply to the ports.
(iii) At ports, they had brokers who negotiated the price and bought goods from the supply merchants who were operating inland.
13
Describe any three main reasons for the decline of textile exports from India in the 19th century.
Answer
(i) Britain imposed import duties on cotton textiles, thus export market got declined.
(iii) The machine-made goods were cheaper and weavers could not compete with them.
(iv) Raw cotton exports from India to Britain shot up the prices of cotton.
14
Name the sea routes that connected India with Asian countries.
Answer
(i) A vibrant sea trade operated through the main pre-colonial ports.
(ii) Surat on the Gujarat coast connected India with the Gulf and the Red Sea ports.
(iii) Masulipatam on the Coromandel Coast and Hooghly in Bengal had trade links with the southeast Asian ports.
15
Who were the Gomasthas? Why did the weavers and Gomasthas clash?
Answer
Gomasthas were paid servants of the East India Company. Their job was to supervise weavers, collect supplies, and examine the quality of cloth. The weavers clashed with the Gomasthas because they were outsiders with no long-term link with the villages.
• They acted arrogantly marched into villages with sepoys and peons and punished weavers for delays. Also, they often beat and flogged the workers.
16
Why did women workers in Britain attack the Spinning Jenny? Give any three reasons.
Answer
(i) Spinning Jenny speeded up the spinning process and reduced labour demand.
(ii) The fear of unemployment made workers hostile to the introduction of new technology.
(iii) When the Spinning Jenny was introduced in the woollen industry, women who survived on hand spinning lost their job and began attacking the new machines.
17
How was foreign trade from India conducted before the age of machine industries? Explain.
Answer
(i) Before the age of machine industries, silk and cotton goods from India dominated the international market in textiles. The finer varieties often came from India. Armenian and Persian merchants took the goods from Punjab to Afghanistan, Eastern Persia and Central Asia.
(ii) Bales of fine textiles were carried on camel back via the North West frontier, through mountain passes and across deserts.
(iii) A vibrant sea trade operated through the main pre-colonial ports. Surat on the Gujarat coast connected India to the Gulf and Red Sea Ports; Masulipatnam on the Coromandel Coast and Hooghly in Bengal had trade links with Southeast Asian ports.
18
Mention the name of three Indian entrepreneurs and their individual contribution during the 19th century.
Answer
Dinshaw Petit, J. N. Tata and Seth Hukum Chand are the three entrepreneurs. Dinshaw Petit and J. N. Tata built huge industrial empires. Seth Hukum Chand established the first Indian jute mill.19
“Despite stiff competition from machine-made thread, the Indian handloom production not only survived, but also saw a steady growth in the 20th century.” Explain reasons in favour of your answer.
Answer
(i) Handicrafts people adopt new technology which helped them in improving production without increasing costs.
(ii) The demand for the finer varieties bought by the rich was more stable thus weavers who are fulfilling their demand such as the sale of Banarasi or Baluchari saris did not affected.
(iii) Mills could not imitate specialized weavers such as who are producing sarees with intricate borders, lungis, handkerchiefs.
20
What led to expansion In handloom craft production between 1900 and 1940?
Answer
• Handicrafts producers adopted a new technology which helped in improving the production without excessively pushing up the costs
• By the second decade of the Twentieth century, most of the weavers started using looms with a fly shuttle. This increased productivity per worker, speeded up production, and reduced the labour demand.
• There were several other small innovations that helped weavers to improve their productivity, and compete with the mill sector.
21
“In the eighteenth century Europe, the peasants and artisans in the countryside readily agreed to work for the merchants.” Explain any three reasons.
Answer
• Cottages and villagers were looking for new alternatives of income.
• Tiny plots of land with the villagers could not provide work for all members of the family.
• Advances offered by the merchants made the villagers readily agree to produce goods for them.
• By working for the merchants, they could continue to remain in the villages and do cultivation also.
It was possible to have full use of family labour force.
22
Describe the contributions of Dwarkanath Tagore as an entrepreneur of Bengal.
Answer
• Dwarkanath Tagore believed that India would develop through westernization and industrialisation.
• He invested in shipping, ship building, mining, banking, plantations and insurance.
• Dwarkanath Tagore made his fortune in China trade before he turned to industrial investment, setting up six joint stock companies in the 1830s and 1840s.
23
“Although wages increased somewhat in the nineteenth century but they could not improve the welfare of the workers.” How do you agree with this statement? Explain any three points.
Answer
• The average figures hide the variations between trades and fluctuations from year to year.
• The real value of workers’ income fell significantly, since the same wages could now buy fewer things.
• The workers did not get employment everyday, hence the number of days worked determined the average daily income of the workers.
24
Name any two European Managing Agencies which controlled a large sector of the Indian industries. Describe any three functions performed by such agencies.
Answer
European Managing Agencies which controlled a large sector of the Indian industries were:
(i) Bird Heiglers & Co.
(ii) Andrew Yule
Functions:
(i) European Managing Agencies mobilised capital.
(ii) They set up joint stock companies and managed them.
25
Analyze any three positive effects of industrialization on workers.
Answer
• Building activities intensified in the cities, opening up greater opportunities of employment.
• Roads were widened.
• New railway stations came up and railway lines were extended, tunnel dug up.
• Drainage and sewers were laid, rivers embanked.