The Age of Industrialisation
In 1900, a popular music publisher E.T. Paull produced a music book that had a picture on the cover page announcing the ‘Dawn of the Century’ (Fig. 1). As you can see from the illustration, at the centre of the picture is a goddess-like figure, the angel of progress, bearing the flag of the new century. She is gently perched on a wheel with wings, symbolising time. Her flight is taking her into the future. Floating about, behind her, are the signs of progress: railway, camera, machines, printing press and factory.
This glorification of machines and technology is even more marked in a picture which appeared on the pages of a trade magazine over a hundred years ago (Fig. 2). It shows two magicians. The one at the top is Aladdin from the Orient who built a beautiful palace with his magic lamp. The one at the bottom is the modern mechanic, who with his modern tools weaves a new magic: builds bridges, ships, towers and high-rise buildings. Aladdin is shown as representing the East and the past, the mechanic stands for the West and modernity. These images offer us a triumphant account of the modern world. Within this account the modern world is associated with rapid technological change and innovations, machines and factories, railways and steamships. The history of industrialisation thus becomes simply a story of development, and the modern age appears as a wonderful time of technological progress.
These images and associations have now become part of popular imagination. Do you not see rapid industrialisation as a time of progress and modernity? Do you not think that the spread of railways and factories, and construction of high-rise buildings and bridges is a sign of society’s development
How have these images developed? And how do we relate to these ideas? Is industrialisation always based on rapid technological development? Can we today continue to glorify continuous mechanisation of all work? What has industrialisation meant to people’s lives? To answer such questions we need to turn to the history of industrialisation.
In this chapter we will look at this history by focusing first on Britain, the first industrial nation, and then India, where the pattern of industrial change was conditioned by colonial rule
Write in Brief
Question. 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.
Answer :
(a) Women workers in Britain attacked the Spinning Jenny because it speeded up the spinning process, and consequently, reduced labour demand. This caused a valid fear of unemployment among women working in the woollen industry. Till date, they had survived on hand spinning, but this was placed in peril by the new machine.
(b) The trade and commerce guild controlled the market, raw materials, employees, and also production of goods in the towns. This created problems for merchants who wanted to increase production by employing more men. Therefore, they turned to peasants and artisans who lived in villages.
(c) The port of Surat declined by the end of the eighteenth century on account of the growing power of European companies in trade with India. They secured many concessions from local courts as well as the monopoly rights to trade. This led to a decline of the old ports of Surat and Hoogly from where local merchants had operated. Exports slowed and local banks here went bankrupt.
(d) The English East India Company appointed Gomasthas for:
- To eliminate the existence of traders and brokers and establish a direct control over the weavers.
- To eliminate weavers from dealing with other buyers by means of advances and control. In this manner, weavers who took loans and fees in advance were obligated to the British.
Question. Explain what is meant by proto-industrialisation.
Answer : Proto-industrialisation is the phase of industrialisation that was not based on the factory system. 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.
Question. How did the East India Company procure regular supplies of cotton and silk textiles from Indian weavers?
Answer : The English East India Company used different means to procure silk and cotton from the weavers:
- Appointment of paid supervisors called Gomasthas. They also collected supplies and examined cloth quality of the weavers.
- Prevention of Company weavers from dealing with other buyers through a system of advances and loans.
Question. Why did industrial production in India increase during the First World War?
Answer : India witnessed increased industrial production during the First World War due to following reasons:
- British industries became busy in producing and supplying war-needs. Hence, they stopped exporting British goods or clothes for colonial markets like that in India.
- It was a good opportunity for Indian industries to fill in empty Indian markets with their products. It was done so. Therefore, industrial production in India increased.
- Also the British colonial government asked Indian factories to supply the war needs like – jute bags, cloth or army uniforms, tents and leather boots, horse and mule saddle, etc.
- The increased demands of variety of products led to the setting up of new factories and old ones increased their production.
- Many new workers were employed and everyone was made to work longer hours.
Please refer to attached file for NCERT Class 10 History The Age of Industrialisation
