CBSE Class 10 Social Science The Age of Industrialization VBQs

Multiple Choice Questions

Question : This became a vehicle of the nationalist message of swadeshi :
(a) Advertisements
(b) Textile mills
(c) Steam engine
(d) Spinning Jenny
Answer : A

Question : The steam engine produced by Newcomen was improved by
(a) Richard Arkwright
(b) Mathew Boulton
(c) James Watt
(d) Dinshaw Petit
Answer : C

Question : The Spinning Jenny was devised by :
(a) James Hargreaves
(b) Richard Arkwright
(c) Newcomen
(d) James Watt
Answer : A

Question :  This town on the Coromandel Coast had trade links with Southeast Asian ports :
(a) Afghanistan
(a) Surat
(c) Masulipatnam
(d) Persia 
Answer : C

Question :  The cotton mill in England was created by :
(a) Richard Arkwright
(b) James Watt
(c) Seth Hukumchand
(d) Henry Patullo 
Answer : A

Question :  The two Parsis of Bombay who built huge industrial empires in India, accumulated their wealth partly from exports to China :
(a) James Hargreaves and Jamsetjee Nusserwanjee Tata
(b) Seth Hukumchand and Dinshaw Petit
(c) Dwarkanath Tagore and G.D. Birla
(d) Dinshaw Petit and Jamsetjee Nusserwanjee Tata 
Answer : D

Question :  Why did most of the workers oppose the introduction of new technology in factories in nineteenth century England?
(a) Workers felt that the quality of cloth will suffer because of the introduction of technology
(b) They did not want to work on modern machines
(c) Fear of losing employment
(d) All of the above 
Answer : C

Question :  The steam engine produced by Newcomen was improved by:
(a) Richard Arkwright
(b) Mathew Boulton
(c) James Watt
(d) Dinshaw Petit 
Answer : C

Question :  Why did the weavers suffer from a problem of raw cotton?
(a) The cotton crop perished.
(b) Raw cotton exports increased.
(c) Local markets shrank.
(d) Export market collapsed. 
Answer : B

Question : This town on the Coromandel coast had trade links with Southeast Asian ports :
(a) Afghanistan
(b) Surat
(c) Masulipatnam
(d) Persia
Answer : C

Question : This town in Bengal had trade links with Southeast Asian ports :
(a) Hoogly
(b) Porbandar
(c) Dwarka
(d) Masulipatnam
Answer : A

Question : Arrange the followings in the correct sequence:
(i) The coming up of the factories in England
(ii) Invention of Spinning Jenny
(iii) Invention of Steam Engine
(iv) Manchester came to India
Options-
(a) (iii)-(i)-(ii)-(iv)
(b) (i)-(ii)-(iii)-(iv)
(c) (i)-(iii)-(ii)-(iv)
(d) (iv)-(i)-(ii)-(iii)
Answer : A

Question : The first jute mill set up by a Marwari businessman, Seth Hukumchand in 1917 was located in :
(a) Calcutta
(b) Madras
(c) Bombay
(d) Ahmedabad
Answer : A

Question : French: France, Portuguese: Portugal, Dutch: ________.
Answer : Netherlands

Question. Write True or False against each statement:

Question : In Victorian Britain, the upper classes preferred things produced by manual labour. (True/False)
Answer : True

Question : The American Civil War resulted in the reduction of cotton exports from India. (True/False)
Answer : False

Question : At the end of the nineteenth century, 80 per cent of the total workforce in Europe was employed in the technologically advanced industrial sector.
Answer : False

Question : The international market for fine textiles was dominated by India till the eighteenth century.
Answer : True

Question : The American Civil War resulted in the reduction of cotton exports from India.
Answer : False

Question : The introduction of the fly shuttle enabled handloom workers to improve their productivity.
Answer : True

Question : Complete the following :
A series of inventions increased the efficacy of each step of the production process______.
Answer : Which included carding, twisting, spinning and rolling.

Assertion and Reasoning Based Questions Mark the option which is most suitable :

(a) If both assertion and reason are true and reason is the correct explanation of assertion.
(b) If both assertion and reason are true but reason is not the correct explanation of assertion.
(c) If assertion is true but reason is false.
(d) If both assertion and reason are false.

Question : Assertion : In most industrial regions, workers came from the districts around.
Reason : Peasants and artisans who found no work in the village went to the industrial centres in search of work.
Answer : (a) 

Question : Assertion : From 1906, the export of Indian yarn to China declined.
Reason : After the First World War, Manchester could never recapture its old position in the Indian market.
Answer : (b) 

Question : Assertion : In the twentieth century, handloom cloth production expanded steadily.
Reason : This was partly because of technological changes.
Answer : (a) 

Question : Assertion : Like the images of gods and goddesses, figures of important personages like emperors and nawabs adorned advertisements and calendars.
Reason : This was done to show the pomp and glory of the nation.
Answer : (c) 

One Word Answer Type Questions 

Question : Who devised the Spinning Jenny ?
Answer : James Hargreaves. 

Question : When was the spinning Jenny devised ?
Answer :1764 

Question : Name some processes involved in the production of cloth.
Answer : Carding, twisting, spinning and rolling. 

Question : What does the term Proto mean ?
Answer : First or early form of something. 

Question : Name the pre colonial ports of importance in India.
Answer : Hoogly, Masulipatam, Surat. 

Question : Name some other trading companies apart from the East India Company.
Answer : The Dutch, the Portuguese and the French. 

Question : Who was a stapler ?
Answer : A person who staples or sorts the wool. 

Question : Who is a fuller ?
Answer : A person who gathers cotton. 

Question : Who was a sepoy ?
Answer : A sepoy was an Indian soldier. 

Question : Where were most of the factories of British located in India ?
Answer : Bombay and Calcutta. 

Very Short Answer Type Questions 

Question. Name two industrialists of Bombay who built huge industries empire during the nineteenth century.?
Answer : Dinshaw Petit and Jamsetjee Nusserwanjee Tata.

Question. Which ports had trade links with South Asia ports?
Answer : .Masulipattanam,Hooghly and surat.

Question. Generally from where did the workers come from to work in factories ?
Answer : In most industrial regions workers came from the districts around e.g., the mills of Kanpur got most of their textile workers from the villages within the district of Kanpur.

Question. How was the nationalist message of Swadeshi spread?
Answer : Through advertisements.

Question. Name any two European Managing Agencies which till the First World War controlled a large sector of Indian industries.
Answer : :a)Bird Heiglers and Co. (b)Jardine Skinner and Co.

Question. Why did some industrialists in nineteenth century Europe prefer hand labour over machines ? State any one factor.
Answer : In industries such as gas works, breweries, where production fluctuated with the season, industrialists usually preferred hand labour over machines.

Question. How were the working conditions in the 19th century in India ?
Answer : The working conditions were not good e.g., the shift was 10 hours from 5 pm to 3 am.

Question. Mention any one reason that led to clashes between weavers and gomasthas.
Answer : The gomasthas were outsiders, with no long-term social link with the village. They acted arrogantly, marched into villages with sepoys and peons, and punished weavers for delays in supply – often beating and flogging them.

Question. Where were most of the large-scale industries located in 1911?
Answer : Bengal and Bombay.

Question. What did Henry Patullo, a company official, say about Indian textiles ?
Answer : Henry Patullo, a company official said that the demand for Indian textiles could never reduce, since no other nation produced goods of the same quality.

Question. What was the main function of a jobber ?
Answer : The main function of the jobber was to get new recruits.

Question. What was the importance of Surat port in the sixteenth century ?
Answer : A vibrant sea trade operated through Surat on the Gujarat coast. It connected India to the Gulf and Red Sea Ports.

Question : By 1750's why the commercial networks of Indian trailers did began to decline in India ?
Answer : The European trading companies secured huge concessions and trading privileges from various rulers and local courts that boosted their trade. After this, they secured monopoly rights to trade even. This impacted the trading activities of the Indian traders and merchants. 

Question : What happened as a result of cotton being exported from India?
Answer : As cotton was being exported to England, the availability of cotton in Indian markets was affected. Weavers had to pay high rates to purchase raw cotton which most of the weavers could not afford. 

Question : What does Proto industrialisation mean ?
Answer : It is the phase of industrialisation that was not based on factories but rather created suitable conditions for the establishment of full industrialised cities. 

Question : Why did technological changes occur slowly ?
Answer : New technology was expensive and their repairing costs were very high. Thus, merchants and industrialists thought before investing in them. Moreover, not all manufacturers could guarantee efficient machines. 

Question : Why the aristocrats in Victorian England demanded handmade products?
Answer : Handmade products portrayed class, royalty, high tastes and refinement. They were unique in their own designs and carefully designed and finished, so they attracted the upper elites of the society more. 

Question : Give some examples of seasonal industries.
Answer : Gas works, breweries, book binding factories, dockyard works, repairing tasks in various other factories too. 

Question : Name some small scale industries where small innovations helped immensely.
Answer : Food processing, building, pottery, glass works, tanning, furniture making and tools manufacturing. 

Question : Why was hand labour preferred in seasonal factories ?
Answer : In industries such as breweries and book binders, production was affected by the seasonal demands and changes. Hence, seasonal labours could be easily employed when the need arose. Moreover, as the supply of labour was high, it was easy to get such labourers and keep cost of production low.

Question : Why were manufacturers printing calendar to popularise their product? 
Answer : The manufacturers printed calendar to popularise their product because unlike newspapers and magazines, calendars were used even by people who could not read.
They were hung in tea shops and in poor people’s homes just as much as in offices and middle-class apartments. And those who hung the calendars had to see the advertisements, day after day, through the year.  

Short Answer Type Questions

Question : Explain the features of pre-colonial trade scenario in India.
Answer : The features of pre-colonial trade scenario in India are enumerated as follows:
(i) Silk and cotton goods from India dominated the international market in textiles.
(ii) Armenian and Persian merchants took the goods from Punjab to Afghanistan, Eastern Persia and Central Asia. Bales of fine textiles were carried and brought back via the northwest 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 Hoogly in Bengal had trade links with Southeast Asian ports.

Question : Why did industrial production in India boom during the World War-I phase ?
Answer : Manchester imports into India were declining as British factories were busy producing war materials. The Indian industries aimed to supply war resources and products for Britin, The main items were jute bags, army uniforms, tents, leather bags, and kalher boots. Moreover, after war Manchester failed to regain its position which helped India during that phase to develop.

Question : Describe any three major problems faced by Indian cotton weavers in the nineteenth century.
Answer : The problems faced by the cotton weavers in India during mid-nineteenth century are as follows:
(i) A huge decline of textile exports from India. The local markets shrank due to deluge of Manchester imports.
(ii) Produced by machines at lower costs, the imported cotton goods were so cheap that the hand-spun cotton materials made by Indian weavers could not easily compete with them.
(iii) The Indian weavers failed to achieve sufficient supply of raw cotton of good quality.

Question :  Write a short note on the growth of factories in colonial India.
Answer : The first cotton mill in Bombay came up in 1854 and it went into production two years later. By 1862 four mills were at work with 94,000 spindles and 2,150 looms. Around the same time jute mills came up in Bengal, the first being set up in 1855 and another one seven years later in 1862. In North India, the Elgin Mill was started in Kanpur. In the 1860s and a year later, the first cotton mill of Ahmedabad was set up. By 1874, the first spinning and weaving mill of Madras began production.

Question : What were the advantages of cotton mill?
Answer : The advantages of cotton mill are enumerated as follows :
(i) Production process was carefully supervised.
(ii) Quality of cloth could be controlled.
(iii) More amount of production in less time.
(iv) Labour could be easily managed.

Question : How did the system of advances tie the poor weavers to the company?
Answer : (i) Under the system of advances, once the 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 company. They could not sell it to any other trader. (ii) In the beginning, the poor weavers were happy. They eagerly took the advances, hoping to earn more. They leased out their land which they had earlier cultivated along with weaving and devoted all their time to weaving. They also engaged their children and women in different stages of the process. (iii) The innocent weavers were least aware of the fact that they had lost their freedom and space to bargain for prices and sell to different buyers. The price they received from the company was miserably low and the loans they had received tied them to the company. 5. Why were there frequent clashes between Indian weavers and the Company gomasthas? Give three reasons. Ans:The company gomasthas were appointed to supervise weavers, collect supplies, and examine the quality of cloth. However, in many weaving villages there were reports of clashes between weavers and these gomasthas. a)Earlier supply merchants were those who lived within the weaving villages, and had a close relationship with the weavers. The new gomasthas were outsiders, with no long term link with the village. b)They acted arrogantly, marched into villages with sepoys and peons, and punished weavers for delays in supplies. c)The weavers lost the space to bargain for prices and sell to different buyers. The price they received from the company was very low. In extreme frustration these weavers revolted, opposing these gomasthas.

Question : Explain any three causes which led to the decline of Indian cotton textiles in the early nineteenth century.
Answer : (i) The British cotton manufactures began to expand.
(ii) They pressurised the government to restrict cotton imports.
(iii) They began to search the overseas markets for selling their cloth
(iv) Indian textiles faced stiff competition in other international market.
(v) There was a decline in the share of the textile.
(vi) Tariffs were imposed on the cloth imports into Britain.

Question : Explain with examples the importance of advertisement in the marketing of the goods.
Answer : (i) Advertisements play a very vital role in the marketing of any products. One way in which new consumers are created is through advertisements.
(ii) Advertisements make products appear desirable and necessary.
They try to shape the minds of the people and new needs.

Question : Describe the contribution of Dwarkanath Tagore as an entrepreneur in Bengal.
Answer : (i) Dwarka Nath Tagore believed that India would develop through westernization and industrialization
(i) He invested in shipping, mining ,banking, plantation and insurance.
(ii) He made his fortune in China trade before he turned to industrial investment, setting up six joint stock companies in the 1830s and 1840s.

Question : Why did some industrialists in 19thcentuary prefer hand labour over machines?
Answer : In Britain upper class preferred. Hand made goods came to symbolize , by exclusively refinement and class
ii) Shortage of human labour was not there.
III) Introduces a machine required

Long Answer Type Questions 

Question : Explain the role of Indian merchants and bankers in the network of export trade.
                                      ​​​​​​​                   ​​​​​​​    ​​​​​​​OR
What role did the Indian merchants play in the growth of industries before 1750 ?
Answer : (i) The British in India began exporting opium to China and took tea from China to England. Many Indians became junior players in this trade, providing finance, procuring supplies, and shipping consignments. Having earned through trade, some of these businessmen had visions of developing industrial enterprises in India.
(ii) In Bengal, Dwarkanath Tagore made his fortune in the China trade before he turned to industrial investment, setting up six joint-stock companies in the 1830s and 1840s.
(iii) In Bombay, Parsis like Dinshaw Petit and Jamshetjee Nusserwanjee Tata who built huge industrial empires in India accumulated their initial wealth partly from exports to China and partly from raw cotton shipments to England. Sonic merchants from Madras traded with Burma while others had links with the Middle East and East Africa.
(iv) There were yet other commercial groups, but they were not directly involved in external trade. They operated within India, carrying goods from one place to another, banking money, transferring funds between cities, and financing traders. 

Question : “ Serious of changes affected the pattern of industrialization in India by the early twentieth century” Analyze the statement.
Answer : Series of changes affected the pattern of industrialization in India by the early twentieth century.
(i) As the Swadeshi Movement gathered, momentum nationalists mobilized people to boycott foreign cloth.
(ii) Industrial groups organized themselves toprotect their collective interest.
(iii) Pressurizing the government to increase tariff protection and grant other concessions.
(iv) The export of Indian yarn to China declined.
(v) Industrialists in India began shifting from yarn to cloth production.
(vi) Cotton piece goods production in India doubled between 1900-1912.

Question : Describe the techniques which were adopted by the Manchester industrialists to sell their goods in India.
Answer : (i) The Manchester made cloth caried a label with ‘Made in Manchester’ written in bold. This assured the buyers of the quality of the cloth.
(ii) The British manufacturers used images of Indian gods and goddesses on the labels. It symbolized the divine approval for the commodity. It also created familiarity with Indian buyers.
(iii)Manufactures got calendars printed with the images of gods and the advertisements of their products make products appear desirable and necessary.
(iv) Images of historical characters and heroes from the past were also displayed on calendars, thus sending the message that the product ws as worthy of respect as were these respectable characters.
v) The Indian manufacturers printed the images of Bharat Mata and nationalist message on the labels. They also printed ‘Made in India’ on the labels, thus appealing nationalist sentiments.

Question : Enumerate five factors that caused Industrial Revolution in England.
Answer : Five factors that caused Industrial Revolution in England are given below: (i) Growth of an international market: An international market began to grow in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Therefore, merchants from towns in Europe moved to the countryside, supplying money to peasants and artisans, persuading them to produce for the international market. (ii) Growing demand for goods: With the expansion of world trade and the acquisition of colonies in different parts of the world, the demand for goods began growing. These goods were produced by a vast number of producers working within their family farms. (iii) Availability of capital: British traders were experts in trade. They traded in foreign countries and accumulated vast amount of capital which they invested in setting up factories. (iv) New inventions: There occurred a series of inventions in the eighteenth century. These inventions increased the efficacy of each step of the production process. They enhanced the output per worker, enabling each worker to produce more and they made possible the production of stronger threads and yarn. Richard Arkwright’s cotton mill proved to be a big factor for causing Industrial Revolution in England. (v) Availability of natural resources: England had no dearth of natural resources like iron ore and coal. Needless to say that these are the base of industries. England used these resources to establish a number of industries.

Question : Describe any three major problems faced by Indian cotton weavers in nineteenth century?
Answer : Major problems faced by the Indian cotton weavers
(i) Their export market collapsed.
(ii) The local market shrunk.
(iii) Increase in price of raw cotton
(iv) Shortage of cotton
(v) Difficulty of weavers to compete with the imported machine made cheaper cotton products.
(vi) Factories in India also began cheaper machine made goods to which our weavers could not compete.

Question : How did East India Company procure regular supplies of cotton and silk textiles from Indian weavers
Answer : (a) Asserted a monopoly right to trade.
(b)Eliminate the existing traders and brokers connected with the cloth trade and establish direct control over the weaver
(c)Appointed gomasta to supervise weavers, collect supplies and examine the quality of cloth
(d)System of advances-
(e)Gave loan to purchase the raw materials. 6.Mention the contributions of the following entrepreneurs in the industrialisation of India
• Dwarkanath Tagore
• Dinshaw Petit
• Jamsetjee Nusserwanjee Tata
• Seth Hukumchand
• G.D. Birla
Dwarkanath Tagore: In Bengal, he made his fortune in the China trade before he turned to industrial investment, setting up six joint-stock companies in the 1830s and 1840s. Although Tagore’s enterprises sank along with those of others in the wider business crises of the 1840s, later in the nineteenth century many of the China traders became successful industrialists.
Dinshaw Petit and Jamsetjee Nusserwanjee Tata: They were Parsi businessmen. They built huge industrial empires in India, accumulated their initial wealth partly from exports to China, and partly from raw cotton shipments to England.
Seth Hukumchand: He was a Marwari businessman who set up the first Indian jute mill in Calcutta in 1917. He also traded with China.
G.D. Birla:
He was also a Marwari businessman and traded with China. He played an important role in industrialising India. Over the years, the space within which Indian merchants could function became increasingly limited. They were barred from trading with Europe in manufactured goods, and had to export mostly raw materials and food grains like raw cotton, opium, wheat and indigo which the British required. They were also gradually edged out of the shipping business.

Question : Why did the export of Indian textiles decline at the beginning of the nineteenth century?
Answer : (i). Britain imposed import duties on cotton textiles, thus export market declined.
(ii) Exports of British goods to India increased. The Manchestewr goods flooded Indian markets.
(iii) The machine-made goods were economical and Indian weavers could not compete with them.
(iv). Raw cotton exports from India to Britain led to an increase in the prices of cotton.

Question : Why did industrialists in Victorian Britain want to stick to human labour in spite of the introduction of new technologies and machines?
Answer : Some industrialists in nineteenth-century Europe preferred hand labour over machines because of the following reasons: (i) There was no dearth of human labour during this period. Poor peasants and migrants moved to cities in large numbers in search of jobs. They were ready to work at low wages. So industrialists did not want to introduce machines. (ii) In many industries such as gas works and breweries, the demand for labour was seasonal. Since, in these industries production fluctuated with the season, so industrialists usually preferred hand labour, employing workers for the season. (iii) A range of products could be produced only with hand labour. Machines were oriented to producing uniforms, standardised goods for a mass market. But the demand in the market was often for goods with intricate designs and specific shapes. In mid-nineteenth-century Britain, several varieties of hammers and axes were produced. These required human skill, not machines. (iv) In nineteenth-century-Britain, the aristocrats and the bourgeoisie preferred things produced by hand. Handmade products were better finished, individually produced and carefully designed. Machine-made goods were for export to the colonies.

Question : Give the reasons why the network of export trade in textiles controlled by Indian merchants broke down by the 1750s?
Answer : (i) The European companies gradually gained power – first securing a variety of concessions from local courts, then the monopoly rights to trade. This resulted in a decline of the old ports of Surat and Hoogly through which local merchants had operated.
(ii) Exports from these ports fell dramatically, the credit that had financed the earlier trade began drying up, and the local bankers slowly went bankrupt.
(iii) While Surat and Hoogly decayed, Bombay and Calcutta grew. This shift from the old ports to the new ones was an indicator of the growth of colonial power.
(iv) Trade through the new ports came to be controlled by European companies, and was carried in European ships.
(v) Many of the old trading houses, therefore, collapsed. Those that wanted to survive had to now operate within a network shaped by European trading companies.

Question : How did the abundance of labour in the market affect the lives of the workers in Britain during nineteenth century ?
                   ​​​​​​​                   ​​​​​​​                   ​​​​​​​                   ​​​​​​​                   OR
“The process of industrialisation brought with it miseries for the newly emerged class of industrial workers.” Explain.
Answer : There was abundace of labour in the market of Britain during nineteenth century compared to the work available which led to the problem of unemployment:
(i) Seasonality of work : Most of the workers were employed in a fixed or particular season only. This resulted in unemployment for most of the time of the year.
(ii) Low real wages : High supply of labour resulted in low wages and workers were easily replaced if any wage issue was created.
(iii) Poverty : As wages were low, most of the workers lived in harsh conditions of extreme poverty. They did not have enough money to feed their entire families at times.
(iv) Housing problem : As the number of workers kept on increasing in the cities, mostly without work, had a problem in finding healthy and hygienic conditions. Most of them lived on roads, under the bridges or in the unclean by lanes. 

Question : Our production heavily depends on machines. We have almost ignored our small cottage industries and weaving industries. Suggest some ways to strike a balance between the two sectors.
Answer : The suggestive measures are enumerated as follows:
(i) We should organise trade fairs every time and now and then where they get an opportunity to showcase their talents and sell the products and articles.
(ii) The regional trade guilds should support them. It is indispensable for the artisan guilds to function in a balanced way without exploiting the craftsmen.
(iii) It is important to sell off products in the commercial markets and strict rules should be made.
(iv) The products should be sold in the commercial markets and strict regulation is to be done.
(v) The government should take initiatives to preserve the old crafts and products by promoting them, incorporating them in the system or by giving them contracts to boost their contributions.
(vi) They should be given shops in prime locations where they can sell their products on time.
(vii) Promotion of self employment is important. One should boost the artisans with all efforts and boost to such artisans is very required.

Question : “Farmers were affected the worse in India during the colonial period”. Explain the statement.
Answer : The farmers were supplementing their livelihood by weaving and spinning or by manufacturing small crafts. When the crafts and weaving industry indigenous to India were encroached upon, these farmers lost a part of their income. Later, as Industrialisation grew deeper in the country, the farmers were forced to supply the raw materials at very low rates to the traders and merchants. Indian resources were now being scarcely available in the market which resulted in the increase in their prices. Farmers had to buy these resources at very high prices. Thus, they suffered loss from all sides.

Question : Industrialisation put a pressure on the whole family. Children were dragged into the process too. This led to child labour. Suggest some ways as to how the child labour issues can be controlled in India?
Answer : (i) Promote education and make sure that each child is actually sent to school.
(ii) Children are made aware about the importance of education through child awareness programs.
(iii) Parents are dealt strictly and fines imposed if they are found forcing their children into labour.
(iv) Strict laws made for prevention for such exploitation and their strict implementation.
(v) Right to education needs to be strictly enforced in the country.
(vi) Employment opportunities for the parents to avoid forced child labour.

Question : Industrialisation brought about a social change in the society. Elucidate.
Answer : Industrialisation or the Industrial revolution brought significant changes in the society. The people were brought under the fold of new systems of production. Created a new class of workers and created new opportunities for everyone. However, people also faced the negative impacts too. They had to face the brunt of industrialisation by giving away their agricultural lands making the farmers mere labourers in the society. They had to supply their precious handmade products at very cheap rates and were exploited. Many of them lost a decent standard of lifestyle. They were tortured and tormented by the Gomasthas and traders too. Indigenous handloom factories and craftsmen shops declined. This led to mass unemployment conditions. People were hit by malnourishment, poverty and poor hygienic conditions.

Question : Industrialisation was a mixed blessing. Explain with the help of suitable examples.
Answer : (i) Cheap goods : Machines produced fines goods which were easily available to all sections of the society at cheap rates.
(ii) New industrialists : It gave birth to a new section of entrepreneurs who invested in industries and factories even in the colonies, who later became bigger investors and players in this arena.
(iii) Growth of industrial sector : With the coming up of the industries, new avenues opened up for people who no longer profited from agriculture. New employment avenues opened up.
(iv) There were miseries attached to Industrial Revolution too. One major problem was the condition of workers. The supply of workers was more than the demand. This created a lot of problems for them. Many of them failed to get work.
(v) The workers got work depending on the availability of work and seasonably affected employment rates. Most of the workers remained unemployed for a fair part of the year.
(vi) Low wages and poverty was an important issue. The workers received low wages that worsened their conditions. They lived in poor condition on the roads, under the bridges. They had poor living standards.
(vii) The weaving industry was badly affected. The weavers were exploited: they lost their works because of the coming of machines and given poor payments in return of hard work. Their conditions worsened more in colonies like India. 

Question : How were the Indian weavers affected because of industrialisation in India?
Answer : The points regarding this are stated as follows:
(i) The weavers lose their chance of bargaining.
(ii) Leasing of land became very common. Weavers remained busy with weaving and so had to lease out their lands to others for farming.
(iii) Clashes with Gomasthas became a common instance. The Gomasthas often beat up the weavers; spoke arrogantly if there was a delay in supply of goods.
(iv) The weavers no longer were farming. Thus, they had to depend on market supplies to buy food supplies to survive. And if they leased it out, they received a meagre share of return which was not enough for the whole family. 

Question : Why did the ports of India started declining after the arrival of East India Company ?
Answer : A variety of Indian merchants and bankers were involved in the network of export trade financing production, carrying goods and supplying exporters. Supply merchants linked the port towns to the inland regions. They gave advances to weavers, procured the woven cloth from weaving villages, and carried the supply to the ports. At the port, the big shippers and export merchants had brokers who negotiated the price and bought goods from the supply merchants operating inland. By the 1750s this network, controlled by Indian merchants, was breaking down. The European companies gradually gained power first securing a variety of concessions from local courts, then the monopoly right to trade. This resulted in a decline of the old ports of Surat and Hoogly through which local merchants had operated. Exports from these ports fell dramatically, the credit that had financed the earlier trade begun drying up, and the bankers became bankrupt. Thus trading activities declined at Surat, Hoogly. 

Question : Describe the role of ‘technology’ in transformation of the world in the nineteenth century.
Answer : The making of modern global world was characterised by major discoveries and inventions. Technological inventions helped developing in these ways:
(i) Railways, steamships, telegraphs transformed the trade and led to easy transportation of goods and raw materials.
(ii) Technological advancements stimulated the process of industrialization, which expanded the production of goods and trade.
(iii) Refrigerated ships made transportation of perishable products, like meat, over long distances easy.
(vi) There was also development of the Printing Press that lead to print revolution.
(v) Communication was made easy with the invention of telephones, computers and other things like cabels, network towers etc.

Source/Case Based Questions

Question : Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:

As loans flowed in and the demand for fine textiles expanded, weavers eagerly took the advances, hoping to earn more. Many weavers had small plots of land which they had earlier cultivated along with weaving, and the produce from this took care of their family needs. Now they had to lease out the land and devote all their time to weaving. Weaving, in fact, required the labour of the entire family, with children and women all engaged in different stages of the process. Soon, however, in many weaving villages there were reports of clashes between weavers and gomasthas. Earlier supply merchants had very often lived within the weaving villages, and had a close relationship with the weavers, looking after their needs and helping them in times of crisis. The new gomasthas were outsiders, with no long-term social link with the village. They acted arrogantly, marched into villages with sepoys and peons, and punished weavers for delays in supply - often beating and flogging them. The weavers lost the space to bargain for prices and sell to different buyers: the price they received from the Company was miserably low and the loans they had accepted tied them to the company.

Answer the following MCQs by choosing the mostappropriate option:

(i) Which of the following work was not performed by Gomasthas?
(a) To supervise weavers
(b) Collect supplies
(c) Examine the quality of the clothes.
(d) To provide loans to weavers to expand their business.
Answer : (d) To provide loans to weavers to expand their business.

(ii) At the starting, which was the main problem faced by Company here in India?
(a) Competition with other European countries
(b) High cost of raw material.
(c) Irregular supplies of cotton and silk.
(d) All of the above.
Answer : (d) All of the above.

(iii) Find out the incorrect statement about the Indian weavers:
(a) Before colonial government weavers were having enough to sustain their family.
(b) Gomasthas made their life easy by providing loans on easy conditions.
(c) Once weavers took loans they were in debt trap.
(d) To repay loans they started work involving their family members.
Answer : (b) Gomasthas made their life easy by providing loans on easy conditions.

(iv) Find out the correct statement from the following:
(a) After arrival of Britishers Bombay and Calcutta lost their glory.
(b) Gomasthas played important role to establish trade monopoly of East India Company.
(c) To live a luxurious life weavers started work hard with family members.
(d) Gomasthas were paid servants to supervise weavers, collect supplies and examine the quality of cloth.
Answer : (d) Gomasthas were paid servants to supervise weavers, collect supplies and examine the quality of cloth.

Creating Based Questions

Question : Use the information provided along with the terms given in the box to form a coherent passage to show the Process of industrialisation and the most dynamic industries in Britain. Also include information that is not mentioned below to complete it.Cotton, Expansion of railways, Colonies, Iron and Steel Metal Industry was dynamic..... Growing at a rapid pace, cotton was the leading sector and led the way.....demand for Iron and Steel..... Britain was exporting iron and steel by 1873..... double the value of cotton to the export.
Answer : The most dynamic industries in Britain were clearly cotton and metals. Growing at a rapid pace, cotton was the leading sector in the first phase of industrialisation up to the 1840s. After that the iron and steel industry led the way. With the expansion of railways, in England from the 1840s and in the colonies from the 1860s, the demand for iron and steel increased rapidly. By 1873, Britain was exporting iron and steel worth £77 million, double the value of its cotton export. 

Read the source given below and answer the questions that follow:

In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, 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. With the expansion of world trade and the acquisition of colonies in different parts of the world, the demand for goods began growing. But merchants could not expand production within towns. This was because here urban crafts and trade guilds were powerful. These were associations of producers that trained craftspeople, maintained control over production, regulated competition and prices, and restricted the entry of new people into the trade. Rulers granted different guilds the monopoly right to produce and trade in specific products. It was therefore difficult for new merchants to set up business in towns. So they turned to the countryside. In the countryside poor peasants and artisans began working for merchants.
Answer the following MCQs by choosing the most appropriate option:

Question : Following feature can’t be related with 17th and 18th century developments:
(a) Race to colonize the different parts of the world
(b) Demand of the goods increased in the international market
(c) European countries established their colonies to get raw material
(d) Introduction of railways for the fast transportation of goods
Answer : D

Question : Why countryside people were easily agreed to work for the merchants?
(a) They did not had enough land holding to sustain their family
(b) Merchants pressurized them to do work
(c) Landlords forced peasants to work for the merchants
(d) An order was issued by the ruler which forced them to work for merchants
Answer : A

Question : Merchants moved towards countryside because:
(a) Peasants were more laborious as compared to urban workers
(b) Due to fear of losing profit, urban traders restricted the entry of merchants in towns
(c) From countryside, merchants could easily transport goods in international market
(d) Merchants did not like the strictness of guilds
Answer : B

Question : Following conclusion cannot be drawn from the passage:
(a) Merchants were new in the market as compared to urban traders
(b) Urban traders trained their workers to get standard products
(c) Urban traders were closer to the rulers
(d) Urban traders were willing to capture the trade of merchants
Answer : D