NCERT Questions & Answers + Important Extra Questions
NCERT Textbook Questions
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) The Spinning Jenny (invented by James Hargreaves, 1764) could spin multiple threads simultaneously. Women who survived on hand-spinning saw it as a threat to their livelihood — the machine would make their labour redundant. Fearing unemployment and starvation, they attacked and destroyed the machines in their anger. This was part of a broader pattern of workers resisting mechanisation throughout the Industrial Revolution.
(b) In the 17th century, trade guilds in towns were powerful — they controlled production, restricted entry of new workers, inspected quality, and regulated prices. Merchants who wanted to increase production could not do so within the rigid guild system. So they turned to the countryside, where peasants and artisans were willing to work for wages during the off-season. This putting-out system (domestic/cottage industry) allowed merchants to bypass guild controls, access cheap labour, and expand production to meet growing demand.
(c) Surat was a major Indian port for trade with the Middle East and Southeast Asia. By the late 18th century, it declined because: (i) The European trading companies (especially the East India Company) gained political power and monopolised trade. (ii) Trade was re-routed through ports like Bombay and Calcutta, which the British controlled. (iii) European companies secured monopoly rights, cutting out Indian merchants. (iv) Surat's share of India's trade fell from 16% to under 3% by the 1740s.
(d) The East India Company appointed gomasthas (paid servants) to supervise weavers because: (i) They wanted to eliminate brokers and middlemen who dealt with weavers independently. (ii) Gomasthas could ensure weavers accepted advances and delivered cloth exclusively to the Company. (iii) This system established direct control over weavers, preventing them from selling to other buyers. (iv) Gomasthas were often outsiders with no social ties to the village, making them harsh taskmasters who punished weavers for delays.
Q2. Write True or False
(a) At the end of the nineteenth century, 80% of the total workforce in Europe was employed in the technologically advanced industrial sector. — False. Even at the end of the 19th century, less than 20% worked in factories; the majority worked in traditional, non-mechanised sectors.
(b) The international market for fine textiles was dominated by India till the eighteenth century. — True. Indian textiles (muslin, calico, chintz) dominated world trade for centuries.
(c) The American Civil War resulted in the supply of raw cotton to India from America. — False. It resulted in a shortage of raw cotton from America to Britain, so Britain turned to India for cotton supply (cotton boom in India).
(d) The introduction of the fly shuttle enabled handloom workers to operate large looms. — True. The fly shuttle (invented by John Kay) increased weaving speed and allowed production of wider cloth.
Explain what is meant by proto-industrialisation.
Answer
Proto-industrialisation refers to the early phase of industrialisation in Europe (17th-18th centuries) before factories became common. Key features:
(i) Production was based on a network of commercial exchanges controlled by merchants rather than in centralised factories.
(ii) Merchants supplied raw materials to rural producers (peasants and artisans) who worked from their homes — this was the putting-out system.
(iii) The finished goods were collected and sold in international markets.
(iv) It existed alongside guild-controlled urban production and agriculture.
(v) It was called "proto" (first/early) industrialisation because it laid the groundwork for the factory system — it created networks of trade, accumulation of capital, and a workforce accustomed to wage labour — but did not yet involve factories or machines.
(vi) In the countryside, this was attractive because tiny plots of land could not sustain families, so working for merchants supplemented income.
Why did some industrialists in nineteenth century Europe prefer hand labour over machines?
Answer
Several reasons explain this preference:
(i) New technology was expensive. Machines were costly, prone to breakdowns, and needed repair. Manufacturers who had just invested in one machine were reluctant to replace it quickly when a newer model appeared.
(ii) Labour was abundant and cheap. In many European cities, poor workers migrating from the countryside were willing to work for very low wages. When labour was cheaper than machines, there was little incentive to invest in expensive technology.
(iii) Not all industries could use machines effectively. Many products required intricate designs, specific shapes, or delicate handling (like lace, embroidery, fine pottery) where human skill was essential and machines could not replicate quality.
(iv) Seasonal demand: Industries with seasonal demand (like gas pipes for winter or beer bottles for summer) preferred hiring temporary hand workers over investing in machines that would be idle for months.
(v) Quality and variety: In the upper market, hand-made products were valued for their superior quality and uniqueness. Machine-made goods were uniform and lacked the finish of handcrafted items.
How did the East India Company procure regular supplies of cotton and silk textiles from Indian weavers?
Answer
The Company used a systematic process to control weavers:
(i) It established political power through its trade monopoly — after the 1760s, it used its political authority to dictate terms.
(ii) It appointed gomasthas (salaried agents) to supervise weavers, collect supplies, and examine quality. This eliminated independent brokers.
(iii) Weavers were given advances (loans) tied to an agreement to supply only to the Company. Once they accepted the advance, they could not sell to any other buyer.
(iv) Weavers who tried to sell to other merchants were punished, fined, or imprisoned.
(v) The prices paid were deliberately kept low — well below market rates.
(vi) This system destroyed weavers' independence — they lost their bargaining power, could not reject orders, and became virtual bonded labourers to the Company.
Important Extra Questions
How did Indian textiles decline in the 19th century?
Answer
Indian textiles — once the finest in the world — declined dramatically in the 19th century due to multiple factors:
(i) British industrial competition: Machine-made British textiles (from Manchester and Lancashire) flooded Indian markets at very low prices, undercutting handloom products.
(ii) Import duties: Britain imposed heavy duties on Indian textile imports into Britain (to protect its own industry) while Indian markets were forced open for duty-free British goods.
(iii) Loss of markets: Indian weavers lost both their export markets (Europe, Africa, Americas) and domestic markets to cheap British machine-made cloth.
(iv) Raw material shortage: Raw cotton from India was exported to British mills, reducing supply and raising prices for Indian weavers.
(v) Company monopoly: The East India Company's system of advances and gomasthas made weavers dependent, reduced their earnings, and destroyed their ability to operate independently.
By the 1850s, Indian textile exports had collapsed. India went from being the world's largest textile exporter to a net importer of British cloth.
Describe the peculiarities of industrial growth in India during the colonial period.
Answer
(i) The first Indian industries were set up in the 1850s-60s — cotton mills in Bombay (by Dwarkanath Tagore and others), and jute mills in Calcutta (mostly by British capital).
(ii) Early Indian entrepreneurs like Dinshaw Petit, Jamsetji Tata (steel, later), and Seth Hukumchand used their existing trade and business networks to establish factories.
(iii) Indian industrialisation was largely confined to cotton textiles and jute — heavy industry was minimal.
(iv) The Swadeshi Movement (1905) and nationalist sentiment boosted Indian industries — people boycotted foreign goods and bought Indian products.
(v) World War I was a turning point: British imports declined (factories were making war supplies), creating a domestic vacuum. Indian factories got government war contracts for uniforms, tents, boots, and other supplies. Industrial production boomed.
(vi) After WWI, however, growth was uneven — small-scale and cottage industries continued to dominate, and factory production grew slowly.
How did advertisements play a role in promoting British and Indian goods?
Answer
Advertisements were used by both British and Indian manufacturers to sell their goods:
(i) British manufacturers used advertisements to convince Indian buyers that machine-made goods were superior. Labels on cloth bundles showed Indian gods and kings (like Krishna or nawabs) to make the products familiar and appealing to Indian consumers.
(ii) "Made in Manchester" labels were designed to create a sense of quality and modernity.
(iii) Indian nationalists countered with Swadeshi advertisements — they used images of Indian gods, national leaders, and symbols (like the Indian flag) to promote Indian-made goods. Buying Indian goods was portrayed as a patriotic duty.
(iv) Advertisements by Indian manufacturers often carried messages like "Buy Indian" and depicted Indian mills as a matter of national pride, linking consumption to nationalism.