Short answer -Class 10 – Social Science – History – Chapter 4: The Age of Industrialisation

Class 10 – Social Science – History -short answer – Chapter 4: The Age of Industrialisation

Q1. Explain the impact of the First World War on Indian industries.

Ans : Effects of the First World War on the Indian Industries – Indian mills regained the domestic market as the British mills were busy with the war- needs production and also the Manchester imports declined in India, due to the prolonged war.

 Indian factories got an opportunity to produce for the war needs, many new factories were set up, the old factories ran multiple shifts.

Demands for workers increased and they had to work for long hours. Due to the huge economic loss in the war, Britain could not regain its dominance over the export and thus the local industries consolidated their position in the home market.

Q2. Explain any three problems faced by Indian cotton weavers by the turn of the nineteenth century.

Ans : The three problems faced by the Indian cotton weavers:

a. Their export market collapsed and the local market shrunk.

b. Indian market flooded with Manchester imports.

c. Thus the Indian weavers could not compete with the mill-made products as they were much cheaper and also they were not getting supply of good quality raw cotton.

Q3. Who were the jobbers? Explain their main functions.

Ans :These jobbers were old and trusted persons who got people from the villages, ensured them jobs and their settlement in the cities along with financial help during the times of crisis.

The jobbers were employed to get new recruits. Thus they had authority and power.

Later on they started demanding money and gifts for their favour and thus they controlled the lives of the workers.

Q4. Why was East India Company keen on expanding textile exports from India during the 1760s? Explain  any three reasons.

Ans : Even after the consolidation of the East India Company’s power after the 1760s the Company was willing to expand the textile exports from India because of the following reasons:

a. First, the cotton industries had not yet expanded hi Britain.

b. Second, great demand of the Indian fine textiles in Europe.

c. Earlier, due to the number of buyers of the woven cloth in the Indian market, Britain found difficulties in supply and also the supply merchants and the weavers could bargain and sell it to their best buyers.

 But after establishing political power in Bengal and Carnatic and the monopoly right to trade, Britain developed systems to control and eliminate the competition.

The Company took direct control over the weavers through gomastha who were paid servants appointed by the Company to supervise weavers, collect supplies and check the quality of the cloth.

Q5. Why could Manchester never recapture its old position in the Indian market after the First World War? Explain.

Ans : a. Indian mills regained the domestic market as the British mills were busy with the war-needs production.

b. The Manchester imports declined in India.

c. Due to the prolonged war, Indian factories got an opportunity to produce for the war needs.

d. Many new factories were set up and the old factories ran multiple shifts, demands for workers increased and workers had to work for long hours.

e. Due to the huge economic loss in the war, Britain could not regain its dominance over the export and thus the local industries consolidated their position in the home market.

Q6. “In eighteenth century Europe, the peasants and artisans in the countryside readily agreed to work for the merchants.” Explain any three reasons.

 Ans :  In eighteenth century Europe, the poor peasants and artisans eagerly agreed to take the advance offered by the merchants and were willing to produce goods for them. Due to the following reasons:

 a. During this time in the countryside the open fields were disappearing and commons were being enclosed. The cottagers and peasants were looking for alternative source of income because they were dependent on the common lands and gathering of firewood, vegetables, berries, hay and straw for their livelihood. Many of them had small plots of land which was not sufficient to provide work to all the family members. ,

b. It proved good for the peasants and artisans to work for the merchants as they could now remain in the countryside and continue with their small plot cultivation.

c. Their family income was supplemented and also they were able to engage all the family members as labour resources.

Q7. Describe the condition of the workers in the nineteenth century in England.

Ans : Due to the news of job opportunities in the city, large number of people migrated from the countryside.

This created a situation of abundance of labour in the market. Getting a job was dependent on the networks of friendship and kin relations in factories.

But not all had such connections and that’s why they had to wait for weeks spending nights under the bridges or in the night shelters or the night refuges built by the private individuals or in the casual wards maintained by the poor law authorities.

The abundance of labour, social connections in the factories, seasonality of work and welfare of the workers were the main issues which made the life of the workers miserable.

Q8. Describe any three major problems faced by Indian weavers in nineteenth century.

Ans : The three problems faced by the Indian cotton weavers:

1. Their export market collapsed and the local market shrunk.

2. Indian market flooded with Manchester imports.

3. Thus the Indian weavers could not compete with the mill-made products as they were much cheaper and also they were not getting supply of good quality raw cotton

Q9. Why was it difficult for East India Company to produce regular supplies of goods for export in the beginning? Explain.

Ans : Due to the following reasons the East India Company was facing difficulty to produce regular supplies of goods for export in the beginning:

a. There were number of trading companies in India such as French, Dutch and Portuguese who were competing for the woven cloth from the Indian weavers and merchants.

b. Due to the heavy competition and demand of the woven cloth, the Indian weavers and the supply merchants were keeping the prices high which was not profitable for the East India Company.

c. The East India Company did not had any exclusive trading rights or monopoly over trade in India.

Q10. Describe the contributions of the early industrialists of India in shaping the industrial development of India.

Ans : Dwarkanath Tagore in Bengal, Parsis like Dinshaw Petit Jamsetjee Nusserwanjee Tata in Bombay and Seth Hukumchand, and a Marwari businessman set up first Indian jute mill in Calcutta.

These early entrepreneurs had accumulated wealth from the trade with China, the merchants of Madras from trade with Burma and the others from the trade with the Middle East and east Africa.

There were another group of entrepreneurs who had accumulated wealth from trade within India, supplying goods from one place to another, banking money, transferring funds between cities and by financing the traders.

Q11. Why did the industrial production in India increase during the First World War? Give any three reasons.

Ans :The three reasons for the increase of the industrial production in India during the First World War were:

a. Indian mills regained the domestic market as the British mills were busy with the war needs production.

 b. The Manchester imports declined in India.

c. Due to the prolonged war Indian factories got an opportunity to produce for the war needs, many new factories were set up, the old factories ran multiple shifts, demands for workers increased.