MCQs: The Age of Industrialisation
Practice these 30 multiple‑choice questions to test your understanding. Each question carries 1 mark. Answers with explanations are provided in highlighted boxes.
๐ PART A: STANDARD MCQs (15 Questions)
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What is proto-industrialisation?
(a) Large-scale factory production in cities
(b) Production for international market in countryside households before factories
(c) The first phase of the Industrial Revolution
(d) Production using steam power✅ Answer: (b) Production for international market in countryside households before factories
Explanation: Proto-industrialisation refers to the phase when merchants moved to countryside and got goods produced by peasants and artisans for international market, before factories emerged. -
Why did merchants move to the countryside in the 17th-18th centuries?
(a) To escape guild restrictions in towns
(b) To find cheaper raw materials
(c) Because of government orders
(d) To set up factories✅ Answer: (a) To escape guild restrictions in towns
Explanation: Urban trade guilds were powerful; they restricted entry and controlled production. So merchants moved to countryside where poor peasants and artisans were willing to work. -
Who invented the Spinning Jenny?
(a) Richard Arkwright
(b) James Watt
(c) James Hargreaves
(d) Henry Ford✅ Answer: (c) James Hargreaves
Explanation: James Hargreaves devised the Spinning Jenny in 1764, which speeded up the spinning process and reduced labour demand. -
Which industry was the most dynamic in the first phase of industrialisation up to the 1840s?
(a) Iron and steel
(b) Cotton
(c) Coal mining
(d) Shipbuilding✅ Answer: (b) Cotton
Explanation: Cotton was the leading sector in the first phase of industrialisation up to the 1840s; after that iron and steel led. -
At the beginning of the nineteenth century, how many steam engines were there in all of England?
(a) 121
(b) 221
(c) 321
(d) 421✅ Answer: (c) 321
Explanation: At the beginning of the 19th century, there were no more than 321 steam engines in all England – 80 in cotton, 9 in wool, rest in mining, canal works, and iron works. -
Why did many industrialists in 19th century Britain prefer hand labour over machines?
(a) Machines were too expensive
(b) Hand labour was more skilled
(c) There was no shortage of human labour and wages were low
(d) Machines broke down frequently✅ Answer: (c) There was no shortage of human labour and wages were low
Explanation: In Victorian Britain, there was plenty of labour, so wages were low. Industrialists didn't need to invest in machines that replaced labour. -
What was the impact of the Spinning Jenny on women workers?
(a) It increased their employment
(b) It reduced labour demand and they attacked the machines
(c) It improved their working conditions
(d) They welcomed it enthusiastically✅ Answer: (b) It reduced labour demand and they attacked the machines
Explanation: Women who survived on hand spinning feared losing their livelihood and attacked the new machines. -
Before the age of machine industries, which country dominated the international market in textiles?
(a) Britain
(b) France
(c) India
(d) China✅ Answer: (c) India
Explanation: Silk and cotton goods from India dominated the international textile market before the machine age. -
Which port in Gujarat was a major pre-colonial trading centre?
(a) Bombay
(b) Surat
(c) Cambay
(d) Porbandar✅ Answer: (b) Surat
Explanation: Surat on the Gujarat coast connected India to the Gulf and Red Sea ports. -
Who were gomasthas?
(a) Indian merchants
(b) British traders
(c) Supervisors appointed by the East India Company to oversee weavers
(d) Weavers' helpers✅ Answer: (c) Supervisors appointed by the East India Company to oversee weavers
Explanation: Gomasthas were paid servants appointed by the Company to supervise weavers, collect supplies, and examine cloth quality. -
How did the East India Company ensure regular supplies from weavers?
(a) By paying high prices
(b) By giving advances and tying weavers to the Company
(c) By providing free raw materials
(d) By setting up factories✅ Answer: (b) By giving advances and tying weavers to the Company
Explanation: Weavers were given loans (advances) to purchase raw material; those who took loans had to hand over cloth to the gomastha and couldn't sell to others. -
When did the first cotton mill come up in Bombay?
(a) 1854
(b) 1861
(c) 1874
(d) 1900✅ Answer: (a) 1854
Explanation: The first cotton mill in Bombay came up in 1854 and went into production two years later. -
Who set up the first Indian jute mill in Calcutta in 1917?
(a) Dwarkanath Tagore
(b) Jamsetjee Tata
(c) Seth Hukumchand
(d) G.D. Birla✅ Answer: (c) Seth Hukumchand
Explanation: Seth Hukumchand, a Marwari businessman who traded with China, set up the first Indian jute mill in Calcutta in 1917. -
What was the role of a jobber in Indian factories?
(a) To supervise production
(b) To recruit workers from villages and help them settle
(c) To fix wages
(d) To operate machines✅ Answer: (b) To recruit workers from villages and help them settle
Explanation: Jobbers were old trusted workers who got people from their village, ensured them jobs, helped them settle, and provided money in crises. -
By 1941, what percentage of handlooms in India were fitted with fly shuttles?
(a) Over 25%
(b) Over 35%
(c) Over 45%
(d) Over 55%✅ Answer: (b) Over 35%
Explanation: By 1941, over 35% of handlooms in India were fitted with fly shuttles, which increased productivity.
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๐ PART B: ASSERTION‑REASONING QUESTIONS (10 Questions)
Directions: In each of the following questions, two statements are given – Assertion (A) and Reason (R). Choose the correct option:
(a) Both A and R are true and R explains A.
(b) Both A and R are true but R does NOT explain A.
(c) A is true but R is false.
(d) A is false but R is true.
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Assertion (A): In the 17th-18th centuries, merchants moved to the countryside.
Reason (R): Urban trade guilds restricted entry and controlled production, making it difficult for new merchants to set up business in towns.✅ Answer: (a) Both A and R are true and R explains A. -
Assertion (A): Women workers in Britain attacked the Spinning Jenny.
Reason (R): The Spinning Jenny increased the demand for hand spinners.✅ Answer: (c) A is true but R is false. -
Assertion (A): The first cotton mill in India was set up in Bombay in 1854.
Reason (R): Bombay was a major port and trading centre under British control.✅ Answer: (b) Both A and R are true but R does NOT explain A. -
Assertion (A): After the American Civil War, Indian weavers faced a new problem.
Reason (R): Raw cotton prices shot up, and weavers were starved of supplies.✅ Answer: (a) Both A and R are true and R explains A. -
Assertion (A): By the 1870s, the share of Indian cotton piece-goods in exports dropped below 3%.
Reason (R): Manchester goods flooded Indian markets, and Indian textiles faced stiff competition.✅ Answer: (a) Both A and R are true and R explains A. -
Assertion (A): In the 19th century, Indian merchants and industrialists wanted to expand their business.
Reason (R): They were free to trade with Europe in manufactured goods without restrictions.✅ Answer: (c) A is true but R is false. -
Assertion (A): Industrial production in India increased during the First World War.
Reason (R): British mills were busy with war production, and Indian mills had a vast home market to supply.✅ Answer: (a) Both A and R are true and R explains A. -
Assertion (A): The jobber in Indian factories became a powerful figure.
Reason (R): He controlled recruitment, provided loans, and helped workers settle, thus gaining authority.✅ Answer: (a) Both A and R are true and R explains A. -
Assertion (A): Handloom cloth production in India expanded in the 20th century.
Reason (R): Weavers adopted the fly shuttle, increasing productivity.✅ Answer: (a) Both A and R are true and R explains A. -
Assertion (A): Advertisements in India often used images of Indian gods and goddesses.
Reason (R): To make foreign goods appear familiar and to give divine approval.✅ Answer: (a) Both A and R are true and R explains A.
๐ Continue Your Journey: Next, explore Chapter 5: Print Culture and the Modern World
๐ PART C: CASE‑BASED QUESTIONS (5 Questions)
Case Study 1: Read the given source carefully and answer the questions that follow:
Source: "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."
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In which year did the first cotton mill in Bombay go into production?
(a) 1854
(b) 1856
(c) 1862
(d) 1874✅ Answer: (b) 1856 -
Where was the Elgin Mill started in the 1860s?
(a) Bombay
(b) Kanpur
(c) Ahmedabad
(d) Madras✅ Answer: (b) Kanpur -
When did the first cotton mill of Ahmedabad come up?
(a) 1860
(b) 1861
(c) 1862
(d) 1874✅ Answer: (b) 1861
Case Study 2: Read the given source carefully and answer the questions that follow:
Source: "Vasant Parkar, who was once a millworker in Bombay, said: 'The workers would pay the jobbers money to get their sons work in the mill ... The mill worker was closely associated with his village, physically and emotionally. He would go home to cut the harvest and for sowing. The Konkani would go home to cut the paddy and the Ghati, the sugarcane. It was an accepted practice for which the mills granted leave.'"
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What did workers pay jobbers for?
(a) Higher wages
(b) Better working conditions
(c) To get their sons work in the mill
(d) To get leave✅ Answer: (c) To get their sons work in the mill -
Why would millworkers go back to their villages?
(a) For festivals only
(b) To cut harvest and for sowing
(c) To escape work
(d) To meet family✅ Answer: (b) To cut harvest and for sowing -
How did mills respond to workers' need to go to their villages?
(a) They fired such workers
(b) They granted leave as it was accepted practice
(c) They reduced wages
(d) They refused leave✅ Answer: (b) They granted leave as it was accepted practice
