Ch4 - The Age of Industrialisation - Class 10 History | Smart Notes | GPN

Smart Notes: The Age of Industrialisation

This chapter challenges the common notion that industrialisation is only about factory production. It shows that industrialisation has a long history, including proto-industrialisation where production was done in countryside households. The chapter focuses on Britain as the first industrial nation and then examines how industrialisation unfolded in India under colonial rule. It explores the lives of workers, the role of merchants and traders, the impact on weavers, and the peculiarities of industrial growth in the colonies.

📅 Key Events & Timeline

17th-18th centuries – Proto-industrialisation phase in Europe – merchants move to countryside, supplying money to peasants and artisans for international market.
1730s – Earliest factories come up in England.
1760 – Britain imports 2.5 million pounds of raw cotton.
1764 – James Hargreaves invents Spinning Jenny.
1781 – James Watt patents improved steam engine.
1787 – Britain's raw cotton import soars to 22 million pounds.
Late 18th century – Number of factories multiplies.
1840s – Railways expand in England; building activity intensifies in cities.
1854 – First cotton mill in Bombay comes up.
1855 – First jute mill in Bengal set up.
1860s – Elgin Mill started in Kanpur; first cotton mill in Ahmedabad.
1874 – First spinning and weaving mill of Madras begins production.
1900-1912 – Cotton piece-goods production in India doubles.
1911 – 67% of factories located in Bengal and Bombay; 5% of industrial workforce in registered factories.
1917 – Seth Hukumchand sets up first Indian jute mill in Calcutta.
1941 – Over 35% of handlooms in India fitted with fly shuttles.
1946 – Over 2,436,000 workers in Indian factories.

👤 Important Personalities & Their Roles

James Hargreaves – Invented the Spinning Jenny in 1764, which speeded up the spinning process and reduced labour demand by enabling one worker to spin several threads at the same time.
Richard Arkwright – Created the cotton mill, bringing all processes together under one roof and management, enabling careful supervision and quality control.
James Watt – Improved the steam engine produced by Newcomen and patented the new engine in 1781; his industrialist friend Mathew Boulton manufactured it.
Dwarkanath Tagore – Bengal businessman who made fortune in China trade before turning to industrial investment; set up six joint-stock companies in 1830s and 1840s; invested in shipping, shipbuilding, mining, banking, plantations, and insurance.
Dinshaw Petit & Jamsetjee Nusserwanjee Tata – Parsis who built huge industrial empires in Bombay; accumulated wealth from exports to China and raw cotton shipments to England.
Seth Hukumchand – Marwari businessman who set up the first Indian jute mill in Calcutta in 1917; traded with China.
G.D. Birla – Famous industrialist whose father and grandfather traded with China.
Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy – Son of a Parsi weaver; involved in China trade and shipping; owned a large fleet of ships.
J.N. Tata – Set up the first iron and steel works in India at Jamshedpur in 1912.

📚 Quick Access to Other Class 10 SST Chapters:

⚙️ Proto-Industrialisation

Definition: Proto-industrialisation refers to the phase of large-scale industrial production for international market that existed even before factories, based in the countryside rather than factories.
Why it emerged: In 17th-18th centuries, merchants from European towns moved to countryside because urban trade guilds were powerful – they restricted entry of new people, controlled production, regulated competition and prices. Rulers granted guilds monopoly rights, making it difficult for new merchants to set up business in towns.
How it worked: Merchants supplied money to peasants and artisans in countryside to produce for international market. Poor peasants, who had tiny plots and needed alternative income, eagerly agreed. They could remain in countryside and continue cultivation while earning from proto-industrial production.
Town-country relationship: Merchants based in towns, work done in countryside. A merchant clothier purchased wool, carried it to spinners, then to weavers, fullers, dyers – finishing done in London before export.
Scale: At each stage, 20-25 workers employed by each merchant; each clothier controlled hundreds of workers.

🏭 The Coming Up of the Factory

First factories: Earliest factories in England came up by 1730s, but multiplied only in late 18th century.
Cotton boom: In 1760, Britain imported 2.5 million pounds of raw cotton; by 1787, import soared to 22 million pounds.
Inventions: Series of inventions in 18th century increased efficacy of each production process – carding, twisting, spinning, rolling. They enhanced output per worker and enabled production of stronger threads.
Arkwright's cotton mill: Costly new machines could be purchased, set up, and maintained in the mill. All processes brought together under one roof, enabling careful supervision, quality control, and regulation of labour – difficult when production was spread in countryside.
Factory landscape: By early 19th century, factories became part of English landscape; contemporaries were dazzled by imposing mills, almost forgetting the bylanes and workshops where production still continued.

📊 The Pace of Industrial Change

Most dynamic industries: Cotton and metals. Cotton led first phase up to 1840s; iron and steel led after that with railway expansion. By 1873, Britain exported iron and steel worth £77 million – double the value of cotton export.
Traditional industries survived: Even at end of 19th century, less than 20% of total workforce employed in technologically advanced industrial sectors. Large portion of textile output produced outside factories in domestic units.
Small innovations: Non-mechanised sectors like food processing, building, pottery, glass work, tanning, furniture making grew through seemingly ordinary and small innovations.
Slow technological change: New technology was expensive; industrialists were cautious. Machines often broke down, repair was costly. At beginning of 19th century, there were no more than 321 steam engines in all England – 80 in cotton, 9 in wool, rest in mining, canal works, iron works. Steam engines not used in other industries till much later.
Typical worker: Historians now recognise that the typical worker in mid-19th century was not a machine operator but traditional craftsmen and labourer.

👐 Hand Labour and Steam Power

Abundance of labour: In Victorian Britain, there was no shortage of human labour. Poor peasants and vagrants moved to cities in large numbers seeking jobs. With plenty of labour, wages were low – industrialists had no problem of labour shortage or high wage costs.
Seasonal industries: Gas works, breweries, bookbinders, printers needed extra hands during peak seasons. At waterfront, ships repaired in winter. In such industries with fluctuating production, industrialists preferred hand labour, employing workers seasonally.
Handmade products for upper classes: In Victorian Britain, aristocrats and bourgeoisie preferred handmade products – they symbolised refinement and class. Handmade goods were better finished, individually produced, carefully designed. Machine-made goods were for export to colonies.
Variety of products: Machines produced standardised goods for mass market, but demand was often for goods with intricate designs – 500 varieties of hammers, 45 kinds of axes. These required human skill, not mechanical technology.
America vs Britain: In countries with labour shortage (like America), industrialists were keen on using mechanical power. Britain had no problem hiring human hands.

📉 Life of Workers

Job seeking: As news of jobs travelled to countryside, hundreds tramped to cities. Getting a job depended on networks of friendship and kin relations. Those without connections waited weeks, spending nights under bridges or in night shelters.
Seasonality: After busy season, the poor were on streets again. Some returned to countryside, but most looked for odd jobs – difficult till mid-19th century.
Wages and employment: Wages increased somewhat in early 19th century, but average figures hide variations. During Napoleonic War, prices rose sharply – real value of earnings fell. Income depended not just on wage rate but also on number of days of work.
Poverty and unemployment: At best of times till mid-19th century, about 10% of urban population were extremely poor. In economic slumps like 1830s, unemployment went up to 35-75% in different regions.
Resistance to technology: Fear of unemployment made workers hostile to new technology. When Spinning Jenny was introduced, women who survived on hand spinning attacked the new machines. This conflict continued for a long time.
Building activity (after 1840s): Roads widened, railway stations came up, tunnels dug, drainage laid – transport industry workers doubled in 1840s, and doubled again in next 30 years.

🇮🇳 Industrialisation in India – The Age of Indian Textiles

Pre-machine age dominance: Silk and cotton goods from India dominated international textile market. Finer varieties came from India; coarser cottons produced in many countries.
Trade routes: Armenian and Persian merchants took goods from Punjab to Afghanistan, Persia, Central Asia via camel back through mountain passes. Vibrant sea trade operated through Surat (Gujarat), Masulipatam (Coromandel), and Hoogly (Bengal).
Merchants and bankers: Indian merchants and bankers were involved in export trade – financing production, carrying goods, supplying exporters. Supply merchants linked port towns to inland regions, gave advances to weavers, procured woven cloth, carried to ports.
Decline by 1750s: European companies gradually gained power – first securing concessions from local courts, then monopoly rights. Old ports of Surat and Hoogly declined; Bombay and Calcutta grew. Trade controlled by European companies.
Impact on weavers: Before political power, East India Company struggled for regular supply. After establishing political power in 1760s-70s, Company eliminated competition, controlled costs, ensured regular supplies through gomasthas (paid servants) who supervised weavers, collected supplies, examined quality. Company prevented weavers from dealing with other buyers through system of advances.

🧵 What Happened to Weavers?

Gomasthas: Appointed to supervise weavers, collect supplies, examine quality. They were outsiders with no long-term social link with village. They acted arrogantly, marched into villages with sepoys and peons, punished weavers for delays – often beating and flogging them.
Loss of bargaining power: Weavers lost space to bargain for prices and sell to different buyers. Prices received from Company were miserably low; loans tied them to Company.
Revolt and migration: In Carnatic and Bengal, weavers deserted villages, migrated, set up looms elsewhere. In many places, weavers with village traders revolted against Company. Many began refusing loans, closing workshops, taking to agricultural labour.
Two problems by early 19th century: (1) Export market collapsed; (2) Local market shrank, glutted with Manchester imports. Machine-made goods were cheaper – weavers couldn't compete.
1860s problem: When American Civil War broke out and cotton supplies from US cut off, Britain turned to India. Raw cotton exports increased, prices shot up. Weavers in India were starved of supplies and forced to buy raw cotton at exorbitant prices – weaving couldn't pay.
Late 19th century: Factories in India began production, flooding market with machine-goods – yet weaving industries survived through adaptations.

🏭 Factories Come Up in India

Year	Factory/Mill	Location
1854	First cotton mill	Bombay
1855	First jute mill	Bengal
1860s	Elgin Mill	Kanpur
1861	First cotton mill	Ahmedabad
1874	First spinning and weaving mill	Madras

📖 Continue Your Journey: Explore Chapter 5 – Print Culture and the Modern World – to understand how the printing press revolutionised the spread of knowledge and ideas.

💰 Early Entrepreneurs in India

China trade connection: Many business groups traced their history to trade with China. From late 18th century, British exported opium to China and took tea from China to England. Many Indians became junior players, providing finance, procuring supplies, shipping consignments.
Dwarkanath Tagore: Made fortune in China trade, set up six joint-stock companies in 1830s-40s in Bengal – invested in shipping, shipbuilding, mining, banking, plantations, insurance. His enterprises sank in business crises of 1840s.
Parsis in Bombay: Dinshaw Petit and Jamsetjee Nusserwanjee Tata accumulated wealth from exports to China and raw cotton shipments to England, built huge industrial empires.
Seth Hukumchand: Marwari businessman who set up first Indian jute mill in Calcutta (1917) – traded with China.
G.D. Birla: His father and grandfather traded with China.
Other networks: Merchants from Madras traded with Burma; others had links with Middle East and East Africa. Some operated within India, carrying goods, banking money, transferring funds, financing traders.
Colonial restrictions: As colonial control tightened, Indian merchants were barred from trading with Europe in manufactured goods, had to export mostly raw materials. They were gradually edged out of shipping business.
European Managing Agencies: Till WWI, European agencies like Bird Heiglers & Co., Andrew Yule, Jardine Skinner & Co. controlled large sector of Indian industries. Indian financiers provided capital, European agencies made investment decisions.

👷 Where Did Workers Come From?

Numbers: In 1901, there were 584,000 workers in Indian factories. By 1946, number was over 2,436,000.
Origins: Workers came from districts around industrial centres. Over 50% workers in Bombay cotton industries (1911) came from neighbouring Ratnagiri district. Kanpur mills got most textile hands from villages within Kanpur district.
Movement: Millworkers often moved between village and city, returning during harvests and festivals. Over time, workers travelled greater distances – from United Provinces to Bombay textile mills and Calcutta jute mills.
Jobbers: Industrialists employed a jobber (an old and trusted worker) to get new recruits. Jobber got people from his village, ensured them jobs, helped them settle, provided money in crisis. Jobber became powerful, demanding money and gifts for favours, controlling workers' lives.

📈 Peculiarities of Industrial Growth in India

European Managing Agencies: Dominated industrial production – established tea and coffee plantations, invested in mining, indigo, jute. These products were primarily for export, not for sale in India.
Early Indian mills: Avoided competing with Manchester goods. Produced coarse cotton yarn (thread) rather than fabric. Yarn used by handloom weavers in India or exported to China.
Shift to cloth production: By first decade of 20th century, swadeshi movement gathered momentum; nationalists boycotted foreign cloth. From 1906, export of Indian yarn to China declined due to Chinese and Japanese competition. Industrialists shifted from yarn to cloth production – cotton piece-goods production doubled between 1900 and 1912.
Impact of WWI: With British mills busy with war production, Manchester imports into India declined. Indian mills had vast home market to supply. Factories were called upon to supply war needs – jute bags, cloth for uniforms, tents, leather boots, saddles. New factories set up, old ones ran multiple shifts. Industrial production boomed.
After WWI: Manchester could never recapture its old position. British economy crumbled; cotton exports fell dramatically. Indian industrialists consolidated position, capturing home market.
Small-scale industries predominated: In 1911, 67% of factories located in Bengal and Bombay. Only small proportion of industrial labour force worked in registered factories – 5% in 1911, 10% in 1931. Rest worked in small workshops and household units.
Handloom expansion: Handloom cloth production almost trebled between 1900 and 1940. By 1941, over 35% of handlooms fitted with fly shuttles – increased productivity per worker.
Survival of weavers: Mills couldn't imitate specialised weaves – Banarasi or Baluchari saris, lungis and handkerchiefs of Madras. Demand for finer varieties was more stable. Weavers lived hard lives, worked long hours, entire household worked at various stages.

📢 Market for Goods – Advertisements

Role of advertisements: Advertisements make products appear desirable and necessary, shape minds of people, create new needs.
Manchester labels: When Manchester industrialists began selling cloth in India, they put labels on cloth bundles with "MADE IN MANCHESTER" – to make place of manufacture familiar, as mark of quality.
Images on labels: Labels carried images of Indian gods and goddesses – association with gods gave divine approval. Imprinted images of Krishna or Saraswati made foreign goods appear familiar to Indian people.
Calendars: By late 19th century, manufacturers printed calendars to popularise products. Calendars were used even by people who couldn't read – hung in tea shops, poor people's homes, offices.
Nationalist messages: When Indian manufacturers advertised, the message was clear – if you care for the nation, buy products that Indians produce. Advertisements became a vehicle of nationalist message of swadeshi.

💡 Did You Know?

The word 'jobber' comes from the English word for a person who does piecework. In Indian mills, the jobber was an influential figure – he recruited workers from his village, helped them settle, and even provided money in times of crisis. But he also demanded money and gifts for his favours, controlling workers' lives. Vasant Parkar, a millworker, recalled: "The workers would pay the jobbers money to get their sons work in the mill." This shows how the system was both supportive and exploitative.

✅ Revision Checklist

☐ Proto-industrialisation – definition, why it emerged, how it worked
☐ First factories – Arkwright's cotton mill, inventions (Spinning Jenny, steam engine)
☐ Pace of industrial change – cotton and metals led, traditional industries survived
☐ Why hand labour preferred in Britain – abundance of labour, seasonal industries, handmade for upper classes
☐ Life of workers – job seeking, seasonality, wages, resistance to technology
☐ Indian textiles before machine age – dominance, trade routes, merchants and bankers
☐ What happened to weavers – gomasthas, loss of bargaining, revolt, competition from Manchester
☐ Factories in India – first mills (Bombay, Bengal, Kanpur, Ahmedabad, Madras)
☐ Early entrepreneurs – China trade connection, Tagore, Parsis, Marwaris
☐ Workers in Indian mills – origins, jobbers, movement between village and city
☐ Peculiarities of growth – European Managing Agencies, shift to cloth production, impact of WWI
☐ Small-scale industries – handloom expansion, fly shuttle, survival of specialised weaves
☐ Market and advertisements – Manchester labels, Indian gods on labels, calendars, swadeshi messages

📝 Exam Tip

For 5-mark questions on "Why hand labour survived in Britain" or "Why weavers in India faced problems", structure your answer with multiple factors. For Britain, mention: abundance of labour, seasonal industries, demand for handmade goods by upper classes, and variety of products requiring human skill. For Indian weavers, mention: gomasthas, loss of bargaining, Manchester competition, American Civil War impact, and competition from Indian factories. Use specific examples and quotes from sources where possible.

These notes cover every concept, event, and process from the NCERT chapter. Use them as your primary revision material.

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