Hi Everyone!! This article will share Craft and Industries Under The British Rule Questions & Answers
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Craft and Industries Under The British Rule Questions & Answers
Question 1: What was the Calico Act?
Answer: The British Government did not make any provision to protect local industries. The government passed strict laws banning the use of chintz in England in 1720. This Act was known as the Calico Act.
Question 2: Why was Chintz in a great demand in England and Europe?
Answer: Chintz was in a great demand in England and Europe due to its exquisite colourful flowery designs, fine texture and relative cheapness.
Question 3: Who set up the first cotton spinning mill at Bombay? When?
Answer: The first cotton spinning mill was set up in Mumbai by a Parsi businessman and industrialist, Cowasjee Nanabhoy Davar in 1854.
Question 4: Give two names of the machines that reduced the need of human energy.
Answer: Powerloom and spinning jenny were the machines that reduced the need of human energy.
Question 5: Why did cotton mills in India make considerable progress during the First World War?
Answer: The cotton mills in India made considerable progress during the First World War because of the decline in textile imports from Britain and the requirements of cloths for military supplies increased.
Craft and Industries Under The British Rule Questions & Answers
Question 6: Describe the varieties of textiles produced in India.
Answer: The varieties of textiles produced in India are:
i. Muslin – It was a finely woven cotton fabric in India which attracted the European traders. In the 17th century, it was exported to Europe from India. Dhaka in Bengal and Masulipatam in South India were known for exotic muslins.
When the Poruguese first arrived Calicut, they were primarily in search of spices. They carried with them cotton textiles along with spices that came to be called as ‘calico’ as it came from Calicut.
ii. Chintz – It was another famous Indian fabric used especially for draperies. From the 1680s, there was a great demand for printed Indian cotton textiles in England and Europe. It was the main exquisite colourful flowery designs, fine texture and relative cheapness.
iii. Bandhani – It is a bright coloued cloth. It is produced through intricately tying and dying method, therefore it is also known as ‘Tie and Dye’.
Question 7: Why did the iron smelting industry decline?
Answer: The iron smelting industry decline due to several reasons:
i. One reason was the enactment of new forest laws by the colonial government. This law restricted people from entering the forest areas, thus preventing them from using forest resources. Iron smelters could not sustain their occupation in such conditions and gave their crafts. Many of them looked for others means of livelihood.
ii. The forest areas where the government permitted access to iron smelters were expected to pay a heavy tax to the revenue department. This affected their income.
iii. Moreover, the demand for iron produced by the local iron smelters decreased due to the import of iron and steel from England. Ironsmiths in India began using iron imported from England which displaced the iron and steel produced by the indigenous iron smelters.
Question 8: How did the British manufacture goods affect the Indian Textile Industry?
Answer: The technological innovations and the development of cotton industry in Britain affected Indian textile industry greatly.
i. After the Industrial Revolution, Britain produced cheap and better in quality machine-made textiles than the Indian textiles made with primitive techniques. Thus, the Indian textile had to face stiff competition from the British textiles in the European and American markets.
ii. By the beginning of the 19th century, Indian goods lost their markets in Africa, USA and Europe and the market was captured by the English-made cotton textiles. Their companies stopped buying Indian goods. Their agents no longer gave out advances. This affected weavers greatly as they were unable to secure supplies.
Question 9: What were the main features of the Industrial Revolution?
Answer: The main feature of the Industrial Revolution were:
1. The use of new materials such as iron and steel.
2. The invention of new energy sources such as the steam engine which revolutionized cotton textile weaving. Cloth began to be produced in abundant quantity and cheaply powered by steam. Later, electricity came to be used.
3. The invention of the spinning jenny and the power loom increased the productivity of the traditional spindles and reduced the need of human energy.
4. A new technique of production known as the factory system came into existence. In this system, workers and machines produced goods in one place. Each worker was assigned a specific job that entailed division of labor. The workers worked for a set number of hours and were paid wages by the owner of the factory.
5. Development in transportation and communication facilitated the introduction of railways, steamboats, telegraph and radio, etc.
6. Further, the increasing use of the science of industry and the above mentioned technological changes increased the mass production of manufactured goods.
Question 10: Explain the factory system.
Answer: A new technique of production known as the factory system came into existence. In this system, workers and machines produced goods in one place. Each worker was assigned a specific job that entailed division of labour. The workers worked for a set number of hours and were paid wages by the owner of the factory.
Craft and Industries Under The British Rule Questions & Answers
Question 11: How did Indian textiles suffer due to the Industrial Revolution? How did industrialization impact the Indian artisans?
Answer: The technological innovations and the development of cotton industry in Britain affected Indian textile industry greatly. Several factors contributed to the decline of the Indian textiles industry.
i. The increasing British occupation of India caused destruction of the Indian textile industry through the process of de-industrialisation.
ii. After the Industrial Revolution, Britain produced cheap and better in quality machine made textiles than the Indian textiles made with primitive techniques. Thus, the Indian textile had to face stiff competition from the British textiles in the European and American markets.
iii. High import duties were imposed by the British on Indian textiles imported into Britain proved disadvantageous to the Indian textiles.
iv. By the beginning of the 19th century, Indian goods lost their markets in Africa, USA and Europe and the market was captured by the English made cotton textiles. Their companies stopped buying Indian goods. Their agents no longer gave out advances. This affected weavers greatly as they were unable to secure supplies.
v. The Charter Act of 1813 ended the monopoly of the British East India Company and trade with India was thrown open to all the Englishmen. By 1830, the British manufactured cotton goods flooded Indian markets.
vi. Many of the weavers, spinners and craftsmen were rendered jobless. Thousands of women spinners who survived on spinning cotton thread lost their jobs. Some of them migrated to cities in search of livelihood while some went out of country to work in plantations in Africa and South America. Some of these weavers became agricultural labourers while others found employment in the new cotton mills established at Bombay, Nagpur, and Solapur.
vii. The British used their political control and made India not only the exporter of raw materials such as cotton and indigo but also the importer of finished goods. The purpose was largely to meet the growing demand of British industry.
viii. The British Government did not make any provision to protect local industries. The government passed strict laws banning the use of chintz in England in 1720. This Act was known as the Calico Act.
Question 12: Give reasons:
(a) The machine made goods of Britain did not affect the handloom weaving in India completely.
Answer: The machine made goods of Britain did not affect the handloom weaving in India completely because there were certain types of clothes such as intricate designs, borders or intricately woven cloth which could not be produced with machines. There was a great demand for such textiles among rich and middle class in India. In addition, the British textile manufacturers did not produce a coarse variety of cloth which was cheap and used by poor people in India.
(b) TISCO emerged as the biggest steel industry within the British Empire.
Answer: In 1912, TISCO also began producing steel. Soon after the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, imports of British steel into India declined as it had to meet the growing demands of war in Europe. That led the Indian Railways to turn to TISCO for the supply of steel for rails. As the war stretched on for several years, the demand of the colonial government was fulfilled by the TISCO. Over a period of time, TISCO emerged as the biggest steel industry within the British Empire.
So, these were Craft and Industries Under The British Rule Questions & Answers.