Class 10 : Social Science (In English) – Lesson 4. The Age of Industrialisation

EXPLANATION & SUMMARY

🔵 Introduction
The chapter “The Age of Industrialization” explores how industrial development transformed societies, economies, and cultures. While the Industrial Revolution is often seen as beginning in Britain, this process was global, affecting colonies like India and shaping modern history.

🟢 Proto-Industrialisation (Before Factories)
🌿 Definition: Before the rise of large factories, Europe experienced “proto-industrialisation,” where production was carried out in small workshops and homes.
✏️ System: Merchants supplied raw materials to peasants, who spun yarn or wove cloth at home.
💡 Impact: This created networks of rural artisans, linking countryside families to international markets.

🔴 Factories Come Up
⚡ Early factories (18th century Britain): The first factories produced textiles using water-powered machines.
🌍 Symbol: The cotton mill became the image of new industrial towns.
🧠 Change: Factories brought workers together under one roof, increased efficiency, and allowed supervision.

🟡 New Industries, Old Traditions
✔️ Slow spread: Despite new machines, traditional industries like handicrafts continued.
🌿 Industrial regions: Cotton and iron-steel led early growth, but most people still worked in small units.
💡 Technology limits: New machines were expensive, often unreliable, and resisted by workers fearing unemployment.
➡️ Hybrid growth: Both old (handicraft) and new (machine-based) industries coexisted.

🔵 Hand Labour and Steam Power
🧠 In Britain, even by mid-19th century, hand labour dominated.
🌿 Why?
Handmade goods suited aristocratic tastes.
Flexible, customised, and often cheaper for small batches.
⚡ Steam power: Though famous, it was adopted gradually; not every sector switched quickly.

🟢 Life of Workers
✏️ Early 19th century Britain: Workers faced unemployment due to mechanisation.
🌍 Luddite movement (1811–17): Workers destroyed machines they saw as threats.
✔️ Wages were irregular; working conditions were unsafe.
💡 With time, laws improved labour conditions, but exploitation persisted.

🔴 Industrialisation in the Colonies
🌿 In colonies like India, industrialisation had different effects.
🧠 De-industrialisation: British imports flooded Indian markets, ruining traditional handloom weavers.
✔️ Forced specialisation: India became a supplier of raw cotton, jute, indigo, and later, opium.
➡️ Local craftspeople lost livelihoods, shifting to agriculture or low-paid factory work.

🟡 Indian Textiles and the World Market
💡 India was renowned for fine cotton textiles (muslin, calico).
🌍 After British conquest, Indian textiles lost global dominance.
⚡ By 19th century: Indian textiles were replaced by cheap Manchester goods.
🧠 Weavers faced decline as raw cotton was exported to Britain and only machine-made cloth was imported back.

🔵 Factories in India
✔️ First mills: Cotton textile mills were set up in Bombay in 1854; jute mills in Bengal soon followed.
🌿 Growth factors:
Easy access to raw materials.
Demand from British markets.
Availability of cheap labour.
💡 Limitations: Colonial policies restricted Indian industry, favouring British imports.

🟢 Industrial Workers in India
✏️ Workers came from villages, working long hours for meagre wages.
🌍 High mobility: Many kept ties to villages and worked in mills only seasonally.
✔️ Strikes & protests: Poor conditions led to labour unrest, including strikes in the early 20th century.
💡 Nationalist support: Indian nationalist leaders highlighted workers’ exploitation as part of the freedom struggle.

🔴 Industrialisation and Urbanisation
🌿 Industrial towns (like Bombay, Calcutta) grew rapidly, drawing migrants.
🧠 Overcrowding, poor sanitation, and slums became common.
✔️ Yet these towns became centres of political activity, labour movements, and nationalist agitation.

🟡 Conclusion
Industrialisation was not a uniform or simple process. In Britain, it meant the rise of factories and mechanisation, but hand production remained important. In India, industrialisation was shaped by colonial exploitation: de-industrialisation of traditional crafts, and limited, controlled growth of modern industries. The age of industrialisation, therefore, was about both progress and exploitation, growth and inequality.

📝 Summary (~200 words)
🌍 Proto-industrialisation: Rural households produced goods under merchant systems before factories emerged.
⚡ Factories: Cotton mills symbolised the new industrial age.
🌿 Hybrid industry: Old handcraft traditions coexisted with machine industries.
🧠 Hand vs. machine: Handmade goods remained in demand for aristocrats; steam power spread slowly.
✏️ Workers’ life: Harsh conditions, irregular wages, strikes, and protests.
🌍 Colonies like India: Suffered de-industrialisation; became suppliers of raw materials.
💡 Indian textiles: Once world-famous, lost to Manchester imports.
✔️ Factories in India: Cotton and jute mills started but faced colonial restrictions.
🌿 Indian workers: Migrants from villages, exploited in mills, yet central to labour movements.
🧠 Urbanisation: Industrial towns grew but with overcrowding and poor living conditions.

📝 Quick Recap
🔵 Proto-industrialisation linked rural homes to global markets.
🟢 Factories arose, but handicrafts persisted.
🔴 British imports ruined Indian weavers.
🟡 Mills grew in Bombay & Bengal, but under colonial limits.
🌍 Workers faced exploitation, yet industrial towns became nationalist hubs.

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QUESTIONS FROM TEXTBOOK

🔵 Question 1 (a): Women workers in Britain attacked the Spinning Jenny.
🟢 Answer:
🌿 The Spinning Jenny was invented by James Hargreaves in 1764 to spin multiple threads at once.
💡 While efficient, it threatened the jobs of women spinners who relied on single-wheel spinning for livelihood.
⚡ Women workers, fearing loss of employment and income, attacked the new machine.
🧠 This resistance shows how technological change created insecurity among labourers.

🔵 Question 1 (b): In the seventeenth century merchants from towns in Europe began employing peasants and artisans within the villages.
🟢 Answer:
🌿 European towns saw rising demand for textiles and other goods.
💡 Guild restrictions in towns limited production and controlled entry into trades.
✔️ To bypass guilds, merchants directly employed peasants and artisans in villages.
⚡ This system of rural industry linked countryside households to international markets and prepared the ground for proto-industrialisation.

🔵 Question 1 (c): The port of Surat declined by the end of the eighteenth century.
🟢 Answer:
🌿 Surat was once a thriving port handling Mughal overseas trade with Asia and Europe.
💡 By late 18th century, European companies, especially the British, shifted trade to Bombay and Calcutta.
⚡ Loss of royal patronage and decline of Indian merchants further weakened Surat.
🧠 Thus, the city’s trade collapsed, and its glory ended, replaced by colonial-controlled ports.

🔵 Question 1 (d): The East India Company appointed gomashthas to supervise weavers in India.
🟢 Answer:
🌿 The gomashthas were paid agents of the East India Company.
💡 They collected woven cloth, supervised production, and ensured weavers worked for Company interests.
✔️ They also prevented weavers from dealing with other buyers.
⚡ This system led to exploitation: advances bound weavers to Company orders, and refusal often invited harsh punishment.

🔵 Question 2 (a): At the end of the nineteenth century, 80 per cent of the total workforce in Europe was employed in the technologically advanced industrial sector.
🟢 Answer:
❌ False.
🌿 Even at the end of the 19th century, a large part of Europe’s workforce was still engaged in agriculture, handicrafts, and small workshops.
💡 Only a small percentage worked in advanced industrial sectors.
🧠 Industrialisation was important but not yet dominant in employment terms.

🔵 Question 2 (b): The international market for fine textiles was dominated by India till the eighteenth century.
🟢 Answer:
✔️ True.
🌿 India’s fine cottons like muslin, chintz, and calico were highly prized globally.
💡 European traders imported them in large volumes for markets in Africa, Europe, and Asia.
⚡ It was only after the rise of British industrial textiles and colonial policies that India lost its dominance.

🔵 Question 2 (c): The American Civil War resulted in the reduction of cotton exports from India.
🟢 Answer:
❌ False.
🌿 The American Civil War (1861–65) disrupted cotton supplies from the US to Britain.
💡 As a result, demand for Indian raw cotton increased sharply.
✔️ Indian cotton exports boomed temporarily, though farmers faced later decline when US supplies resumed.

🔵 Question 2 (d): The introduction of the fly shuttle enabled handloom workers to improve their productivity.
🟢 Answer:
✔️ True.
🌿 The fly shuttle was a technological innovation in weaving.
💡 It enabled faster weaving, especially for wide fabrics, and allowed more complex patterns.
⚡ Many Indian weavers adopted it, producing more cloth and sustaining their crafts despite machine imports.

🔵 Question 3: Explain what is meant by proto-industrialisation.
🟢 Answer:
🌍 Proto-industrialisation refers to the stage before the rise of modern factories, when large-scale industrial production had not yet developed.
🌿 In 17th and 18th century Europe, merchants avoided restrictive urban guilds by employing rural peasants and artisans.
💡 Peasants worked in their homes, spinning or weaving with raw materials supplied by merchants.
✔️ Finished goods were collected and sold in international markets.
⚡ This system linked villages to global trade networks, creating early forms of industrial organisation.
🧠 It laid the foundation for later factory-based industrialisation by mobilising rural labour, spreading market dependence, and training people in specialised work.

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OTHER IMPORTANT QUESTIONS FOR EXAMS

SECTION A — MCQs (Q1–Q19; 1 mark each)
🔵 Question 1: Which invention by James Hargreaves in 1764 revolutionised spinning?
🟡 Options:
🔵 (A) Power loom
🟢 (B) Spinning Jenny
🔴 (C) Flying shuttle
🟡 (D) Steam engine
🟢 Answer: (B) Spinning Jenny — spun multiple threads at once, boosting output.

🔵 Question 2: Why did women workers attack the Spinning Jenny?
🟡 Options:
🔵 (A) It reduced yarn quality
🟢 (B) It threatened their livelihoods
🔴 (C) It increased prices of cloth
🟡 (D) It was introduced by foreigners
🟢 Answer: (B) It threatened their livelihoods — job insecurity caused violent protests.

🔵 Question 3: Which 18th-century practice linked rural households to global markets?
🟡 Options:
🔵 (A) Guild system
🟢 (B) Proto-industrialisation
🔴 (C) Nationalisation
🟡 (D) Mechanisation
🟢 Answer: (B) Proto-industrialisation — peasants worked for merchants supplying raw materials.

🔵 Question 4: The port of Surat declined mainly because:
🟡 Options:
🔵 (A) Frequent famines
🟢 (B) Shift of trade to colonial ports like Bombay
🔴 (C) Attacks by invaders
🟡 (D) Natural disasters
🟢 Answer: (B) Shift of trade to colonial ports like Bombay — British companies monopolised trade.

🔵 Question 5: Who were gomashthas under the East India Company?
🟡 Options:
🔵 (A) Tax collectors
🟢 (B) Agents supervising weavers
🔴 (C) Ship captains
🟡 (D) Merchants’ guild leaders
🟢 Answer: (B) Agents supervising weavers — ensured Company control and enforced contracts.

🔵 Question 6: Which textile remained globally famous until 18th century from India?
🟡 Options:
🔵 (A) Muslin
🟢 (B) Polyester
🔴 (C) Nylon
🟡 (D) Rayon
🟢 Answer: (A) Muslin — fine cotton exported widely, prized for quality.

🔵 Question 7: Which invention by John Kay improved weaving speed?
🟡 Options:
🔵 (A) Power loom
🟢 (B) Flying shuttle
🔴 (C) Spinning mule
🟡 (D) Carding machine
🟢 Answer: (B) Flying shuttle — doubled productivity and allowed wider fabrics.

🔵 Question 8: Which event boosted Indian cotton exports temporarily?
🟡 Options:
🔵 (A) First World War
🟢 (B) American Civil War
🔴 (C) Great Depression
🟡 (D) Abolition of Corn Laws
🟢 Answer: (B) American Civil War — disrupted US supplies, raised demand for Indian cotton.

🔵 Question 9: Bombay’s first cotton mill was set up in:
🟡 Options:
🔵 (A) 1750
🟢 (B) 1854
🔴 (C) 1901
🟡 (D) 1947
🟢 Answer: (B) 1854 — beginning of modern textile industry in India.

🔵 Question 10: Which region became famous for jute mills in colonial India?
🟡 Options:
🔵 (A) Punjab
🟢 (B) Bengal
🔴 (C) Madras
🟡 (D) Assam
🟢 Answer: (B) Bengal — raw jute processed in Calcutta-based industries.

🔵 Question 11: Why was hand labour still preferred in Victorian Britain?
🟡 Options:
🔵 (A) Machines were banned
🟢 (B) Handmade goods suited aristocratic tastes
🔴 (C) Lack of coal
🟡 (D) No skilled labourers
🟢 Answer: (B) Handmade goods suited aristocratic tastes — fine, intricate products were in demand.

🔵 Question 12: The Luddite movement in Britain was against:
🟡 Options:
🔵 (A) Child labour
🟢 (B) New machines destroying jobs
🔴 (C) Rising food prices
🟡 (D) Colonial imports
🟢 Answer: (B) New machines destroying jobs — workers smashed machines.

🔵 Question 13: Which of the following best describes “de-industrialisation” in India?
🟡 Options:
🔵 (A) Expansion of handicrafts
🟢 (B) Decline of traditional crafts due to British imports
🔴 (C) Growth of agriculture
🟡 (D) Rise of handlooms
🟢 Answer: (B) Decline of traditional crafts due to British imports.

🔵 Question 14: Why did many Indian mill workers remain tied to villages?
🟡 Options:
🔵 (A) High urban wages
🟢 (B) Seasonal work; ties to agriculture
🔴 (C) Fear of strikes
🟡 (D) Company laws
🟢 Answer: (B) Seasonal work; ties to agriculture — many migrated temporarily.

🔵 Question 15: Which group of Indian workers faced harsh conditions under Company’s advances?
🟡 Options:
🔵 (A) Soldiers
🟢 (B) Weavers
🔴 (C) Farmers
🟡 (D) Zamindars
🟢 Answer: (B) Weavers — bound to sell exclusively to Company, exploited by gomashthas.

🔵 Question 16: Which British policy ensured cheap imports but restricted Indian industries?
🟡 Options:
🔵 (A) Protectionism
🟢 (B) Free trade under colonial control
🔴 (C) Mercantilism
🟡 (D) Self-sufficiency
🟢 Answer: (B) Free trade under colonial control — forced open Indian markets.

🔵 Question 17: Which cities replaced Surat as major colonial ports?
🟡 Options:
🔵 (A) Madurai and Kanpur
🟢 (B) Bombay and Calcutta
🔴 (C) Agra and Lucknow
🟡 (D) Mysore and Bangalore
🟢 Answer: (B) Bombay and Calcutta — grew under Company dominance.

🔵 Question 18: Which social group in Europe demanded luxury hand-made goods in 19th century?
🟡 Options:
🔵 (A) Farmers
🟢 (B) Aristocrats and rich bourgeoisie
🔴 (C) Peasants
🟡 (D) Industrial workers
🟢 Answer: (B) Aristocrats and rich bourgeoisie — valued unique handmade designs.

🔵 Question 19: Which year saw the invention of the steam engine by James Watt?
🟡 Options:
🔵 (A) 1600
🟢 (B) 1769
🔴 (C) 1854
🟡 (D) 1900
🟢 Answer: (B) 1769 — key innovation powering industries and transport.

SECTION A (continued) — MCQ
🔵 Question 20: Which of the following best defines “proto-industrialisation”?
🟡 Options:
🔵 (A) Early phase of cottage industries linked to global trade
🟢 (B) The first factories in Bombay
🔴 (C) Decline of Surat port
🟡 (D) Only agricultural production
🟢 Answer: (A) Early phase of cottage industries linked to global trade.

SECTION B — Very Short Answer (2 marks each)
🔵 Question 21: Why did merchants move production to the countryside in 17th-century Europe?
🟢 Answer:
🌿 Guild restrictions limited expansion in towns.
💡 Countryside peasants were cheaper to hire, bypassing urban control.

🔵 Question 22: State two reasons why hand labour persisted in Victorian Britain despite mechanisation.
🟢 Answer:
✔️ Handmade goods suited aristocrats’ luxury demands.
🌿 Hand labour was cheaper for small-batch customised production.

🔵 Question 23: Give two problems faced by Indian weavers under the East India Company.
🟢 Answer:
💡 Bound by advances, forced to sell cloth only to Company agents.
⚡ Punished or harassed if they tried to sell to other buyers.

🔵 Question 24: Mention two features of Indian mill workers’ lives in the 19th century.
🟢 Answer:
🌿 Many were seasonal, returning to villages for harvests.
✔️ Worked long hours with low, irregular wages.

SECTION C — Short Answer (3 marks each)
🔵 Question 25: Explain any three reasons for the decline of Indian handloom industries.
🟢 Answer:
⚡ Machine-made cloth from Britain outcompeted handlooms.
🌿 Weavers lost access to markets due to Company monopoly.
💡 Raw cotton was exported, leaving shortages for local producers.

🔵 Question 26: How did the American Civil War affect Indian cotton farmers?
🟢 Answer:
✔️ Demand for Indian cotton soared as US supply halted.
🌿 Farmers expanded cotton cultivation, earning high profits.
💡 But after the war, demand fell sharply, leading to crisis.

🔵 Question 27: Why did many European employers prefer hand labour over machines?
🟢 Answer:
🌍 Seasonal markets made machines uneconomical.
🌿 Handmade goods could be adjusted to fashion changes.
💡 Luxury buyers valued fine craftsmanship.

🔵 Question 28: Describe three features of Bombay cotton mills.
🟢 Answer:
✔️ First mill set up in 1854; industry grew rapidly after.
🌿 Drew migrant labourers from villages.
💡 Produced cloth for Indian and export markets under colonial policies.

🔵 Question 29: How did Indian jute industry grow under colonial rule?
🟢 Answer:
🌿 Raw jute cultivated in Bengal.
✔️ British set up jute mills near Calcutta.
💡 Production served global demand for gunny bags and ropes.

SECTION D — Long Answer (5 marks each)
🔵 Question 30: Analyse the role of technology in transforming the textile industry.
🟢 Answer:
🌍 Flying shuttle sped up weaving, enabling wide cloth.
⚡ Spinning Jenny increased yarn supply.
💡 Power loom made weaving faster and efficient.
🧠 Steam power allowed continuous machine operation.
✔️ Together, these innovations revolutionised textile output globally.

🔵 Question 31: Describe the effects of British policies on Indian weavers.
🟢 Answer:
🌿 Raw cotton export left shortages for weavers.
✔️ Imports of cheap Manchester cloth ruined local demand.
💡 Advances tied weavers to Company, reducing bargaining power.
⚡ Harsh punishments for defiance created misery.
🧠 Weavers’ incomes collapsed, leading to widespread poverty.

🔵 Question 32: Explain the social and economic conditions of industrial workers in India.
🟢 Answer:
🌿 Workers migrated seasonally, balancing farm and mill work.
✔️ Wages were low, hours long, and work insecure.
💡 Housing was overcrowded in industrial towns.
⚡ Strikes and protests reflected discontent.
🧠 Despite hardships, workers became part of nationalist struggles.

🔵 Question 33: Assess the mixed impact of industrialisation in Britain.
🟢 Answer:
🌍 Created new jobs in factories.
✔️ Boosted trade and technological growth.
💡 Yet caused unemployment among artisans.
🌿 Harsh conditions and low wages in early factories.
🧠 Industrialisation thus brought both progress and social problems.

SECTION E — Case/Source-Based (4 marks each)
🔵 Question 34 (Case 1):
“In villages, weavers received advances and were forced to sell only to Company agents.”
(i) What system bound weavers to Company orders? (1)
(ii) How did this affect weavers’ freedom? (1)
(iii) Explain one long-term impact. (2)
🟢 Answer:
(i) ✔️ Advance payments.
(ii) 🌿 Weavers could not sell to other buyers.
(iii) 💡 Led to loss of independence, decline in incomes, widespread poverty.

🔵 Question 35 (Case 2):
“Handmade goods continued to dominate markets even during early industrialisation.”
(i) Why were handmade goods still valued? (1)
(ii) Who mainly demanded such goods? (1)
(iii) State two reasons why hand labour persisted. (2)
🟢 Answer:
(i) 💡 They were luxurious and unique.
(ii) 🌿 Aristocrats and rich classes.
(iii) ✔️ Flexible production + cheaper for small batches.

🔵 Question 36 (Case 3):
“The American Civil War disrupted cotton supplies.”
(i) Which years did the war last? (1)
(ii) What happened to Indian cotton exports? (1)
(iii) Explain one long-term effect on Indian farmers. (2)
🟢 Answer:
(i) ⚡ 1861–1865.
(ii) ✔️ They boomed as Britain turned to India.
(iii) 💡 After the war, exports collapsed, leaving farmers indebted.

SECTION F — Map Skill (5 marks)
🔵 Question 37 (a): On the map of India, locate and label two important textile industry centres.
🟢 Answer:
✔️ Bombay (cotton mills).
🌿 Calcutta (jute industry).

🔵 Question 37 (b): On the outline map of the world, identify and label three major regions linked with industrial trade.
🟢 Answer:
🌍 Britain (industrial hub).
🌿 India (raw cotton supplier).
⚡ Americas (cotton source before Civil War).
For Visually Impaired Candidates:
(i) Name two Indian cities with major textile industries.
(ii) Name three global regions connected with industrial trade in the 19th century.

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ONE PAGE REVISION SHEET

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MISCONCEPTIONS “ALERTS”

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MIND MAPS

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