The Age of Industrialisation Class 10 Important Questions

Class 10 History Chapter 4 The Age of Industrialisation In Europe Important Questions and answers cover these topics and help students to understand the concepts better. Students can solve these for practice. They may come across some of these questions in the board exam.

Students can clear their doubts from the chapter by solving these CBSE Class 10 History Important Questions and prepare well for the board exams. The links to download the PDF version of these questions are given in a link in this article.

Class 10 History Chapter 4 The Age of Industrialisation Important Questions

1. Why did the industrial production increase in India during the First World War? (2014)

Answer: The War had created a new opportunity for the industrial production in India:

The War situation had forced the British mills to produce things that were needed for the army. This had led to the decline of Manchester imports into India. Suddenly, Indian mills had a vast home market to supply to:
As the War prolonged, Indian factories were called upon to supply war needs: jute bags, cloth for army uniforms, tents and leather boots, horse and mule saddles and a host of other items.
New factories were set up and old ones ran multiple shifts. Many new workers were employed and everyone was made to work longer hours.
Over the war years, industrial production boomed, local industries consolidated their position, substituting foreign manufactures and capturing home markets.

2. How did a series of inventions in the eighteenth century increased the efficiency of each step of the production process in cotton textile industry? Explain. (2013)

Answer: A series of inventions in the 18th century increased the efficiency in every step of the production process, especially of cotton. The process of producing cotton involved carding, twisting, spinning and milling.

The inventions enhanced the output per worker, enabling each worker to produce more, and they made possible the production of stronger threads and yam.
Richard Arkwright then created the cotton mill. Cloth production was spread all over the countryside and was carried out in village households.
Also now the costly new machines could be purchased, set up and maintained in the mill under one roof and management. This allowed a more careful supervision over the production process, a watch over the quality and the regulation of labour, all of which was difficult to do when production was in the countryside.

3. What problems were faced by the Indian cotton weavers in the 19th century? Describe. (2012)

Answer: The Indian cotton weavers faced many problems in the 19th century:

Their export collapsed.
The local market shrank being flooded by the Manchester imports. Produced by machines at lower costs, the Manchester cotton goods were so cheap that they attracted the buyers and the Indian textiles could not compete with them.
By 1860, Indian weavers faced a new problem. They could not get sufficient supply of raw cotton of good quality. This happened because a Civil War had broken out in America and the cotton supplies from the US to Britain were cut off and Britain turned to India. As raw cotton export from India
increased, the price of raw cotton shot up. Indian weavers were forced to buy raw cotton at a very high price, so weaving did not remain profitable.
Factories in India also produced goods at a mass scale which flooded the Indian markets. Thus the Indian weavers faced a tough time and it became difficult to survive.

4. Why did technological changes occur slowly in Britain in early 19th century? Explain any three reasons. (2012)

Answer: Technological changes occurred slowly in Britain due to the following reasons:

New technology was expensive and merchants and industrialists were cautious about using it. For example, at the beginning of the 19th century, there were only 321 steam engines. There were no buyers of steam engines for years.
The machines often broke down and repair was costly.
The machines were not as effective as their inventors and manufacturers claimed.
Machines were oriented to produce uniform, standardised goods for a mass market. But the demand in the market was often for goods with intricate designs and specific shapes which required human skill, not mechanical technology. At that time the upper classes preferred things produced by hand.

5. Who were gomasthas? Why were they appointed? How did they treat the weavers? (2012)
Answer: The paid servants appointed by the East India Company to supervise weavers are called gomasthas.

The East India Company appointed them to establish a more direct control over the weavers and to eliminate traders and brokers connected with cloth trade.

The gomasthas acted arrogantly and punished weavers for delays in supply, often beating them. In many weaving villages there were reports of clashes between weavers and gomasthas as they often marched into villages with sepoys and peons.

6. Who were ‘gomasthas?’ How did they become good partners of the British management system? (2014, 2015)

Answer: The Gomasthas were paid servants whose job was to supervise weavers, collect supplies and examine the quality of cloth. The aim of the East India Company behind appointing gomasthas was to work out a system of management and control that would eliminate competition, control costs and ensure regular supplies of cotton and silk.
Soon there were clashes between the weavers and the gomasthas who began ill-treating the weavers.

It developed a system of management and control that would eliminate competition, control costs and ensure regular supplies of cotton and silk from India. For this reason, gomasthas were appointed to supervise, collect supplies and examine the quality of cloth.
They did not allow the company weavers to sell their produce to other buyers. Once an order was placed, the weavers were given loans to purchase the raw material. Weavers who had accepted loans from the company had to hand over the cloth they produced to the gomasthas only.

7. Describe the achievements of any three early industrialists in British India. (2013)

Answer: Having earned enough from trade, some businessmen had visions of developing industrial enterprises in India.
In Bengal, Dwarkanath Tagore made his fortune in the China trade. He turned to industrial investment, setting up six joint stock companies in 1830s and 1840s.

In Bombay, Parsis like Dinshaw Petit and Jamsetjee Nusserwanjee Tata who built huge industrial empires in India accumulated their initial wealth from exports to China and raw cotton shipments to England. Seth Hukumchand, a Marwari businessman, who set up the first Indian jute mill in Calcutta in 1971, also traded with China.

8. How did many Indian Entrepreneurs survive despite of tight economic controls imposed by the British Government? (2013)

Answer:

Many Indians became junior players in the trade with China by providing finance, procuring supplies and shipping consignments.
Some merchants from Madras traded with Burma, Middle East and East Africa and accumulated capital.
Certain other commercial groups operated within India by carrying goods from one place to another, banking money, transferring funds between cities and financing traders.

9. Explain any three factors responsible for the decline of the cotton textile industry in India in the mid-nineteenth century. (2013)
Or
Describe any three main reasons for the decline of textile exports from India in the 19th century. (2014)

Answer:

As cotton industries developed in England, industrial groups began to pressurize the Government to impose import duties on cotton textiles so that Manchester goods could sell in Britain without facing any competition from outside.
At the same time industrialists persuaded the East India Company to sell British manufactures in Indian market as well. Exports of British cotton goods increased dramatically in the early 19th century.
The export market for the Indian cotton weavers collapsed and the local market shrank, being glutted with Manchester imports.
The imported cotton goods were cheap and our weavers could not compete with them.
When the American Civil War broke out the cotton supplies to Britain from the US were cut off. As raw cotton export from India increased, the price of raw cotton shot up. Weavers in India were starved of supplies and forced to buy raw cotton at exorbitant prices.

10. Advertisements played a part in expanding the markets for products and in shaping a new consumer culture. Explain. (2014)
Or,

Explain the role played by advertisements in creating new consumers for the British products. (2014)
Or
In which ways did the British and the Indian manufacturers and traders advertise their products? (2013)

Answer:

When Manchester industrialists began selling cloth in India, they put labels on the cloth bundles, to make the place of manufacture and the name of the company familiar to the buyer.
When buyers saw ‘Made in Manchester’, written in bold on the label, they felt confident to buy the cloth.
But labels did not carry words and texts. They carried images and were beautifully illustrated with images of Indian gods and goddesses. The printed image of Krishna or Saraswati was also intended to make the manufacture from a foreign land, appear familiar to Indians.
Manufacturers also printed calendars to popularise their products. These calendars were used even by the illiterate. They were hung in tea shops and in the homes of the poor and even in offices and middle class apartments.
When Indian manufacturers advertised, the nationalist message was clear and loud. If you care for the nation, then buy only ‘Indian’ products. Advertisements became a vehicle of the nationalist message of Swadeshi.

11. Why was it difficult to get jobs in Indian factories and mills even when so many of them had come up in the 19th century? (2015)

Answer: Even when the mills multiplied and demand for workers increased, it was difficult to get jobs. The reason was that

The number seeking jobs always remained more than the jobs available.
During the same time agriculture was also not prosperous. Therefore, there was always a large influx of unemployed youths from villages who came to cities and towns looking for jobs in the newly set up mills and factories.
Entry into the mills was also restricted. Industrialists usually employed jobbers to get new recruits. Very often, the jobber was an old and trusted worker. He got people from his own village, ensured them jobs and helped them settle in the city. Gradually, they began to demand money and gifts for this favour and began controlling the lives of workers.

12. How was foreign trade from India conducted before the age of machine industries? Explain. (2015)

Answer:

Before the age of machine industries, silk and cotton goods from India dominated the international markets in textile. Coarse cottons were produced in many countries, but finer varieties came from India. Armenian and Persian merchants took the goods from Punjab to Afghanistan, Eastern Persia and Central Asia.
Bales of fine textiles were carried on camel back through the mountain passes of North-West Frontier.
A vibrant sea trade operated through pre-colonial ports—Surat connected India to the Gulf, Masulipatnam on the Coromandel coast and Hooghly in Bengal had trade links with South East Asian ports.

13. Analyse the contribution of Dwarkanath Tagore in the field of industrial development. (2015)

Answer:

In Bengal, Dwarkanath Tagore made his fortune in the China trade before he turned to industrial investment. He set up six joint-stock companies in 1830s and 1840s.
Tagore’s enterprises sank along with those of others in the wider business crises of the 1840s, but later in the 19^th century many of the China traders became successful industrialists.
Dwarkanath Tagore believed that India would develop through westernization and industrialisation. He invested in shipping, mining, banking, plantation and insurance. He had visions of developing industrial enterprises in India.

14. How did many Indian Entrepreneurs survive despite of tight economic controls imposed by the British Government? (2017 OD)
Answer:

Many Indians became junior players in the trade with China by providing finance, procuring supplies and shipping consignments.
Some merchants from Madras traded with Burma, Middle East and East Africa and accumulated capital.
Certain other commercial groups operated within India by carrying goods from one place to another, banking money, transferring funds between cities and financing traders.

15. Describe the achievements of any three early industrialists in British India. (2017 D)

16. Why were there frequent clashes between gomasthas and weavers in the villages? (2012)

Answer: The ‘gomasthas’ were paid servants whose job was to supervise weavers, collect supplies and examine the cloth. In many weaving villages there were clashes between the gomasthas and the weavers who began ill-treating the villagers.

The earlier supply merchants had lived within the villages and had a close relationship with the weavers, looking after their needs and helping them in times of crisis.
The new gomasthas were outsiders with no long-term social link with the village.
They acted arrogantly and punished weavers for delays in supplies, beating and flogging them with the help of sepoys and peons.
The weavers lost their freedom to bargain for prices and sell to different buyers and received miserably low prices from the company.
The loans they had accepted had tied them to the British Company.

17. Describe the process of gradual growth of factories in England in the light of problems it faced. (2012)

Answer: The earliest factories in England came up by the 1730s. Their number multiplied in the late 18^th century. A series of inventions in the 18th century increased the efficacy of each step of the production process. They enhanced the output per worker, enabling each worker to produce more. With the creation of cotton mill by Richard Arkwright, all the processes of cloth production were brought together under one roof and management. This allowed a more careful supervision of the production process, a watch over quality, and the regulation of labour, all of which had been difficult to do when production was in the countryside.

18. Highlight Any five points which enabled the handloom sector score over machine made goods and face the competition. (2013)

Answer: The handloom sector scored over the machine made goods and was able to face competition because:

This happened partly because of technological advancements. By the second decade of the 20^th century, weavers started using fly shuttle. This increased productivity of every worker, sped up production and reduced labour demand. By 1941, over 35 per cent of handlooms in India were fitted with fly shuttles. In regions like Travancore, Madras, Mysore, Cochin and Bengal, 70 to 80 per cent of handlooms had fly shuttles.
There were many other small inventions that helped weavers improve productivity and compete with mills.
Also, the demand for finer varieties of cloth bought by the rich, was very stable. Even famines did not affect the sale of Banarsi or Baluchari sarees.
Mill production could not imitate and compete with specialized weaves such as the famous sarees with woven borders and the famous lungis and handkerchiefs of Madras.

19. How did the First World War prove to be a boon to the Indian Industries? Explain. (2013)

Answer: The First World War proved to be a boon to Indian Industries:

The war created a dramatically new situation with British Mills busy with war production to meet the needs of the army, Manchester imports into India declined.
Suddenly, Indian mills had a vast home market to supply to.
As the war prolonged, Indian factories were called upon to supply war needs, jute bags, cloth for army uniforms, tents and leather boots, horse and mile saddles and a host of other items.
New factories were set up and old ones ran multiple shifts.
Many new workers were employed and everyone was made to work longer hours. Over the war years industrial production boomed, local industrialists consolidated their position, substituting foreign manufactures and capturing home markets.

20. Explain the process of industrialization in Britain during the 19th century. (2014)

Answer: The most dynamic industries in Britain were clearly cotton and metals. Growing at a rapid pace, cotton was the leading sector in the first phase of industrialization up to the 1840s. Later iron and steel industry led the way. With the expansion of railways in England from the 1840s and in the colonies from 1860s, the demand for iron and steel increased.

The new industries could not displace traditional industries. At the end of the 19th century, less than 20 per cent of the total workforce was employed in technologically advanced industrial sectors. The pace of change in the ‘traditional’ industries was not set by steam-powered cotton or metal industries. Ordinary and small innovations were the basis of growth in many non-mechanized sectors such as food processing, building, pottery, glass work, tanning, furniture making and production of implements.

The technological changes occurred slowly. New technology was expensive and merchants and industrialists were cautious about using it. The machine often broke down and repair was costly.

21. Explain any five ways by which new markets and consumers were created in India by British manufacturers. (2014)
Or
Describe the techniques which were adopted by the Manchester industrialists to sell their goods in India. (2015)

Answer:

When Manchester industrialists began selling cloth in India, they put labels on the cloth bundles, to make the place of manufacture and the name of the company familiar to the buyer.
When buyers saw ‘Made in Manchester’, written in bold on the label, they felt confident to buy the cloth.
But labels did not carry words and texts. They carried images and were beautifully illustrated with images of Indian gods and goddesses. The printed image of Krishna or Saraswati was also intended to make the manufacture from a foreign land, appear familiar to Indians.
Manufacturers also printed calendars to popularise their products. These calendars were used even by the illiterate. They were hung in tea shops and in the homes of the poor and even in offices and middle class apartments.
Figures of important personages, of emperors and nawabs adorned the advertisements and calenders. The message often seemed to say that if you respect a royal figure, then respect this product as it was being used by kings.
When Indian manufacturers advertised, the nationalist message was clear and loud. If you care for the nation, then buy only ‘Indian’ products. Advertisements became a vehicle of the nationalist message of Swadeshi.

22. How did cotton factories become an intimate part of the English landscape in the early nineteenth century? Explain. (2015)

Answer: A series of inventions in the eighteenth century increased the efficiency in every step of the production process, especially of cotton. The process of producing cotton involved carding, twisting, spinning and milling.

The inventions enhanced the output per worker, enabling each worker to produce more, and they made possible the production of stronger threads and yam.
Richard Arkwright then created the cotton mill. Cloth production was spread all over the countryside and was carried out in village households.
Also, now the costly new machines could be purchased, set up and maintained in the mill under one roof and management. This made the process more centralised and integrated.
This allowed a more careful supervision over the production process, a watch over the quality and the regulation of labour, all of which was difficult to do when production was in the countryside.
In the early nineteenth century new mills and factories with new technologies became extremely visible.