NCERT Solutions Class 8 Social Science Chapter 6 Weavers Iron Smelters and Factory Owners

Let’s recall

1. What kinds of cloth had a large market in Europe?

Answer:

(i) Indian cotton and silk textiles were very popular in European markets for their fine quality and artistic designs printed on them.

(ii)Different varieties of Indian textiles were sold in the Western markets; for example, chintz, cossaes or khassa, bandanna and jamdani.

(iii) From the 1680s, there started a craze for printed Indian cotton textiles in England mainly for their exquisite floral designs, fine texture and relative cheapness.

2. What is jamdani ?

Answer:

Jamdani is fine muslin on which decorative motifs are woven on the loom, typically in grey and white. Often a mixture of cotton and gold thread was used.

3. What is bandanna?

Answer:

The term bandanna is derived from the word “bandhna” (Hindi for tying), and it refers to a variety of brightly coloured cloth produced through a method of tying and dying.

4. Who are the Agaria?

Answer:

The Agarias were a community of iron smelters. They lived in Central India.

5. Fill in the blanks:

(a) The word chintz comes from the word chhint.

(c) India’s textile exports declined in the beginning of the 19th century.

Let’s discuss

6. How do the names of different textiles tell us about their histories?

(i)European traders first encountered fine cotton cloth from India carried by Arab merchants in Mosul in present-day Iraq.

(ii)So they referred to all finely woven textiles as “muslin” – a word that acquired wide currency.

(iii)When the Portuguese first came to India in search of spices, they landed in Calicut on the Kerala coast in south-west India.

(iv)The cotton textiles which they took back to Europe, along with the spices, came to be called “calico” (derived from Calicut), and subsequently calico became the general name for all cotton textiles.

(v)The English East India Company exported from India printed cotton cloths called chintz, cossaes (or khassa) and bandanna.

(vi)The English term chintz comes from the Hindi word chhint, a cloth with small and colourful flowery designs.

(viii)There were other cloths which the Company exported from India, were noted by their place of origin: Kasimbazar, Patna, Calcutta, Orissa, Charpoore.

(ix)The widespread use of such words shows how popular Indian textiles had become in different parts of the world.

7. Why did the wool and silk producers in England protest against the import of Indian textiles in the early eighteenth century?

Answer:

(i)By the early eighteenth century, wool and silk makers in England were worried by the popularity of Indian textiles and protested against the import of Indian cotton textiles.

(ii)In 1720, the British government enacted a legislation banning the use of printed cotton textiles – chintz – in England; this Act was known as the Calico Act.

(iii)At this time textile industries had just begun to develop in England.

(iv)Unable to compete with Indian textiles, English producers tried to secure market within their country by preventing the entry of Indian textiles.

8. How did the development of cotton industries in Britain affect textile producers in India? Answer:

The development of cotton industries in Britain affected textile producers in India in several ways.

(i) First: Indian textiles now had to compete with British textiles in the European and American markets.

(ii) Second: exporting textiles to England also became increasingly difficult since very high duties were imposed on Indian textiles imported into Britain.

(iii) By the beginning of the nineteenth century, English- made cotton textiles successfully ousted Indian goods from their traditional markets in Africa, America and Europe.

(iv)Thousands of weavers in India lost their livelihoods; Bengal weavers were the worst hit.

(v)English and European companies stopped buying Indian goods, and their agents stopped giving advances to weavers to secure supplies.

(vi)Distressed weavers appealed to the government to help them. By the 1830s, British cotton cloth flooded Indian markets.

(viii)This affected not only specialist weavers but also spinners and rural women who made a living by spinning cotton thread.

9. Why did the Indian iron smelting industry decline in the nineteenth century?

Answer:

(i)By the late nineteenth century, the craft of iron smelting was in decline. In most villages, furnaces fell into disuse and the amount of iron produced came down.

(ii)One reason for the decline was the new forest laws enacted by the colonial government prevented people from entering the reserved forests.

(iii)The iron smelters could not collect wood for charcoal and iron ore from the forests.

(iv)However, they often entered the forests secretly and collected wood, but they could not sustain their occupation on this basis for long.

(v) Many gave up their craft and looked for other means of livelihood.

(vi)In some areas the government granted access to the forest. But the iron smelters had to pay a very high tax to the forest department for every furnace they used.

(viii) Indian Ironsmiths began using the imported iron to manufacture utensils and implements. This inevitably lowered the demand for iron produced by local smelters.

10. What problems did the Indian textile industry face in the early years of its development?

Answer:

The Indian textile industry faced many problems in the early years of its development.

(i) The Indian textile industry could not compete with the cheap textiles imported from Britain.

(ii)In most countries, governments supported industrialisation by imposing heavy duties on imports.

(iii)This eliminated competition and protected emerging industries.

(iv)The British government in India usually refused such protection to local textile industries.

(v)The first major development of cotton factory production in India happened during the First World War when textile imports from Britain declined, and Indian factories were called upon to produce cloth for military supplies.