The Age of Industrialisation | Class 10 Social Science Notes

Industrialisation in the Colonies

The chapter shifts focus to India, examining how industrialisation unfolded under colonial rule, particularly in textiles. Before machine industries, Indian silk and cotton textiles dominated international markets, prized for their fine quality. Trade routes connected India to Central Asia, West Asia, and Southeast Asia via land and sea, with ports like Surat, Masulipatam, and Hoogly serving as key hubs.

Indian merchants and bankers managed this vibrant trade network, financing production and export. However, by the 1750s, European companies, especially the British East India Company, gained control, securing trade monopolies and causing the decline of traditional ports like Surat and Hoogly. This shift marked the rise of colonial power, with new ports like Bombay and Calcutta growing under European control.

The East India Company initially encouraged textile exports, but after consolidating power, it imposed strict controls. The Company appointed gomasthas to supervise weavers, collect supplies, and enforce monopoly trade, often using coercion. Weavers lost bargaining power, faced low prices, and were tied to the Company through advances, leading to hardship, migration, and revolts.

By the 19th century, Indian textile exports declined sharply due to British industrial competition and import duties protecting British goods. Indian weavers struggled against cheap, machine-made Manchester textiles flooding local markets. The American Civil War further disrupted cotton supplies, raising raw cotton prices in India and worsening weavers' conditions. Eventually, factories began to emerge in India, changing the industrial landscape.

📊 Diagram: Fig. 13 – The English factory at Surat, a seventeenth-century drawing; Fig. 14 – A weaver at work, Gujarat; Fig. 15 – Bombay harbour, a late-eighteenth-century drawing.

🧪 Activity: On a map of Asia, find and draw the sea and land links of the textile trade from India to Central Asia, West Asia, and Southeast Asia.

🔗 Connection: This section leads to the discussion of the rise of factories in India and the role of early entrepreneurs.