Question

Describe the conditions of Indian industries before the advent of Europeans. Mention any 5 points.
( The age of industrialization - Class 10 CBSE )

Answer 1

Answer:

Modern industry or the large-scale industry is a mid-19th century pheno­menon. Before the British conquest, India’s supremacy in the industrial field reached its high watermark—India was called ‘the industrial workshop of the world’ during the 17th and 18th centuries. Demand for Indian cotton goods in England during this time was unprecedented. Indian cotton cloth was considered by Englishmen as the badge of ‘style and fashion’ of the time.

Woollen and silk items were also in huge demand. All this development brought untold miseries in England and other parts of Europe. Firstly, import of Indian goods destroyed the prospect of woollen and silk industries. Secondly, unemployment and suffering among the weavers mounted up. Thirdly, change in the composition of India’s trade led to the export of treasure from England to India.

To counteract these unhappy developments, some measures were taken to pacify the British nationals, but with little relief. Ultimately, the way out was found through legislations. Acts were passed, first in 1700, then again in 1720, to prohibit or restrict import trade of Indian cotton good, silks, calicos, etc., by total prohibition or by imposing heavy duties. As these measures did not yield desired result, one British author commented in 1728: “two things amongst us are ungovernable: our passions and our fashions”.

What was the net effect of this state of industrial development? What was ‘industrialisation’ to India by the standards of time was ‘de-industrialisation’ to Britain. India, however, had not been fortunate enough as soon as the ‘ugliest’ thing came on us in 1757—the loss of freedom through British conquest of India.