Question

What was Rinderpest ? How did it adversely affect the lives and fortunes of the Africans ?
OR
Why did the handloom industry collapse in India during the 19th century ? Explain.
OR
Calcutta (Kolkata) had a long history of 'air pollution’. Explain any five reasons for it.

CBSE Class X Social Science LA (5 Marks)

Answer 1

Rinderpest was the fast spreading and devastating disease of cattle plague.
Effects of Rinderpest :
It affected the Africans in following ways :
(i) Rinderpest moved like forest fire.
(ii) 90% of cattle were killed.
(iii) The loss of cattle destroyed African livelihoods. Earlier people rarely worked for a wage. They possessed land and livestock. Due to Rinderpest, they were forced to work for wages and so it affected the economy.
(iv) Colonial government forced the Africans into labour market.
OR
(i) Factories in Manchester started producing cotton textiles for the domestic market.
(ii) The government put more import duties on the textile coming from India to encourage the local industries. As a result, the Indian weavers lost their overseas market.
(iii) Eventually, the Manchester goods started flooding the Indian markets also and it became difficult for the Indian weavers to compete with the low cost Manchester cloth.
(iv) The British government in India also levied more taxes on the handloom units which made the Indian textiles costlier in Indian markets when compared to the Manchester textiles.
(v) The Civil War in USA forced the British to buy more raw cotton from India for their Manchester textile industries. This created an acute shortage of raw material for the weavers and the Indian handloom industry collapsed.
OR
(i) Causes :
(a) Huge population depended on dung and wood as fuel in their daily life.
(b) The industries and establishments that used steam engines were run on coal.
(c) In 1855, the introduction of Railway brought coal from Raniganj which had high content of ash. It also polluted the air.
(d) The fog in the city combined with smoke to create thick smog.
(e) Due to marshy land, the resulting fog combined with smoke to generate thick smog.
(ii) Bengal Smoke Nuisance Commission controlled industrial pollution in Bengal.

Answer 2

Rinderpest was the fast spreading and devastating disease of cattle plague. Effects of Rinderpest : It affected the Africans in following ways : (i) Rinderpest moved like forest fire. (ii) 90% of cattle were killed. (iii) The loss of cattle destroyed African livelihoods. Earlier people rarely worked for a wage.  (iv)They possessed land and livestock. Due to Rinderpest, they were forced to work for wages and so it affected the economy. (v) Colonial government forced the Africans into labour market.  Hope it helps....