The Age of Industrialisation- 4 Flashcards
explain the emergence of the first most industries in india?
The first cotton mill in Bombay came up in 1854 and it went into
production two years later. By 1862 four mills were at work with
94,000 spindles and 2,150 looms. Around the same time jute mills
came up in Bengal, the first being set up in 1855 and another one
seven years later, in 1862. In north India, the Elgin Mill was started
in Kanpur in the 1860s, and a year later the first cotton mill of
Ahmedabad was set up. By 1874, the first spinning and weaving
mill of Madras began production.
how did the indian people act in the business working
The history of many business groups goes back to trade with China.
From the late eighteenth century, as you have read in your book last
year, the British in India began exporting opium to China and took
tea from China to England. Many Indians became junior players in
this trade, providing finance, procuring supplies, and shipping
consignments. Having earned through trade, some of these
businessmen had visions of developing industrial enterprises in India.
who is dwarkanath tagore?
In Bengal, Dwarkanath Tagore made his fortune in the China trade
before he turned to industrial investment, setting up six joint-stock
companies in the 1830s and 1840s. Tagore’s enterprises sank along
with those of others in the wider business crises of the 1840s, but
later in the nineteenth century many of the China traders became
successful industrialists. Dwarkanath Tagore believed that India would
develop through westernisation and
industrialisation. He invested in shipping,
shipbuilding, mining, banking, plantations
and insurance
give some examples of prominent industrialists in india? how did they accumulate wealth?
In Bombay, Parsis like Dinshaw Petit and
Jamsetjee Nusserwanjee Tata who built huge industrial empires in
India, accumulated their initial wealth partly from exports to China,
and partly from raw cotton shipments to England. Seth Hukumchand,
a Marwari businessman who set up the first Indian jute mill in
Calcutta in 1917, also traded with China. So did the father as well as
grandfather of the famous industrialist G.D. Birla.
what were some other ways of accumulating wealth besides trade with china/
Capital was accumulated through other trade networks. Some
merchants from Madras traded with Burma while others had links
with the Middle East and East Africa. There were yet other commercial groups, but they were not directly involved in external
trade. They operated within India, carrying goods from one place
to another, banking money, transferring funds between cities, and
financing traders. When opportunities of investment in industries
opened up, many of them set up factories.
what happened as colonial control over indian trade tightened
As colonial control over Indian trade tightened, the space within
which Indian merchants could function became increasingly limited.
They were barred from trading with Europe in manufactured goods,
and had to export mostly raw materials and food grains – raw
cotton, opium, wheat and indigo – required by the British. They
were also gradually edged out of the shipping business.
what did the european managing agencies do?
Till the First World War, European Managing Agencies in fact
controlled a large sector of Indian industries. Three of the biggest
ones were Bird Heiglers & Co., Andrew Yule, and Jardine Skinner
& Co. These Agencies mobilised capital, set up joint-stock companies
and managed them. In most instances Indian financiers provided
the capital while the European Agencies made all investment and
business decisions. The European merchant-industrialists had their
own chambers of commerce which Indian businessmen were not
allowed to join.
who is jamsetjee jeejeebhoy?
Jeejeebhoy was the son of a Parsi weaver. Like
many others of his time, he was involved in
the China trade and shipping. He owned a
large fleet of ships, but competition from
English and American shippers forced him to
sell his ships by the 1850s.
give a brief overview of jamsetjee nusserwanjee and his contributions to india?
In 1912, J.N. Tata set up the first iron and steel
works in India at Jamshedpur. Iron and steel
industries in India started much later than
textiles. In colonial India industrial machinery,
railways and locomotives were mostly imported.
So capital goods industries could not really
develop in any significant way till Independence.
where did the worksers come from
In most industrial regions workers came from the districts around.
Peasants and artisans who found no work in the village went to the
industrial centres in search of work. Over 50 per cent workers in the
Bombay cotton industries in 1911 came from the neighbouring
district of Ratnagiri, while the mills of Kanpur got most of their
textile hands from the villages within the district of Kanpur. Most
often millworkers moved between the village and the city, returning
to their village homes during harvests and festivals.
what happened as news of employment spread? was it easy to get a job?
Over time, as news of employment spread, workers travelled great
distances in the hope of work in the mills. From the United Provinces,
for instance, they went to work in the textile mills of Bombay and in
the jute mills of Calcutta.Getting jobs was always difficult, even when mills multiplied and
the demand for workers increased. The numbers seeking work were
always more than the jobs available. Entry into the mills was also
restricted.
who is a jobber what is his function
Industrialists usually employed a jobber to get new recruits.
Very often the jobber was an old and trusted worker. He got people
from his village, ensured them jobs, helped them settle in the city
and provided them money in times of crisis. The jobber therefore
became a person with some authority and power. He began
demanding money and gifts for his favour and controlling the lives
of workers.
