Class 8 NCERT Solutions History Chapter 7 - Weavers, Iron Smelters and Factory Owners

Cotton and silk textiles had a large market in Europe. Indian textiles were famous for its fine quality and exquisite craftsmanship. Chintz, bandanna, jamdani etc were some varieties of cloths which were sold to the people in Europe. There was also the demand of Indian cotton textiles with printed floral designs in the European markets.

Jamdaniis one of the finest muslin textiles on which decorative motifs are woven on the loom particularly in grey and white colures.They are woven generally with cotton and gold threads.

The word "bandanna" originally referred to variety of brightly coloured cloth which was produced through a method of tying and dying. Currently, 'bandanna' refers to brightly coloured printed scarf for the neck or the head.

Tracing the origin of the names of certain textiles is interesting as it tells about the history of the textiles. 

Muslin: European traders first encountered fine cotton cloth from India carried by Arab merchants in Mosul in present-day Iraq. They began referring to all finely woven textiles as “muslin”.

Calico: When the Portuguese first came to India in search of spices they landed in Calicut on the Kerala coast in south-west India. They took back to Europe cotton textiles which they called “calico” (derived from Calicut) and subsequently calico became the general name for all cotton textiles.

Chintz: It is derived from the Hindi word chhint, a cloth with small and colourful flowery designs.

Bandanna: now refers to any brightly coloured and printed scarf for the neck or head. Originally, the term derived from the word “bandhna” (Hindi for tying), and referred to a variety of brightly coloured cloth produced through a method of tying and dying

Other cloth and textiles from India were named and ordered by their place of origin: Kasimbazar, Patna, Calcutta, Orissa, Charpoore.

The widespread use of these words shows how popular Indian textiles had become in different parts of the world.

Indian textiles were famous all over the world for its fine texture and exquisite craftsmanship. By the seventeenth century, the demand of Indian textiles dramatically increased in Europe. Wool and silk producers in England protested against the import of Indian textiles in the eighteenth century as these industries had just begun to develop in England and hence were not able to compete with the Indian textiles. They thus wanted to prevent the entry of Indian textiles in the English markets. 

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

• Indian textiles now had to compete with British textiles in the European and American markets.
• Exporting textiles to England also became increasingly difficult since very high duties were imposed on Indian textiles imported into Britain.
• By the beginning of the 19^th century, English made cotton textiles successfully ousted Indian goods from their traditional markets in Africa, America and Europe. Thousands of weavers in India especially in Bengal were now thrown out of employment.
• English and European companies stopped buying Indian goods and their agents no longer gave out advances to weavers to secure supplies.
• Distressed weavers wrote petitions to the government to help them.
• By the 1830s British cotton cloth flooded Indian markets and over a  period of time two-thirds of all the cotton clothes worn by Indians were made of cloth produced in Britain. This affected not only specialist weavers but also spinners.
• Thousands of rural women who made a living by spinning cotton thread were rendered jobless.

The Indian iron smelting industry began to decline due to the following reasons:

• The introduction of forest laws demarcated forests as protected and reserved. The smelters now were not able to find wood for charcoal and iron ore for producing iron. Many smelters thus abandoned their work.
• In forests where smelters obtained permission for obtaining iron ore, had to pay high taxes for each furnace that they used. This led to a substantial decline in their incomes.
• By the nineteenth century, iron and steel began to be imported from Britain. Ironsmiths in India began to use steel imported by Britain for making various articles. Thus, the demand for iron produced by local smelters reduced.
• Smelters also faced competition from the iron and steel industries that began to be set up in the country.

In the early years of its development, Indian textile industry faced number of problems. It had to face competition from the textiles which were imported into the country. In its early years, the Indian textile industry found it difficult to compete with the cheap textiles imported from Britain. The government in an attempt to increase the import of English textiles in India did not impose any import duties on the English cloth. This affected the manufacturing and sale of Indian textiles in the country.

After the establishment of TISCO, the First World War broke out in 1914. As the British steel industries were producing steel for fulfilling the war needs of Europe, the import of British steel declined in India. TISCO was able to fill this gap. It was simultaneously also producing shells and cartridge wheels for fulfilling the War needs of Britain. This was also the time when railways were expanding in the country. The government turned to TISCO for the supply of rails. By 1919, the colonial government was purchasing about 90% of the steel that was manufactured by TISCO.