AP Board 8th Class Social History Notes 6th Lesson Weavers, Iron Smelters and Factory Owners
→ From the 16th century, European trading companies began buying Indian textiles for sale in Europe.
→ Here it is worth mentioning that Indian textiles were famous in western markets under different names such as muslin, calico, etc.
→ Printed cotton clothes were called chintz, cossies or khassa and bandhanna.
→ From the 1680s there started a craze for printed Indian cotton textiles in England and Europe mainly for their beautiful floral designs, fine texture and to relative cheapness.
→ The popularity of Indian textiles during the early 18th century worried the wool and silk makers in England. They began protesting against the import of Indian cotton textiles.
→ Unable to compete with Indian textiles, English producers wanted a secure market within the country by preventing the entry of Indian textiles.
→ Indian designs were now imitated and printed in England on white muslin or plain unbleached Indian cloth.
→ The invention of Spinning Jenny in 176 and Steam Engine in 1786 revolutionised cotton textile weaving.
→ Indian textiles continued to dominate world trade till the end of the 18Tn century. European trading companies made huge profits out of this flourishing trade,
→ Indian textiles began to decline with the development of cotton industries in Britain by the beginning of the 19th century.
→ English-made cotton textiles successfully ousted Indian goods from, their traditional markets in Africa, America and Europe.
→ By 1830s British cotton cloth flooded Indian markets. This affected both specialist weavers and spinners. Thousands of rural women who made a living by spinning cotton thread became jobless.
→ Handloom weaving continued to exist to some extent. Because some types of cloths could not be supplied by machines. Machines failed to produce saris with intricate borders or cloths with traditional woven patterns.
→ Many weavers and spinners who lost their livelihood now became agricultural labourers. Some migrated to cities in search of work and yet others went out of the country to work in plantations in Africa and South America.
→ The first cotton mill in India was set up as a spinning mill in Bombay in 1854. Afterwards, mills came up in other cities too, for example, Ahmedabad and Kanpur.
→ Indian Wootz steel which was produced all over South India, fascinated European scientists.
→ Wootz’steel making process was completely lost by the rnid-19th century.
→ But imports of iron and steel from England began to displace the iron and steel produced by the crafts people in India. As a result, several iron smelters lost their job. The demand for iron produced by them inevitably lowered.
→ The Tata Iron and Steel Company (TISCO) began producing steel in 1912.
→ First World War broke out in 1914. Steel produced in Britain now had to meet the demands of war in Europe. So imports of British steel into India declined and the Indian Railways, that was expanding ahthat time, turned to TISCO for supply of rails.
→ By 1919 the colonial government purchased 90% of the steel manufactured by TISCO.
→ TISCO became the biggest steel industry within the British empire.
→ CHINTZ : Derived from the Hindi word chintz which is a cloth with small and colourful flowery designs.
→ BANDANNA : The word refers to any brightly coloured and printed scarf for the neck or head. Originally, the term derived from the word ‘bandhna’ and referred to a variety of brightly-coloured cloth produced through a method of tying and dyeing.
→ SPINNING JENNY : A machine by which a single worker could operate several spindles on to which thread was spun. When the wheel was turned all the spindles rotated.
→ CHARKHA AND TAKLI : Household spinning instruments. The thread was spun on the charkha and rolled on the takli.
→ RANGREZ : The dyer who dyed the thread.
→ CHHIPIGAR : Block printer.
→ AURANG : A Persian term for a warehouse – a place where goods are collected before being sold.
→ SMELTING : The process of obtaining a metal from rock or soil by heating it to a very high temperature, or of melting objects made from metal in order to use the metal to make something new.
→ BELLOWS : A device or equipment that can pump air.
→ SLAG HEAPS : The waste left when smelting metal.