7. Weavers Iron Smelters and Factory Owners History class 8 in English Medium ncert book solutions Chapter Rerview

Chapter Rerview:

• Around 1750, India was the world’s largest producer of cotton textiles renowned both for their fine quality and exquisite craftsmanship. They were traded in Southeast Asia (Java, Sumatra and Penang) and West and Central Asia. European trading companies bought Indian textiles and sold them in Europe.
• Weavers belonged to communities that specialised in weaving and skills were passed on from one generation to the next. Some of the communities famous for weaving were the tanti weavers of Bengal, the julahas or momin weavers of north India, sale and kaikollar and devangs of south India. Spinning is the first stage of production where charkha and the takli were used. The thread was spun on the charkha and rolled on the takli. After spinning the thread was woven into cloth by the weaver. For coloured textiles, the thread was dyed by the dyer, known as rangrez. For printed cloth the weavers needed the help of specialist block printers known as chhipigars.

• Wootz steel production required a highly specialised technique of refining iron. In India, iron smelting was common till the end of the nineteenth century. In Bihar and Central India, every district had smelters. The furnaces were built of clay and sun-dried bricks. By the late nineteenth century, the craft of iron smelting declined. The reason was the government prevented people from entering the reserved forests.

• The government granted access to the forest in some areas but the iron smelters had to pay a very high tax to the forest department for every furnace they used. by the late nineteenth-century iron and steel were imported from Britain. By the early twentieth century, the artisans producing iron and steel faced new competition.

• In 1854, the first cotton mill was set up in Bombay and it had grown as an important port for the export of raw cotton from India to England and China. In Bombay, over 84 mills were established by Parsi and Gujarati businessmen by 1900. Mills started developing in cities and the first mill in Ahmedabad was started in 1861. Growth of cotton mills demanded labour. Poor peasants, artisans and agricultural labourers worked in the mills.
• Textile factory industry in India faced problems such as difficulty competing with the cheap textiles imported from Britain. In most countries, the government supported industrialisation by imposing heavy duties on imports which eliminated competition and protected infant industries.
• The first major spurt in the development of cotton factory production in India, therefore, was during the First World War when textile imports from Britain declined and Indian factories were called upon to produce cloth for military supplies.

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