Class 10 History Chapter 4 Extra Questions and Answers covered all the topics explained in The age of Industrialisation. The chapter begins with a discussion about the world’s scenario before the industrial revolution and how did it gradually move towards industrialisation. The next section throws light on the labour requirements and working conditions during the age of industrialisation. The next section describes the process of industrialisation in European colonies, particularly India. It describes how the industrialisation process impacted the domestic industry and the workers. The following section also explains the process of spread and proliferation of industries, particularly the textile industries, in India, and the groups who financed it. The following section deals with the peculiarities of industrial growth in India. The chapter ends with a discussion about the use of advertisement  to promote the sale of industrial goods.
Class 10 History Chapter 4 Extra Questions are Answered in detail by our team of experts which includes teachers and professionals. These solutions have been compiled in an easy to understand manner, keeping in mind, the perspective of strong, and weak students. We are providing NCERT Solutions for Class 10 all subjects which can be accessed by clicking here.
Class 10 History Chapter 4 Extra Questions and Answers – Very Short : 1-2 Marks
Ques.1: Who created the cotton mill?
Ans.1: Richard Arkwright
Ques.2: Who invented the steam engine? Who modified and patented it? Who manufactured the new model?
Ans.2: The steam engine was invented by Newcomen. James Watt modified and patented it in the year 1781, and Mathew Boulton manufactured the new model.
Ques.3: Who were gomasthas?
Ans.3: Gomasthas were the paid servants of the British who supervised weavers, examined the quality of cloth and collected supplies.
Ques.4: Name a few entrepreneurs who built industrial enterprises in India.
Ans.4: A few successful entrepreneurs who built industrial enterprises in India were:
a) Dwarkanath Tagore
b) Dinshaw Petit
c) Jamsetjee Nusserwanjee Tata
d) Seth Hukumchand
Ques.5: Name the popular European Managing Agencies.
Ans.5: The popular European Managing Agencies were:
a) Bird Heiglers & Co.
b) Andrew Yule
c) Jardine Skinner & Co.
Ques.6: When, where and by whom was the first jute mill of India set up?
Ans.6:The first jute mill in India was set up in Calcutta in 1917, by Seth Hukumchand.
Class 10 History Chapter 4 Extra Questions and Answers – Short Answer : 2-4 Marks
Ques.1: Why was it difficult for new merchants to set up business in towns?
Ans.1: It was difficult for the new merchants to set up new businesses in towns because:
a) Trade guilds and urban crafts in towns were strongly established.
b) These guilds composed of producers who controlled production, regulated competition, and restricted other people from entering the trade.
c) These guilds were also granted monopoly rights for trading purposes by the rulers.
Ques.2: How did proto-industrialisation supplement the shrinking income of poor peasants?
Ans.2: After the colonization of India, the open fields and farms that were once cultivated by peasants began disappearing. As a result, the peasants and collectors now had to look for alternative sources of income. Thus, they began working for merchants. They cultivated small plots of land and also worked for the merchants where their entire family labour was utilized. Thus, proto-industrialisation supplemented the shrinking income of poor peasants.
Ques.3: Discuss how the advent of technology changed the process of cotton textile production.
Ans.3: The introduction of technology and machinery transformed the process of cotton textile production in the following ways:
a) With the introduction of new machines, the process of textile production was made more efficient, with an increase in the output per worker, along with the production of stronger threads and yarn.
b) Following this was the creation of a cotton mill. This helped in organizing the process of textile production under one roof. The mechanization of the process became easier and more and more mills were set up gradually.
c) This transformed the English landscape which over the time period had become closely associated with the factories.
Ques.4: How was industrialisation in Britain affected by labour availability? How was the situation in America different?
Ans.4: During industrialisation, Britain did not face any major labour shortage and peasants and artisans from the countryside used to migrate to cities in search of better jobs and livelihood. This large supply of labour led to reduction in wages which was beneficial for the factory owners. This prevented mechanization of the factories as the owners thought that it would increase the cost of production as the machines were expensive and as an alternative, there was easy availability of cheap labour. Also, industries like bookbinding, Christmas-related industries that were seasonal, preferred hand labour over machines. Moreover, in nineteenth-century Europe, demands for intricately designed, hand made goods was high as they symbolized class and refinement.
However, in countries like America where there was an extreme shortage of labour, mechanical power was put to use quickly and widely so that human labour scarcity could be compensated.
Ques.5: Describe the life of workers in the nineteenth century.
Ans.5: Owing to the huge availability of human labour in the market, the lives of the workers started getting negatively affected. The probability of getting a job in the factory was highly dependent on existing friendships as these relations helped to gain employment. The ones who did not have any such relations had to face troublesome days. They had to spend nights under the bridge or in Night Refuges. During the peak seasons, the employment rose, but as soon as the season ended, these workers were rendered jobless. Moreover, their incomes depended not on the wage rate but on the number of days of work, which further worsened the situation.
Ques.6: Describe the textile trade of India in pre-colonial times.
Ans.6:Before industrialisation and the advent of colonial powers in India, India was a dominant nation in the international textile trade market. The finest variety of cotton was produced in India. Persian and Armenian merchants took the textiles to Persia, and other countries from India. Sea-trade was also very active. The ports of Surat, Hoogly, and Masulipatnam linked India with other Southeast Asian ports. The trade was majorly financed by Indian traders and merchants at all stages. However, after colonization, the trade links began to decay and all the major, old ports lost their significance.
Ques.7: How was the increasing demand for industrial workers fulfilled?
Ans.7: As the number of factories increased, the demand for workers also spiked. The peasants and workers were already short of jobs as manual labour was slowly getting replaced by machines. Hence, these workers flocked to the cities in search of jobs. The demand for industrial workers were fulfilled by these artisans and peasants. For most of the industries, workers came from nearby areas in the industrial district. As the industries increased in number, more and more people began to flock to the industrial centers. But not all the people were able to secure jobs. Industrialists hired employees who were trusted, old workers who had the responsibility of recruiting new workers for the industry, generally,favoured people from their own villages. Eventually, the number of industrial workers increased.
Ques.8: Why did Manchester lose its position as a leader in the global textile trade?
Ans.8: As the mills and industries in Manchester were busy producing goods to meet the requirements of the army, the production for export purposes declined, thereby reducing Manchester imports into India.During the entire war, the industries in Manchester did not export any textile products. In the meanwhile, the Indian textile industry boomed, and the USA, Germany and Japan emerged as strong economies. The economy of Britain shattered after the war and thus Manchester couldn’t recapture its position in the Indian market.
Ques.9: How did the handloom sector in India compete with industrial production?
Ans.9: Industrial production in India began increasing rapidly. However, the handloom sector did not stagnate. The introduction of technology in the handloom sector helped it to compete with industrial production. The handlooms put to use the fly shuttle which helped speed up the production without any changes in the labour requirement. Moreover, certain traditional types of clothes like lungis and handkerchiefs could not be replaced by the products produced of the mills, and hence, the handlooms continued to give competition to industrial production.
Class 10 History Chapter 4 Extra Questions and Answers – Long Answer Type Questions: 4-6 Marks
Ques.1: Discuss the gradual process of industrialisation.
Ans.1: The process of industrialisation followed the following steps.
- The process of industrialisation began in Britain. The most dominant and active were the cotton and metal industries. The cotton industry grew at a rapid pace during industrialisation as the inventions made the production process efficient. As the railways expanded, the demand for iron and steel as well augmented around the world.
- Even though industrialisation was at its pace, it was not easy to completely overtake the traditional industries. Majority of the people were still employed outside the industrial sector.
- The traditional industries did not change much with technology, but neither did they remained stagnant completely. Non-mechanized industries like food processing, pottery, furniture making, etc. continued to form the basis of growth.
- Eventually, technology began to increase and spread to different sectors slowly. Though the machinery was available, it was expensive and the additional cost of repair and maintenance added to the cost. That’s why some industrialists were reluctant to shift to mechanization.
Ques.2: How was advertising used for the marketing of industrial products?
Ans.2: Advertisements were used for the purpose of marketing the industrial products in the following ways:
- As Manchester began exporting its products to India, there was a need to promote the products. For this, label with ‘MADE IN MANCHESTER’ along with images and illustrations were used to persuade people to buy the products.
- These labels also contained images of Indian gods and goddesses. This was done to associate the products with divinity and their approval by the gods themselves. Also, such images helped people feel somewhat familiar with the foreign products.
- Calendars were printed largely which had advertisements. As calendars were widely used even by the illiterates and were found almost everywhere, people had increased exposure to the advertisements of different products.
- Just like the images of gods and goddesses, images of kings, emperors, patrons, etc. were also printed to convince people to buy the products.
- Advertisements also played a very crucial role in the swadeshi movement as the Indian manufacturers used nationalist messages.
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